Simulation of central sloshing experiments with smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method

Liquid sloshing phenomena can be observed whenever a liquid in a container has an unrestrained surface and can be excited. A particular type of sloshing motion can occur during the core meltdown of a liquid metal cooled reactor (LMR) and can lead to a compaction of the fuel in the center of the core possibly resulting in energetic nuclear power excursions. This phenomenon was studied in series of “centralized sloshing” experiments with a central water column collapsing inside the surrounding cylindrical tank. These experiments provide data for a benchmark exercise for accident analysis codes. To simulate “centralized sloshing” phenomena, a numerical method should be capable to predict the motion of the free surface of a liquid, wave propagation and reflection from the walls. In this study, a meshless method based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) for the simulation of a 3D free surface liquid motion has been developed. The proposed method is applied to the simulation of “centralized sloshing” experiments. Simulation results are compared with the experimental results as well as with results of computations performed with the 3D code SIMMER-IV which is an advanced reactor safety analysis code that implements the traditional mesh-based numerical method. In a series of numerical calculations it is shown that overall motion of the liquid is in a good agreement with experimental observations. Dependence on the initial and geometrical symmetry is studied and compared with experimental data.

► Central sloshing experiments are simulated with meshless SPH-based method.
► Presence of obstacles and asymmetries on the central peak formation are studied.
► The high central peak is observed only in strongly symmetrical geometry.
► Results are compared with sloshing simulations by 3D reactor code SIMMER-IV.