Modelling of Aquitaine II pipe whipping test with the EUROPLEXUS fast dynamics code

This paper presents a numerical simulation with the EUROPLEXUS fast dynamics software of a pipe whipping phenomenon occurring in the thermal hydraulic conditions of a loss of coolant accident in a PWR primary circuit. Different physical phenomena take place simultaneously during the rupture and the whipping of the pipe such as plasticity, contact, large displacements, two-phase flow regime and fluid structure interaction. Two kinds of numerical models – a simplified pipeline model and a mixed 1D/3D model – are considered and compared throughout modelling and computation. Numerical results are compared with experimental data belonging to the Aquitaine II test campaign.