Experimental investigation on anisotropic turbulent flow in a 6 × 6 rod bundle with LDV

The five-beam three-component laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) is applied to investigate the turbulent flow in a 6 × 6 rod bundle installed with simple grid spacers. LDV measurement has been conducted at four cross sections downstream a grid spacer at five Reynolds numbers ranging from 6600 to 70,300. The flow evolution downstream of the grid spacer is demonstrated through the comparison of the axial mean velocity and Root Mean Square (RMS) velocity at the three cross sections downstream of the grid spacer. All the three components of the flow velocity are measured in the selected subchannels at the outlet cross section of the rod bundle which is dedicated to provide more information on the turbulence statistics in the rod bundle flow. Remarkably high ratio of axial normal stress to the turbulent kinetic energy, vv¯/k, is observed even in the subchannel center, which indicates that the turbulence in the rod bundle is anisotropic. Comparing experiment results at the five Reynolds numbers, the low Reynolds number effect is found in the case with Re = 6.6 × 103. The experiment results also imply that the Reynolds number effect in the tight-lattice bundle is weak compare to that in the loose one.