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Large Eddy Simulation of Highly Fluctuational Temperature and Velocity Fields Observed in a Mixing-Tee Experiment

Pierre Coste, Patrick Quemere, Pierre Roubin, Philippe Emonot, Masaaki Tanaka, Hideki Kamide

Nuclear Technology / Volume 164 / Number 1 / October 2008 / Pages 76-88

Technical Paper / Icapp '06 / dx.doi.org/10.13182/NT08-A4009

The WATLON water experiment about fluid mixing in a tee pipe is calculated with a finite element volume method and a large eddy simulation (LES) approach, with the TRIO-U code. Its unstructured tetrahedron grids do not lead to the same noteworthy disagreements previously mentioned with Cartesian grids. Branch and main pipe inlet velocity fluctuations due to turbulence are simulated with the use of "periodic boxes." These more realistic inlet fluctuations allow physical instabilities to develop, improving the predictions. When an elbow is added upstream of the injection, the influence of the secondary flow on temperature-averaged values and fluctuations is underlined.