Experimental study of self-leveling behavior in debris bed

Zhang, B.*; Harada, Tetsushi*; Hirahara, Daisuke*; Matsumoto, Tatsuya*; Morita, Koji*; Fukuda, Kenji*; Yamano, Hidemasa   ; Suzuki, Toru; Tobita, Yoshiharu

In the present study, characteristics of self-leveling behaviors were investigated experimentally with simulant materials. The present experiments employed depressurization boiling of water to simulate axially increasing void distribution in a debris bed, which consists of solid particles of alumina or lead with different density. The particle size (from 0.5 mm to 6 mm in diameter) and shape (spherical or non-spherical particles) were also taken as experimental parameters. A rough criteria for self-leveling occurrence is proposed and compared with the experimental results.