An Investigation on debris bed self-leveling behavior with non-spherical particles

Cheng, S.; Tagami, Hirotaka ; Yamano, Hidemasa   ; Suzuki, Toru; Tobita, Yoshiharu; Takeda, Shohei*; Nishi, Shimpei*; Nishikido, Tatsuya*; Zhang, B.*; Matsumoto, Tatsuya*; Morita, Koji*

Studies on debris bed self-leveling behavior with non-spherical particles are crucial in the assessment of actual leveling behavior that could occur in core disruptive accident of sodium-cooled fast reactors. Although in our previous publications, a simple empirical model (based model), with its wide applicability confirmed over various experimental conditions, has been successfully advanced to predict the transient leveling behavior, up until now this model is restricted to calculations of debris bed of spherical particles. Focusing on this aspect, in this study a series of experiments using non-spherical particles was performed within a recently-developed comparatively larger-scale experimental facility. Based on the knowledge and data obtained, an extension scheme is suggested with the intention to extend the base model to cover the particle-shape influence. Through detailed analyses, it is found that by coupling this scheme, good agreement between experimental and predicted results can be achieved for both spherical and non-spherical particles given current range of experimental conditions.