Influence of inlet velocity condition on unsteady flow characteristics in piping with a short elbow under a high-Reynolds-number condition

Ono, Ayako ; Tanaka, Masaaki  ; Kobayashi, Jun ; Kamide, Hideki 

In the design of the Advanced Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor in Japan, the Reynolds number in the primary hot leg (H/L) piping reaches 4.210. Furthermore, a short elbow is used in the H/L piping to achieve a compact plant layout. In the H/L piping, flow-induced vibration is a concern due to the excitation force caused by pressure fluctuation in the short elbow. In this report, the influence of inlet velocity condition on the unsteady velocity characteristics in the short elbow was studied by controlling the flow patterns at the elbow inlet. Measured velocity distributions indicated that the inlet velocity profiles affected a circumferential secondary flow, which then affected an area of flow separation at the elbow. It was also found that the velocity fluctuation at low frequency components observed upstream of the elbow could remain in downstream of the elbow though its intensity was attenuated.