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Hong, Z.*; Pellegrini, M.*; Erkan, N.*; Liao, H.*; Yang, H.*; Yamano, Hidemasa; Okamoto, Koji*
Annals of Nuclear Energy, 180, p.109462_1 - 109462_9, 2023/01
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.18(Nuclear Science & Technology)A series of experiments were conducted using B
C material and SUS304 tubes as a simulant of the real control rods. Reaction rate constant data in the 1450K-1500K range were obtained, and are consistent with the reference values. The reaction layer microstructure observation and the associated chemical composition analysis were also carried onto the experiment samples.
C in a liquid stateFukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 568, p.153865_1 - 153865_12, 2022/09
Times Cited Count：1 Percentile：71.47(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)The normal spectral emissivity, specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of type 316 austenitic stainless steel (SS) containing boron carbide (BC) in a liquid state were experimentally measured over the composition range of SS-
mass% BC (up to 10%) and wide temperature ranges using an electromagnetic levitator in a static magnetic field. The normal spectral emissivity and specific heat capacity were almost constant against temperature for all SS-BC melts, and the thermal conductivities of the melts had a negligible or small positive temperature dependence. The BC-content dependence of each property at 1800 K had a different tendency across the eutectic composition (around 3 mass% BC) of the SS-BC pseudo-binary system.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Morita, Koji*
Nihon Kikai Gakkai 2022-Nendo Nenji Taikai Koen Rombunshu (Internet), 5 Pages, 2022/09
It is necessary to simulate a eutectic melting reaction and relocation behavior of boron carbide (B4C) as a control rod material and stainless steel (SS) during a core disruptive accident (CDA) in an advanced large-scale sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) designed in Japan. A physical model simulating the eutectic reaction and relocation of the eutectic melt was developed to incorporate into the fast reactor severe accident analysis code SIMMER-IV for the CDA numerical analysis of SFRs. This study applied the SIMMER-IV code with the newly developed model to the CDA analysis of the SFR. This analysis indicated that the SIMMER-IV code using the eutectic reaction model has successfully simulated the eutectic reaction and the upward motion of the eutectic melt in the molten core pool as well as the reactivity transient behavior caused by the molten core material relocation.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Emura, Yuki; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; Morita, Koji*; Nakamura, Kinya*; Fukai, Hirofumi*; et al.
Proceedings of 13th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal-Hydraulics, Operation and Safety (NUTHOS-13) (Internet), 12 Pages, 2022/09
This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies conducted until 2020. Specific results in this paper are the measurement of the eutectic reaction rates and the validation of physical model describing the eutectic reaction in the analysis code through the numerical analysis of the BC-SS eutectic reaction rate experiments in which a BC pellet was placed in a SS crucible.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Morita, Koji*
Proceedings of 19th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics (NURETH-19) (Internet), 16 Pages, 2022/03
For a severe accident (SA) simulation of sodium-cooled fast reactors, a eutectic reaction model between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) has been developed to be incorporated into the SA simulation codes: SIMMER-III/IV. To confirm the applicability of SIMMER-IV involving the eutectic reaction model to reactor simulations, this study has preliminarily applied this code with the newly developed physical model to a SA simulation of a large-scale SFR designed in Japan. The simulation results show that the eutectic reaction is caused by the contact between the liquid SS and the broken BC pellets which are released to the coolant channel after the failure of cladding which is melted by the mixture of liquid SS and fuel particles coming from the neighboring fuel assemblies. The liquid eutectic material formed by the reaction stayed in the control assembly and the neighboring fuel assemblies. This preliminary simulation shows that the spreading area of BC-SS eutectic formation is limited within this calculation time.
C absorber material on melt progression and chemical forms of iodine or cesium under severe accident conditionsHidaka, Akihide
Insights Concerning the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident, Vol.4; Endeavors by Scientists, p.341 - 356, 2021/10
C addition on the solidus and liquidus temperatures, density and surface tension of type 316 austenitic stainless steel in the liquid stateFukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 554, p.153100_1 - 153100_11, 2021/10
Times Cited Count：4 Percentile：78.24(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)The effects of BC addition on the solidus and liquidus temperatures of type 316 austenitic stainless steel (SS), and on the density and surface tension of molten SS, were experimentally studied. The solidus temperature of SS-x mass% BC (from 0 to 10) monotonically decreased from 1666 to 1307 K with BC addition. The liquidus temperature had a minimum at around 2.5 mass% BC, and increased with further BC addition up to 10 mass%. The density and surface tension of molten SS-x mass %BC were successfully measured over a wide temperature range (including an undercooling region) via an electromagnetic-levitation technique. The density of each sample decreased linearly with temperature. The density also monotonically decreased with BC content. Although the addition of BC had no clear effect on the surface tension of SS-x mass %BC, sulfur dissolved in SS316L caused a significant decrease in the surface tension.
C-stainless steel alloysNishi, Tsuyoshi*; Sato, Rika*; Ota, Hiromichi*; Kokubo, Hiroki*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Journal of Nuclear Materials, 552, p.153002_1 - 153002_7, 2021/08
Times Cited Count：2 Percentile：53.86(Materials Science, Multidisciplinary)Determining high precision viscosities of molten BC-stainless steel (BC-SS) alloys is essential for the core disruptive accident analyses of sodium-cooled fast reactors and for analysis of severe accidents in boiling water reactors (BWR) as appeared in Fukushima Daiichi. However, there are no data on the high precision viscosities of molten BC-SS alloys due to experimental difficulties. In this study, the viscosities of molten SS (Type 316L), 2.5mass%BC-SS, 5.0mass%BC-SS, and 7.0mass%BC-SS alloys were measured using the oscillating crucible method in temperature ranges of 1693-1793 K, 1613-1793 K, 1613-1793 K, and 1713-1793 K, respectively. The viscosity was observed to increase as the BC concentration increased from 0 to 7.0 mass%. Using the experimental data of the molten 2.5mass%BC-SS and 5.0mass%BC-SS and 7.0mass%BC-SS in the temperature range of 1713-1793 K, the equation for the viscosity of molten BC-SS alloys was determined, and the measurement error of the viscosity of molten BC-SS alloys is less than 
8%.
Kikuchi, Shin; Nakamura, Kinya*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Mechanical Engineering Journal (Internet), 8(4), p.20-00542_1 - 20-00542_13, 2021/08
In a postulated severe accidental condition of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), eutectic melting between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) may take place. Thus, kinetic behavior of BC-SS eutectic melting is one of the important phenomena to be considered when evaluating the core disruptive accidents in SFR. In this study, for the first step to obtain the fundamental information on kinetic feature of BC-SS eutectic melting, the thermal analysis using the pellet type samples of BC and Type 316L SS as different experimental technique was performed. The differential thermal analysis endothermic peaks for the BC-SS eutectic melting appeared from 1483K to 1534K and systematically shifted to higher temperatures when increasing heating rate. Based on this kinetic feature, apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the BC-SS eutectic melting were determined by Kissinger method. It was found that the kinetic parameters obtained by thermal analysis were comparable to the literature values.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kikuchi, Shin; Emura, Yuki; Kamiyama, Kenji; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; et al.
Proceedings of 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 28) (Internet), 11 Pages, 2021/08
One of the key issues in a core disruptive accident (CDA) evaluation in sodium-cooled fast reactors is eutectic reactions between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) as well as its relocation. Such behaviors have never been simulated in CDA numerical analyses in the past, therefore it is necessary to develop a physical model and incorporate the model into the CDA analysis code. This study focuses on BC-SS eutectic melting experiments, thermophysical property measurement of the eutectic melt, and physical model development for the eutectic melting reaction. The eutectic experiments involve the visualization experiments, eutectic reaction rate experiments and material analyses. The thermophysical properties are measured in a range from solid to liquid state. The physical model is developed for a CDA computer code based on the measured data of the eutectic reaction rate and the physical properties. This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies conducted until 2019. Specific results in this paper are the validation of physical model describing BC-SS eutectic reaction in the CDA analysis code, SIMMER-III, through the numerical analysis of the BC-SS eutectic melting experiments in which a BC block was placed in a SS pool.
Kikuchi, Shin; Takai, Toshihide; Yamano, Hidemasa; Sakamoto, Kan*
Proceedings of 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 28) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2021/08
In a postulated severe accidental condition of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), eutectic melting between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) may occur. Thus, behavior of BC-SS eutectic melting is one of the phenomena to evaluate the core disruptive accidents in SFR. In this study, the reaction experiments using SS crucibles and the pellets of SS with low BC concentration as samples were performed to simulate the state of the reaction interface in which the eutectic reaction and interdiffusion of BC-SS have progressed to a certain extent. It was revealed that the rate constants of eutectic reaction between SS and SS with low BC concentration are smaller than that of BC-SS eutectic reaction at high temperatures.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kikuchi, Shin; Emura, Yuki; Kamiyama, Kenji; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; et al.
Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 10 Pages, 2020/08
One of the key issues in a core disruptive accident (CDA) evaluation in sodium-cooled fast reactors is eutectic reactions between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) as well as its relocation. Such behaviors have never been simulated in CDA numerical analyses in the past, therefore it is necessary to develop a physical model and incorporate the model into the CDA analysis code. This study focuses on BC-SS eutectic melting experiments, thermophysical property measurement of the eutectic melt, and physical model development for the eutectic melting reaction. The eutectic experiments involve the visualization experiments, eutectic reaction rate experiments and material analyses. The thermophysical properties are measured in a range from solid to liquid state. The physical model is developed for a severe accident computer code based on the measured data of the eutectic reaction rate and the physical properties. This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies conducted until 2018. Specific results in this paper are boron concentration distributions of solidified BC-SS eutectic sample in the eutectic melting experiments, which would be used for the validation of the eutectic physical model implemented into the computer code.
Kikuchi, Shin; Yamano, Hidemasa; Nakamura, Kinya*
Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2020/08
In a postulated severe accidental condition of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), eutectic melting between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) may take place. Thus, kinetic behavior of BC-SS eutectic melting is one of the important phenomena to be considered when evaluating the core disruptive accidents in SFR. In this study, for the first step to obtain the fundamental information on kinetic feature of BC-SS eutectic melting, the thermal analysis using the pellet type samples of BC and Type 316L SS as different experimental technique was performed. The differential thermal analysis endothermic peaks for the BC-SS eutectic melting appeared from 1483K to 1534K and systematically shifted to higher temperatures when increasing heating rate. Based on this kinetic feature, apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor for the BC-SS eutectic melting were determined by Kissinger method. It was found that the kinetic parameters obtained by thermal analysis were comparable to the literature values.
Liu, X.*; Morita, Koji*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of 2020 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE 2020) (Internet), 9 Pages, 2020/08
In our previous study, a two-dimensional fast reactor safety analysis code, SIMMER-III, was extended to include a physical model to simulate the eutectic reaction between stainless steel (SS) and BC. Based on experimental knowledge on eutectic reaction, the growth of eutectic material was modeled according to a parabolic rate law. Heat and mass transfer behaviors among reactor materials including a eutectic composition in solid and liquid phases were also modeled considering both equilibrium and non-equilibrium processes in phase change. Physical properties of the eutectic composition were also formulated based on experimental measurements for 5 mass% BC-SS composition. In this study, we extended the eutectic reaction model to SIMMER-IV, a three-dimensional counterpart of SIMMER-III. We performed validation analysis using SIMMER-III and SIMMER-IV with the developed model based on an experiment, where a BC pellet was immersed into a molten SS pool. Boron concentration in the pool was measured at several time points and the boron concentration after solidification of the molten pool was compared with the experiment post analysis result. Simulation results of boron distribution are comparable to the experimental results.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro
Nihon Kikai Gakkai Rombunshu (Internet), 86(883), p.19-00360_1 - 19-00360_13, 2020/03
It is necessary to simulate a eutectic melting reaction and relocation behavior of boron carbide (BC) as a control rod material and stainless steel (SS) during a core disruptive accident in an advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor designed in Japan because the BC-SS eutectic relocation behavior has a large uncertainty in the reactivity history based on a simple calculation. A physical model simulating the eutectic melting reaction and relocation was developed and implemented into a severe accident simulation code. The developed model must be validated by using test data. To validate the physical model, therefore, the visualization tests of SS-BC eutectic melting reaction was carried out by contacting SS melts of several kg with a BC pellet heated up to about 1500 
C. The tests have shown the eutectic reaction visualization as well as freezing and relocation of the BC-SS eutectic in upper part of the solidified test piece due to the density separation. Post-test material analyses by using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscope techniques have indicated that FeB appeared at the BC-SS contact interface and (Fe,Cr)
B at the top surface of the test piece. Glow discharge optical emission spectrometry has been applied to quantitative analysis of boron concentration distributions. The boron concentration was high at the upper surface and near the original position of the BC pellet.
Yamano, Hidemasa; Takai, Toshihide; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Kikuchi, Shin; Emura, Yuki; Kamiyama, Kenji; Fukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; et al.
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.418 - 427, 2019/09
Eutectic reactions between boron carbide (BC) and stainless steel (SS) as well as its relocation are one of the key issues in a core disruptive accident (CDA) evaluation in sodium-cooled fast reactors. Since such behaviors have never been simulated in CDA numerical analyses, it is necessary to develop a physical model and incorporate the model into the CDA analysis code. This study is focusing on BC-SS eutectic melting experiments, thermophysical property measurement of the eutectic melt, and physical model development for the eutectic melting reaction. The eutectic experiments involve the visualization experiments, eutectic reaction rate experiments and material analyses. The thermophysical properties are measured in the range from solid to liquid state. The physical model is developed for a severe accident computer code based on the measured data of the eutectic reaction rate and the physical properties. This paper describes the project overview and progress of experimental and analytical studies by 2017. Specific results in this paper is boron concentration distributions of solidified BC-SS eutectic sample in the eutectic melting experiments, which would be used for the validation of the eutectic physical model implemented into the computer code.
C addition on viscosity of austenitic stainless steel in liquid stateOta, Hiromichi*; Kokubo, Hiroki*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.858 - 860, 2019/09
A viscosity measurement apparatus has been developed. It is known that the measurement of the viscosity of molten alloy at elevated temperatures is difficult due to the difficulty of handling for low viscosity fluids such as the stainless steel (SS)+BC alloy. In this study, the viscosities of the molten nickel (Ni) and stainless steel (SS) were measured by the oscillating crucible method to confirm the performance of the viscosity measurement apparatus as a first step. This method is suitable for high temperature molten alloys. A crucible containing molten metal is suspended, and a rotational oscillation is given to the crucible electromagnetically. The oscillation was damped by the friction of molten metal. The viscosity is determined from the period of oscillation and the logarithmic decrement. The crucible was connected to a mirror block and an inertia disk made of aluminum, and whole of them was suspended by a wire made of platinum-13% rhodium alloy. A laser light is irradiated to the mirror. The reflection light is detected by the photo-detectors, and then, the logarithmic decrement of molten metal is determined. The viscosities of molten nickel and SS melts were measured up to 1823 K. In these results, the measured viscosity values of molten Ni and SS were close to those of the literature values of molten Ni and SS. By the equipment, the viscosity of molten SS+BC alloys are measured. The BC concentration dependence of the viscosity of molten SS+BC alloys is to be clarified.
C addition on thermophysical properties of austenitic stainless steel in a liquid stateFukuyama, Hiroyuki*; Higashi, Hideo*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Proceedings of International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference / Light Water Reactor Fuel Performance Conference (Global/Top Fuel 2019) (USB Flash Drive), p.853 - 857, 2019/09
Thermophysical properties of molten mixture of 316L stainless steel (SS316L) and control-rod material (BC) are necessary for the development of computer simulation codes that describe core degradation mechanisms during severe accidents in nuclear power plants involving sodium-cooled fast reactors. The effect of BC addition to SS316L on the solidus and liquidus temperatures were first measured by differential scanning calorimetry. An electromagnetic levitation technique performed in a static magnetic field was used to measure the density, surface tension, normal spectral emissivity, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity of molten SS316L and SS316L containing BC. The effects of BC addition to SS316L on the thermophysical properties were studied up to 10 mass%.
C decoupler with burn-up reduction aiming at 1-MW pulsed neutron sourceOi, Motoki; Teshigawara, Makoto; Harada, Masahide; Ikeda, Yujiro
Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 56(7), p.573 - 579, 2019/07
Times Cited Count：0 Percentile：0.01(Nuclear Science & Technology)In pulsed neutron sources, a neutron absorber called decoupler is attached to the moderator to sharpen the neutron pulses for achieving good neutron energy resolutions. Cadmium and boron carbide (BC) are widely used as the decoupler materials. However, it is difficult to use BC in MW-class spallation neutron sources owing to high burn-up, which decreases cut-off energy and increase of helium gas swelling. To solve these issues, we introduce the concept of pre-decoupler to reduce neutron absorption in the BC decoupler, which is sandwiched by appropriate neutron absorption materials. Then, we study impacts of the pre-decouplers on BC decoupler in terms of burn-up by performing simplified model calculations. It is shown that neutron absorption in BC is reduced by 60% by using a Cd pre-decoupler without neutron intensity penalty. Moreover, helium gas swelling in BC is restrained to be one-third of the value when not using the pre-decoupler.
Kokubo, Hiroki*; Nishi, Tsuyoshi*; Ota, Hiromichi*; Yamano, Hidemasa
Nihon Kinzoku Gakkai-Shi, 82(10), p.400 - 402, 2018/09
Times Cited Count：6 Percentile：38.28(Metallurgy & Metallurgical Engineering)It is important to obtain the viscosity of a mixed alloy consisting of molten stainless steel and boron-carbide (SUS316L + BC alloy) for the improvement of severe accident assessment methodology for sodium-cooled fast reactors. In this study, the viscosities of the molten nickel (Ni) and stainless steel (SUS316L) were measured by the oscillating crucible method to confirm the performance of the viscosity measurement apparatus as a first step. The viscosities of molten Ni and SUS316L melts were measured up to 1823 K. It was found that the measured viscosity values of molten Ni and SUS316L were estimated from the deviation of the experimental data, were 4% and 3%, respectively. It was also found that those of molten Ni and SUS316L were close to those of the literature values of molten Ni and similar composite stainless steels. Moreover, we tentatively measured the viscosity of molten SUS316L-5 mass%BC alloy. The fitted results of the viscosity for molten Ni and SUS316L were obtained.
