Experimental and numerical study on local pressure distributions in a system-integrated modular reactor

In this study, we investigated pressure distributions in a scaled-down System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor (SMART), developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). Local pressures in the reactor were measured to calculate flow-induced loads. Additionally, velocity, turbulence intensity, and pressure were calculated at the same experimental geometry using the finite volume method (FVM) commercial code. The results show that 36.7% of the total pressure drop occurred in the core, but the lowest pressure drop occurred in the flow skirt. The differences between the calculated pressures and the measured pressures in the reactor were within 3%. The numerical method used in this study is thus suitable for calculating flow-induced loads in the SMART reactor.