Abstract Numerical simulation is an intrinsic part of nuclear engineering research supporting the design of nuclear power plants. With the advent of Petascale computing (i.e., computers capable of more than 1 PFlop), the simulation of portions of reactor components with turbulence-resolving techniques is now possible. These simulations can provide invaluable insight into the flow dynamics, which is difficult or often impossible to obtain with experiments alone. The spectral element method in particular has emerged as a powerful method to deliver massively parallel calculations at high fidelity by using Large Eddy Simulation or Direct Numerical Simulation. In this work we review the fundamentals of the method and the reasons it is compelling for the simulation of nuclear reactor core flows. We review a series of wall-resolved large eddy simulations of reactor cores applied to three reactor types. In particular we discuss the simulation of the flow in a 17 × 17 rod bundle related to light water reactor (LWR) applications; the flow in a 37-pin wire-wrapped rod bundle related to liquid metal reactor (LMR) applications and the flow through a graphite block with application to molten salt reactors (MSR).

中文翻译：

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用谱元法对堆芯流动进行壁分辨大涡模拟

摘要 数值模拟是支持核电站设计的核工程研究的固有组成部分。随着 Petascale 计算（即能够超过 1 PFlop 的计算机）的出现，现在可以使用湍流解析技术模拟反应堆组件的各个部分。这些模拟可以提供对流动动力学的宝贵见解，而仅通过实验很难或通常不可能获得。特别是光谱元素方法已成为通过使用大涡模拟或直接数值模拟以高保真度提供大规模并行计算的强大方法。在这项工作中，我们回顾了该方法的基本原理以及它对核反应堆堆芯流动模拟具有吸引力的原因。我们回顾了一系列应用于三种反应堆类型的反应堆堆芯的壁解析大涡模拟。我们特别讨论了与轻水反应堆 (LWR) 应用相关的 17 × 17 棒束中的流动模拟；与液态金属反应堆 (LMR) 应用相关的 37 针绕线棒束中的流动，以及与熔盐反应堆 (MSR) 应用相关的石墨块中的流动。