COMSOL Multiphysics has been used to conduct thermal-hydraulic analysis in multiple nuclear applications. The aim of this study is to benchmark the prediction accuracy of COMSOL Multiphysics in performing thermal-hydraulic analysis of TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics) reactors such as the Geological Survey TRIGA Reactor (GSTR) by comparing its predictions with RELAP5 (a widely used code in nuclear thermal-hydraulic analysis) results and experimental data. The GSTR type is Mark I with a full thermal power of 1 MW, and it resides at the Denver Federal Center (DFC) in Colorado. The numerical investigation of the present work is carried out by developing single-subchannel thermal-hydraulic models of the GSTR utilizing RELAP5 and COMSOL codes. The models estimate the temperatures (fuel, outer clad, and coolant) and water flow patterns in the core as well as fuel element powers at which void starts to form within the coolant subchannels. Then, these models’ predictions are quantitatively evaluated and compared with the measured data.

中文翻译：

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使用RELAP5结果和实验数据对TRIGA反应器进行COMSOL多物理场单子通道热工水力分析基准测试

COMSOL Multiphysics已用于多种核应用中的热工水力分析。这项研究的目的是通过将TRIGA反应堆（TRISTR）的预测与RELAP5（核热工分析中广泛使用的代码）结果和实验数据。GSTR类型是Mark I，具有1 MW的全部热功率，它位于科罗拉多州的丹佛联邦中心（DFC）。通过使用RELAP5和COMSOL代码开发GSTR的单子通道热工水力模型，进行了本工作的数值研究。这些模型会估算温度（燃料，外覆层，和冷却液），堆芯中的水流模式以及燃料元件功率，在此位置处冷却剂子通道中开始形成空隙。然后，对这些模型的预测进行定量评估，并与测量数据进行比较。