Design Optimization of Mixing Vane in Nuclear Fuel Assembly

초록

This work presents a numerical optimization method for design of mixing vane in pressurized water reactor fuel assembly using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes analysis of flow and heat transfer. Response surface method is employed as an optimization technique. The objective function is defined as a combination of heat transfer rate and inverse of friction loss with weighting factor. Bend angle and base length of mixing vane are selected as design variables. Nine points for numerical experiments were sufficient for construction of reliable response surface. Optimum shape has been obtained as a function of weighting factor in the objective function.