The three-level scaling approach with application to the Purdue University Multi-Dimensional Integral Test assembly (PUMA)

Abstract The three-level scaling approach was developed for the scientific design of an integral test facility and then it was applied to the design of the scaled facility known as the Purdue University Multi-Dimensional Integral Test Assembly (PUMA). The NRC Technical Program Group for severe accident scaling developed the conceptual framework for this scaling methodology. The present scaling method consists of the integral system scaling, whose components comprise the first two levels, and the phenomenological scaling constitutes the third level of scaling. More specifically, the scaling is considered as follows: (1) the integral response function scaling, (2) control volume and boundary flow scaling, and (3) local phenomena scaling. The first two levels are termed the top-down approach while the third level is the bottom-up approach. This scheme provides a scaling methodology that is practical and yields technically justifiable results. It ensures that both the steady state and dynamic conditions are simulated within each component, and also scales the inter-component mass and energy flows as well as the mass and energy inventories within each component.