Jet impingement in high-energy piping systems, part I: Characteristics and model evaluation

Abstract Under postulated pipe rupture accidents in nuclear power plants (Loss-of-Coolant Accident or LOCA), jet impingement can occur where the high-energy fluid is discharged and cause damage to the surrounding structures, systems, and components (SSCs). As a part of addressing the potential non-conservatisms in the Standard model ANSI/ANS-58.2 (1988), the current work investigates characteristics of jet impingement in high energy piping systems as in nuclear power plants including pressure distribution within jets, pressure on target, and critical mass flux and performs model evaluation. The pressure prediction using ANSI/ANS-58.2 (1988) as well as critical mass flux models are evaluated using the experimental data available in literature. An organized experimental database with different inlet fluid conditions including subcooled water, saturated water/two-phase (0 ≤ x   3.3) can be underestimated, the dimensionless pressures at these axial locations are below 0.07. For saturated water/two-phase jets, the stagnation pressure can be predicted well using the Standard model for the large-scale test data (D > 0.28 m) but are underestimated at some axial locations for the medium- and small-scale test data (D