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OFFBEAT Documentation

OpenFOAM Fuel BEhavior Analysis Tool (OFFBEAT) is a multi-dimensional (1D, 2D, 3D) finite-volume nuclear fuel performance code based on the OpenFOAM® C++ library. The first version of OFFBEAT is essentially the product of the research of Scolaro1 2. Building on the works of Jasak and Weller3, Tuković4, Cardiff5 and Clifford6, OFFBEAT is developed according to a cell-centered finite-volume framework for both small strain and finite strain solid mechanics. This is combined with a framework for thermal analysis and with numerical developments concerning the treatment of the gap heat transfer and contact, based on a mapping algorithm that allows the use of independent non-conformal meshes for fuel and cladding. The code considers the temperature and burnup dependence of the material properties, and it can model fuel densification, relocation, swelling, growth, fission gas release, creep, plasticity, and other relevant fuel behavior phenomena.

OFFBEAT is a joint development by the Laboratory of Reactor Safety (LRS) at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Laboratory for Reactor Physics and Thermal-Hydraulics (LRT) at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI).

Contents

  1. Alessandro Scolaro. Development of a Novel Finite Volume Methodology for Multi-Dimensional Fuel Performance Applications. PhD thesis, EPFL - École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, July 2021. URL: http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/287071, doi:10.5075/epfl-thesis-8822. ↩

  2. Alessandro Scolaro, Ivor Clifford, Carlo Fiorina, and Andreas Pautz. The offbeat multi-dimensional fuel behavior solver. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 358:110416, 2020. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029549319304479, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2019.110416. ↩

  3. H. Jasak and H. G. Weller. Application of the finite volume method and unstructured meshes to linear elasticity. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 48(2):267–287, 2000. URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0207%2820000520%2948%3A2%3C267%3A%3AAID-NME884%3E3.0.CO%3B2-Q, arXiv:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-0207%2820000520%2948%3A2%3C267%3A%3AAID-NME884%3E3.0.CO%3B2-Q, doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0207(20000520)48:2<267::AID-NME884>3.0.CO;2-Q. ↩

  4. Zeljko Tukovic, Aleksandar Karač, Philip Cardiff, Hrvoje Jasak, and Alojz Ivankovic. Openfoam finite volume solver for fluid-solid interaction. Transactions of FAMENA, 42:1–31, 10 2018. doi:10.21278/TOF.42301. ↩

  5. Philip Cardiff and Ismet Demirdzic. Thirty years of the finite volume method for solid mechanics. Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering, 28:, 02 2021. doi:10.1007/s11831-020-09523-0. ↩

  6. Ivor Clifford, Marco Pecchia, Roman Mukin, Cedric Cozzo, Hakim Ferroukhi, and Andreas Gorzel. Studies on the effects of local power peaking on heat transfer under dryout conditions in bwrs. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 130:440, 08 2019. doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2019.03.017. ↩