The analytic function expansion nodal (AFEN) method with half-interface averaged fluxes in mixed geometry nodes for analysis of pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR) cores

Abstract

The analytic function expansion nodal (AFEN) method has been successfully applied to the rectangular and hexagonal geometries in the cartesian coordinates system. In this paper, we extended the AFEN method to the cylindrical geometry in the R-Z coordinates for the analysis of pebble bed modular reactors (PBMRs). To treat the mixed geometry of rectangular and triangular nodes appearing in the lower periphery of the reactors, we used half-interface averaged fluxes as nodal unknowns. Numerical results obtained attest to their accuracy and applicability to practical problems.