A Jacobian-free Newton Krylov method for mortar-discretized thermomechanical contact problems

Journal Article · Wed Jul 20 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Journal of Computational Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2011.04.038· OSTI ID:21592601

Hansen, Glen ^[1]

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1. Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-3840 (United States)

Multibody contact problems are common within the field of multiphysics simulation. Applications involving thermomechanical contact scenarios are also quite prevalent. Such problems can be challenging to solve due to the likelihood of thermal expansion affecting contact geometry which, in turn, can change the thermal behavior of the components being analyzed. This paper explores a simple model of a light water reactor nuclear fuel rod, which consists of cylindrical pellets of uranium dioxide (UO{sub 2}) fuel sealed within a Zircalloy cladding tube. The tube is initially filled with helium gas, which fills the gap between the pellets and cladding tube. The accurate modeling of heat transfer across the gap between fuel pellets and the protective cladding is essential to understanding fuel performance, including cladding stress and behavior under irradiated conditions, which are factors that affect the lifetime of the fuel. The thermomechanical contact approach developed here is based on the mortar finite element method, where Lagrange multipliers are used to enforce weak continuity constraints at participating interfaces. In this formulation, the heat equation couples to linear mechanics through a thermal expansion term. Lagrange multipliers are used to formulate the continuity constraints for both heat flux and interface traction at contact interfaces. The resulting system of nonlinear algebraic equations are cast in residual form for solution of the transient problem. A Jacobian-free Newton Krylov method is used to provide for fully-coupled solution of the coupled thermal contact and heat equations.

• OSTI ID: 21592601
• Journal Information: Journal of Computational Physics, Vol. 230, Issue 17; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.jcp.2011.04.038; PII: S0021-9991(11)00286-5; Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9991
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
97 MATHEMATICAL METHODS AND COMPUTING
CLADDING
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CYLINDRICAL CONFIGURATION
EQUATIONS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
FUEL PELLETS
GEOMETRY
HEAT
HEAT FLUX
HEAT TRANSFER
HELIUM
MORTARS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
NUCLEAR FUELS
PERFORMANCE
REACTOR FUELING
THERMAL EXPANSION
URANIUM DIOXIDE
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
CALCULATION METHODS
CHALCOGENIDES
CONFIGURATION
DEPOSITION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
ENERGY TRANSFER
EXPANSION
FLUIDS
FUELS
GASES
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
MATHEMATICS
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PELLETS
RARE GASES
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
SIMULATION
SURFACE COATING
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM OXIDES