Search results for "Nuclear engineering"
showing 10 items of 533 documents
Modelling of the thermal mechanical behaviour of a single size beryllium pebble bed
2001
The Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) Blanket for fusion power reactors and the ITER breeding blanket are based on the use of pebble beds of lithium ceramics as breeder and beryllium as neutron multiplier. Experimental activities were performed at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe concerning the measurement of pebble bed heat transfer parameters. At the Department of Nuclear Engineering of the University of Palermo, the experimental results have been reproduced by means of the ABAQUS finite element code. Moreover, a thermal-mechanical theoretical model has been developed for single size beryllium pebble beds. In the paper the results from the numerical and theoretical analyses and the comparison wi…
Stiffer, Stronger and Centrosymmetrical Class of Pentamodal Mechanical Metamaterials
2019
Pentamode metamaterials have been used as a crucial element to achieve elastical unfeelability cloaking devices. They are seen as potentially fragile and not simple for integration in anisotropic structures due to a non-centrosymmetric crystalline structure. Here, we introduce a new class of pentamode metamaterial with centrosymmetry, which shows better performances regarding stiffness, toughness, stability and size dependence. The phonon band structure is calculated based on the finite element method, and the pentamodal properties are evaluated by analyzing the single band gap and the ratio of bulk and shear modulus. The Poisson&rsquo
Are AuPdTM (T = Sc, Y and M = Al, Ga, In), Heusler Compounds Superconductors without Inversion Symmetry?
2019
Heusler compounds with 2:1:1 stoichiometry either have a centrosymmetric Cu 2 MnAl structure or an Li 2 AgSb structure without a centre of inversion. The centrosymmetry is always lost in quaternary Heusler compounds with 1:1:1:1 stoichiometry and LiMgPdSn structure. This presents the possibility of realizing non-centrosymmetric superconductors in the family of Heusler compounds. The objective of this study is to search for and investigate such quaternary derivatives of Heusler compounds, particularly with respect to superconductivity. Several compounds were identified by carrying out calculations from first principles and superconductivity was observed in experiments conducted on AuPdScAl a…
Injection Molding and Mechanical Properties of Bio-Based Polymer Nanocomposites
2018
The use of biodegradable/bio-based polymers is of great importance in addressing several issues related to environmental protection, public health, and new, stricter legislation. Yet some applications require improved properties (such as barrier or mechanical properties), suggesting the use of nanosized fillers in order to obtain bio-based polymer nanocomposites. In this work, bionanocomposites based on two different biodegradable polymers (coming from the Bioflex and MaterBi families) and two different nanosized fillers (organo-modified clay and hydrophobic-coated precipitated calcium carbonate) were prepared and compared with traditional nanocomposites with high-density polyethylene (HDPE…
Thermo-mechanical analyses and ways of optimization of the helium cooled DEMO First Wall under RCC-MRx rules
2017
Abstract The EUROfusion Consortium develops a design of a fusion power demonstrator plant (DEMO) in the framework of the European “Horizon 2020” innovation and research program. One of the key components in the fusion reactor is the Breeding Blanket (BB) surrounding the plasma, ensuring tritium self-sufficiency, heat removal for conversion into electricity, and neutron shielding. Among the 4 candidates for the DEMO BB, 2 of them use helium as coolant (HCPB, HCLL), and another one (DCLL) uses helium to cool down the First Wall (FW) only. Due to uncertainties regarding the plasma Heat Flux (HF) load the DEMO BB integrated FW will have to cope with, a set of sensitive thermal and stress analys…
Modelling and analysis of the influence of solar spectrum on the efficiency of photovoltaic modules
2021
Abstract The article presents the influence of changes in the solar radiation spectrum distribution on the properties of various photovoltaic modules, with particular emphasis on the scattered component. We compared the relative efficiency of the photovoltaic modules based on various semiconductor absorbers during bright and sunny, and cloudy summer days. Additionally, we presented the impact of the module tilt angle on the magnitude of the surface incident scattered component and on the efficiency of the module. The solar spectra for various weather conditions were estimated using specialised computer programmes,such as SolarSpectrum or SMARTS2, and we present here the validation results f…
New time-dependent Monte Carlo algorithm designed to model three-phase batch reactor processes: applications on 2,4-dinitro-toluene hydrogenation on …
2003
Abstract The hydrogenation of 2,4-dinitro-toluene on a Pd/C catalyst was employed as a test reaction to simulate, by the time-dependent Monte Carlo method, processes occurring in a three-phase batch reactor working at isobar and isotherm conditions. A new time-dependent Monte Carlo algorithm, including an original subroutine useful to reduce the time of the simulations, was developed and implemented in Fortran language. The paper describes the flowchart of the code together with the main technical details and the involved physical and chemical models. Computational characteristics, such as the simulated time to reach surface steady state conditions and the effects of the catalyst morphology…
Steady state and transient thermal-hydraulic characterization of full-scale ITER divertor plasma facing components
2008
Abstract In the frame of the activities related to ITER divertor R&D, ENEA CR Brasimone was in charge by EFDA (European Fusion Development Agreement) to investigate the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of the full-scale divertor plasma facing components, i.e. the outer vertical target, the inner vertical target and the dome-liner, both in steady state and during draining and drying transient. The investigation was performed by means of both experimental test campaigns performed at ENEA CR Brasimone and theoretical simulation developed in RELAP5 Mod.3.3 environment at the Department of Nuclear Engineering of the University of Palermo (DIN). This paper presents the achieved experimental results fo…
Experimental tests and thermo-mechanical analyses on the HEXCALIBER mock-up
2008
Abstract Within the framework of the R&D activities promoted by European Fusion Development Agreement on the helium-cooled pebble bed test blanket module to be irradiated in ITER, ENEA Brasimone and the Department of Nuclear Engineering of the University of Palermo performed intense research activities on the modelling of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of both beryllium and lithiated ceramics pebble beds, which are envisaged to be used, respectively, as neutron multiplier and tritium breeder. In particular, at the DIN a thermo mechanical constitutive model was developed for both lithiated ceramics and beryllium pebble beds and it was successfully implemented on a commercial finite element …
Polymeric Thin Films for Organic Electronics: Properties and Adaptive Structures
2013
This review deals with the correlation between morphology, structure and performance of organic electronic devices including thin film transistors and solar cells. In particular, we report on solution processed devices going into the role of the 3D supramolecular organization in determining their electronic properties. A selection of case studies from recent literature are reviewed, relying on solution methods for organic thin-film deposition which allow fine control of the supramolecular aggregation of polymers confined at surfaces in nanoscopic layers. A special focus is given to issues exploiting morphological structures stemming from the intrinsic polymeric dynamic adaptation under non-…