Computer Programs
NEA-1901 FINIX 1.19.12.
last modified: 13-MAY-2020 | catalog | categories | new | search |

NEA-1901 FINIX 1.19.12.

FINIX 1.19.12, thermal and mechanical behaviour of a nuclear fuel rod during steady-state and transient conditions

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1. NAME OR DESIGNATION OF PROGRAM

FINIX v.1.19.12

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2. COMPUTERS

To submit a request, click below on the link of the version you wish to order. Rules for end-users are available here.

Program name Package id Status Status date
FINIX 1.19.12 NEA-1901/03 Tested 13-MAY-2020

Machines used:

Package ID Orig. computer Test computer
NEA-1901/03 Linux-based PC,PC Windows,UNIX W.S. Linux-based PC
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3. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM OR FUNCTION

FINIX is a fuel behavior module that calculates the thermal and mechanical behavior of a nuclear fuel rod during steady-state and transient conditions. The temperature distribution in the fuel and cladding are solved coupled to the the mechanical behavior of the pellet and cladding as well as the fuel rod internal pressure and fission gas release. Publicly available experimental correlations are used for the material properties, and simple models for the heat transfer from the cladding to the coolant have been included.

 

The intended use is the improvement of fuel behavior description in neutronics, thermal hydraulics and reactor dynamics codes. FINIX couples with the host code on a source code level, and provides an interface of functions that can be used to access the fuel behavior model from the host code. FINIX can also be used stand-alone with input files.

 

Each FINIX license is valid for 5 years from the previous release.

 

User’s may participate in a FINIX discussion forum. More information and advice on the use of FINIX can be obtained by email from finix@vtt.fi.

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4. METHODS

FINIX contains transient and steady-state heat equation solvers. Fuel pellet is considered as a rigid body, and cladding is considered as viscoplastic. Pellet thermal expansion, densification and swelling are modeled. Cladding thermal expansion, elasticity, plasticity and creep are modeled. Fission gas release and radial power distribution are modeled.

 

Base irradiation can be taken into account alternatively by a FRAPCON restart file or by a FINIX calculation.

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5. RESTRICTIONS ON THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROBLEM

FINIX is designed for cylindrical geometry. Validation report provided with the code lists the validation results. The validation report and the code manual list the more detailed restrictions on what can be modeled with FINIX.

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6. TYPICAL RUNNING TIME

Less than 3 seconds for 100 time steps of base irradiation. Less than 10 seconds for RIA scenario with 3000 time steps. Typical running times are from calculations with typical amounts of radial and axial nodes, e.g. 30 and 10, respectively.

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7. UNUSUAL FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM

FINIX is easily coupled to other programs due to a simple programming interface.

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9. STATUS
Package ID Status date Status
NEA-1901/03 13-MAY-2020 Tested restricted
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10. REFERENCES
  • H. Loukusa, J. Peltonen and V. Valtavirta. FINIX - Fuel behavior model and interface for multiphysics applications - Code documentation for version 1.19.12. Technical Report VTT-R-01109-19, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd., 2019.

  • H. Loukusa, J. Peltonen, V. Valtavirta, V. Tulkki. Implementation of burnup effects in the multiphysics fuel behavior module FINIX. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 136, 107022, 2020.

  • T. Ikonen, E. Syrjälahti, V. Valtavirta, H. Loukusa, J. Leppänen, and V. Tulkki. Multiphysics simulation of fast transients with the FINIX fuel behaviour module. EPJ Nuclear Sciences & Technologies, 2:37, 2016.

  • T. Ikonen, H. Loukusa, E. Syrjälahti, V. Valtavirta, J. Leppänen, and V. Tulkki. Module for thermomechanical modeling of LWR fuel in multiphysics simulations. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 84:111–121, 2015.

NEA-1901/03, included references:
- Jussi Peltonen:
FINIX - Fuel behavior model and interface for multiphysics applications
Validation of version 1.19.1. Research report VTT-R-00135-19 Rev. 1 (02/2019)
- Henri Loukusa, Jussi Peltonen, Ville Valtavirta:
FINIX - Fuel behavior model and interface for multiphysics applications - Code
documentation for version 1.19.12. Research report VTT-R-01103-19 (12/2019)
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11. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Windows or UNIX computer.

 

Tested at the NEA Data Bank with:

LINUX: - COMPUTER: Intel® Core™ NUC7i7BNH i7-7567U processor 4.0 GHz Turbo Dual Core CPU, RAM: 16.0 GB

       - OPERATING SYSTEM: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

       - COMPILER: gfortran v7.4, gcc v7.5

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12. PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE(S) USED
Package ID Computer language
NEA-1901/03 C-LANGUAGE
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13. SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Windows (compiles with msvc, executable provided) or Linux (compiles with gcc).

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14. OTHER PROGRAMMING OR OPERATING INFORMATION OR RESTRICTIONS

Compiles with Microsoft Visual Studio 2013. Makefile for gcc is included.

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15. NAME AND ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTHORS

Henri Loukusa

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.

P.O. Box 1000

FI-02044 VTT

Finland

finix(at)vtt.fi

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16. MATERIAL AVAILABLE
NEA-1901/03
\src     Source files
\test    Test cases
\example BR-3_24i6  Test cases
\example CABRI_REP-Na3  Test cases
CMakeLists.txt   C Make file for FINIX
read.me  instructions to compile FINIX in Linux
valgrind.out
\doc     Electronic documentation
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17. CATEGORIES
  • D. Depletion, Fuel Management, Cost Analysis, and Power Plant Economics
  • I. Deformation and Stress Distributions, Structural Analysis and Engineering Design Studies

Keywords: fission gas release, fuel performance, fuel rods, heat generation density profile, heat transfer, mechanical properties, power distribution, steady-state conditions, temperature distribution, thermal expansion, transient analysis.