Thermal-hydraulic characteristics of helical cruciform single rod based on CFD investigation

Helical cruciform fuel is a novel type of nuclear reactor fuel with self-supporting and large surface-volume ratio features, potential to increase the reactor power density. However, the shape of the fuel is so complicated that influence of geometric parameters on thermal hydraulic characteristics was not clearly researched. In this paper, geometric dimensionless numbers are proposed and validated based on the numerical simulation to modify friction factor and heat transfer coefficient correlations proposed through experiments of helical cruciform fuels. Twist pitch of the fuel has a great impact on flow resistance and heat transfer, resulting in the modified coefficient ranging from 0.94 to 1.04 for friction factor and from 0.022 to 0.024 for heat transfer coefficient respectively. Change in cross-section parameters has little influence on the fuel performance, leading to the unit cross-section modified factor for both friction factor and heat transfer coefficient. After fitting the correlations with the dimensionless number, several cases are established to validate the empirical correlations, with a maximum error below 10.0 % for friction factor equation and 8.5 % for heat transfer coefficient correlation when Reynolds number is between 2.7 × 10⁴ and 2.7 × 10⁵. This paper provides a guide for study of heat transfer and fluid flow in helical structures, and a reference for establishment of reactor system model using helical cruciform fuels.