Study on oxidation corrosion characteristics of LBE in spiral-fin rod and round rod fuel assemblies

In this study, the characteristics of heat transfer and oxidation corrosion for the fuel assemblies are examined numerically using an oxidation corrosion model. The findings reveal that the surface temperature of the spiral-fin rod is significantly lower, while the average heat transfer coefficient is markedly higher compared to the round rod. Additionally, the distribution of the average oxide layer thickness on the surface of the spiral-fin rod and the round rod follows a parabolic growth pattern. The thickness of the oxide layer on the surface of the fuel rod increases parabolically as the lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) inlet velocity decreases, and decreases parabolical as the LBE inlet temperature. Under identical conditions, the thickness of the oxide layer on the surface of the spiral-fin rod is about 20% less than that of the round rod. These results suggest that the spiral-fin rod demonstrate significant advantages and offers valuable insights for the design of rod in lead-cooled fast reactor.