Hydraulic benchmark data for PWR mixing vane grid

The purpose of the present study is to present new hydraulic benchmark data obtained for PWR rod bundles for the purpose of benchmarking computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of the rod bundle. The flow field in a PWR fuel assembly downstream of structural grids which have mixing vane grids attached is very complex due to the geometry of the subchannel and the high axial component of the velocity field relative to the secondary flows which are used to enhance the heat transfer performance of the rod bundle. Westinghouse has a CFD methodology to model PWR rod bundles that was developed with prior benchmark test data. As improvements in testing techniques have become available, further PWR rod bundle testing is being performed to obtain advanced data which have high spatial and temporal resolution. This paper presents the advanced testing and benchmark data that has been obtained by Westinghouse through collaboration with Texas A&M University.