Structural homogenized analysis for a nuclear reactor core Original Research Article

A nuclear reactor core is composed of a great number of tubular beams with periodic structure, which are immersed in an acoustic fluid. In the present paper, a 3-D homogenization model is developed to predict its overall dynamic behavior. An approximate solution to the local problem is given. The application to an 1-D example shows that approximate expressions of the natural frequency, the added fluid mass and the equivalent sound speed can be used in engineering estimation.