Vladimir Melikhov¹, Oleg Melikhov¹ , Sergey Yakush² and Oleg Konovalov¹

¹ National Research University "Moscow Power Engineering Institute", 14, Krasnokazarmennaya, Moscow, 111250, Russia

² Ishlinsky Institute for Problems in Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 11, Vernadsky, Moscow, 119526, Russia

Abstract

One of the possible consequences of a severe accident at a nuclear power plant with a pressurized water reactor is a steam explosion that occurs as a result of the interaction of a high-temperature melt of core materials with water and can lead to the failure of the containment. The paper considers the initial stage of the steam explosion (premixing of the melt with water) under the stratified geometry. The key phenomenon leading to premixing is the dynamic effect of a collapsing vapor bubble in a liquid on the melt surface. The influence of a vapor film located near a melt surface on the dynamics of a vapor bubble is considered. The Kelvin impulse is used as the main criterion characterizing the dynamic effect of a collapsing bubble on the liquid-vapor interface and on the melt surface. The influence of all the main parameters on the Kelvin impulse was numerically studied. Based on the calculations carried out on the plane of the parameters "film thickness - vapor density", the region of the dynamic impact of the collapsing bubble on the surface is determined. The greatest impacts are observed for thin films of vapor having a high density.