Numerical study on pressure wave propagation in a mercury loop

On-beam tests were carried out at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center–Weapons Neutron Research (LANSCE–WNR) facility in June 2005 to investigate pressure wave mitigation in mercury targets for the MW-class spallation neutron sources under international collaboration between US Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and Japanese Spallation Neutron Source (JSNS). A mercury loop was used for the target, a so-called In-Beam Bubbling Test Loop (IBBTL). The loop consists of the rectangular pipe of 25 mm × 50 mm2 in cross section, 1.5 mm in wall thickness and 2 m in total length approximately. The SNS team set 8 strain sensors on the pipe wall to measure the strain propagation caused by the pressure wave. The maximum strain appeared at 350 mm apart from the proton-bombarded point at 5.5 ms after the proton bombardment. It is known that the propagation velocity of the pressure wave in mercury is ca. 1500 m/s and that of the stress wave in stainless steel is ca. 5000 m/s. However, the apparent wave propagation velocity in the IBBTL was lower than those velocities and was observed to be 65 m/s. Numerical analysis was carried out to understand the strain propagation in the pipe wall of the IBBTL. Numerical results showed that the maximum strain at 350 mm apart from the beam spot appeared at 5.5 ms after proton bombardment in good agreement with experimental results.