Numerical analysis of thermal striping induced high cycle thermal fatigue in a mixing tee Original Research Article

Thermal striping, characterized by turbulent mixing of two flow streams of different temperatures that result in temperature fluctuations of coolant near the pipe wall, is one of the main causes of thermal fatigue failure. Coolant temperature oscillations due to thermal striping are on the order of several Hz. Thermal striping high-cycle thermal fatigue that occurs at tee junctions is one of the topics that should be addressed for the life management of light water reactor (LWR) piping systems. This study focuses on numerical analyses of the temperature fluctuations and structural response of coolant piping at a mixing tee. The coolant temperature fluctuations are obtained from Large Eddy Simulations that are validated by experimental data. For the thermal stress fatigue analysis, a model is developed to identify the relative importance of various parameters affecting fatigue-cracking failure. This study shows that the temperature difference between the hot and cold fluids of a tee junction and the enhanced heat transfer coefficient due to turbulent mixing are the dominant factors of thermal fatigue failure of a tee junction.