Open AccessStructural, Thermal, and Safety Analysis of Isotope Heat Source and Integrated Heat Exchangers for 6-kWe Dynamic Isotope Power System (DIPS)
Author(s) -
Alfred Schock
Publication year - 1989
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/1033408
Subject(s) - nuclear engineering , environmental science , boiler (water heating) , brayton cycle , heat exchanger , heat transfer , degree rankine , mechanical engineering , materials science , engineering , waste management , mechanics , process engineering , physics
The design of the 30-kWt isotope heat source integrated with a Rankine boiler and a Brayton gas heater, which was described in the preceding paper in these proceedings, was subjected to structural, thermal, and safety analyses. The present paper describes and discusses the results of these analyses. Detailed structural analyses of the heat source integrated with the boiler and gas heater showed positive safety margins at all locations during the launch. Detailed thermal analyses showed acceptable temperatures at all locations, during assembly, transfer and orbital operations. Reentry thermal analyses showed that the clads have acceptable peak and impact temperatures. Loss-of-cooling analyses indicated the feasibility of a passive safety concept for preventing over temperatures. Static structural analysis showed positive safety margins at all locations, and dynamic analysis showed that there were no low-frequency resources. Continuum-mechanics code analyses of the effects of the impact of Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) fragments on the heat source and of the very unlikely impact of the full heat source on concrete indicated relatively modest fuel clad deformations and little or no fuel release