Influence of skin depth on convective heat transfer in induction heating

S. Renaudière de Vaux^1,2 - R. Zamansky² - W. Bergez² - Ph. Tordjeman² - V. Bouyer¹ - J.-F. Haquet¹

¹ CEA, DEN, Cadarache, SMTA/LPMA, F13108 St Paul lez Durance, France
² Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse (IMFT), Université de Toulouse, CNRS-INPT-UPS, Toulouse, France

Abstract
We investigate convection driven by induction heating of a horizontal fluid layer using direct numerical simulations (DNS). This problem is of particular interest in the context of nuclear severe accident mastering. In a real severe accident, the molten core is subjected to homogeneous internal sources resulting from nuclear disintegrations. This situation is mimicked in the laboratory using induction heating as the internal source. In induction heating, however, heat sources are localized in the skin layer. Consequently, this concentration of heat may modify the flow and wall heat transfer compared to the case of homogeneous internal sources. DNS are carried out for three typical skin depths and three total deposited powers. Skin depth variations show surprising results regarding flow structures and heat transfer. It is found that the heat sources' heterogeneity has a weak effect on flow patterns. Consequently, models of heat transfer in the case of homogeneous sources remain valid even with strong localized heating near the bottom. Figs 7, Refs 9.