RELAP-7 Numerical Stabilization: Entropy Viscosity Method

Abstract

The RELAP-7 code is the next generation nuclear reactor system safety analysis code being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The code is based on the INL's modern scientific software development framework, MOOSE (Multi-Physics Object Oriented Simulation Environment). The overall design goal of RELAP-7 is to take advantage of the previous thirty years of advancements in computer architecture, software design, numerical integration methods, and physical models. The end result will be a reactor systems analysis capability that retains and improves upon RELAP5's capability and extends the analysis capability for all reactor system simulation scenarios. RELAP-7 utilizes a single phase and a novel seven-equation two-phase flow models as described in the RELAP-7 Theory Manual (INL/EXT-14-31366). The basic equation systems are hyperbolic, which generally require some type of stabilization (or artificial viscosity) to capture nonlinear discontinuities and to suppress advection-caused oscillations. This report documents one of the available options for this stabilization in RELAP-7 -- a new and novel approach known as the entropy viscosity method. Because the code is an ongoing development effort in which the physical sub models, numerics, and coding are evolving, so too must the specific details of the entropy viscosity stabilization method. Here the fundamentals of the method in their current state are presented.