Dr. Robert Salko
Research Scientist
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Abstract

After 10 years, the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) DOE Energy Innovation Hub is nearing its completion.  Over this time, significant advancements have been made in light water reactor modeling and simulation and has led to the development of the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA).  CTF, the thermal-hydraulic subchannel solver in VERA, has been improved in several ways.  This talk will present an overview of the significant improvements that have been developed and implemented into CTF during CASL, including development of CFD-informed modeling techniques used for capturing spacer grid effects in crud simulations, use of physics-informed machine learning for development of new critical heat flux modeling capabilities, development of the CTFFuel modeling capability and its implementation into VERA, software quality improvements, and will conclude with discussion of future work planned for CTF beyond CASL.

Biography

 Dr. Robert Salko graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in 2006 with bachelor’s degrees in both mechanical and nuclear engineering, in 2009 with a master’s degree in nuclear engineering, and in 2012 with a PhD in nuclear engineering.  In 2012, Robert joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory to support development of a high-fidelity core simulator capability.  Robert is currently the lead developer for the subchannel thermal hydraulics code, CTF, and some of his significant contributions have included implementation of a comprehensive software quality assurance plan, performing substantial code performance improvements, supporting coupling activities, and development and implementation of improved modeling capabilities.

Thursday, September 19. 2019
3:45 pm refreshments; 4:00 pm seminar
Room 1202 Burlington Labs

***This seminar will be streamed live on our NCStateNuclear YouTube channel***