SPECTRAL ELEMENT CODE DEVELOPMENT FOR INCOMPRESSIBLE FLOW SIMULATIONS IN THE SUBCHANNEL OF A FUEL ROD BUNDLE

Two decades ago spectral element methods were developed in order to unite the the geometrical flexibility of finite element methods and the spectral convergence properity of spectral methods. A code based on spectral element methods is a promising candidate to simulate turbulent incompressible fluid flow in arbitrary geometry. The aim of this work is to develop an accurate Navier-Stokes solver which is capable of simulate turbulent incompressible fluid flow in an arbitrary complex geometry. We present the concept of the spectral element methods and the algorithm used to solve Navier-Stokes equations. The design and implementation issues of a parallel spectral element code able to simulate fluid flows in arbitrary geometry are also discussed. Some preliminary results of flow simulations of in a subchannel of fuel rod bundle are presented