Nuclear thermal-hydraulics: What is it?
Academic Article
Overview
Identity
Additional Document Info
Other
View All
Overview
abstract
2019 B. R. Sehgal, G. Yadigaroglu and G. Hewitt spent their scientific lives in nuclear thermal-hydraulics and closely connected areas and sturdily contributed to the development. What is nuclear thermal-hydraulics nowadays? It has been defined as a universe of matters, knowledge and competences; any scientist attempting to answer the question unavoidably looks like an astronomer observing the open space from a narrow angle: whatever he may see and describe is correct, but providing a full answer is well beyond this observation. Textbooks, journals, conferences, industrial applications, university teaching, experimental data, equations and models, etc., may be used to provide an answer. Regretfully, a systematic approach covering all those issues is beyond the purpose for the present effort and also might end-up with a diluted definition having limited applicability and interest. The occasion to answer the question is taken here from the publication during the last couple of years of selected reference books in thermal-hydraulics. This is done having in mind major books which are pillars of nuclear thermal-hydraulics and were published in previous decades also with the contributions of the honored scientists. Seven books are considered and a broad variety of topics are covered. Attention is given to recent books edited by Sehgal and Yadigaroglu & Hewitt. The key (expected) result is: the words nuclear thermal-hydraulics are associated with a wide variety of topics which have (very) different importance for different authors; however, a proposal is formulated to define nuclear thermal-hydraulics.
