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Alessandro Scolaro

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Related publications (33)

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Development of a Novel Finite Volume Methodology for Multi-Dimensional Fuel Performance Applications

Alessandro Scolaro

Fuel performance codes are an essential tool for ensuring the safe and economic opera-tion of nuclear reactors. Traditionally, these codes have been developed following a simple 1.5-D modelling approach, where the fuel behavior is simplified by assuming ax ...

EPFL2021

International fuel performance study of fresh fuel experiments for PCMI effects during RIA experiments

Alessandro Scolaro, Matthieu Alain Max Reymond

This paper presents the results of High-burnup Experiments for Reactivity-initiated Accident (HERA) Modeling & Simulation (M&S) exercise. The HERA project under the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Second Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES-II) program ...

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2024

In-Memory, Fully-Parallel Coupling of GeN-Foam and OFFBEAT: Towards a New Milestone in High-Fidelity, Finite-Volume Nuclear Reactor Simulation

Mathieu Hursin, Alessandro Scolaro, Thomas Arthur Louis Joseph Guilbaud, Giovanni Nervi

The design and safety analysis of advanced fuel materials and innovative Gen-IV reactor concepts, with their distinct physical and engineering requirements compared to conventional reactors, has often been the main drive behind the development of modern mu ...

American Nuclear Society2025

Analysing hydrogen behaviour in liner claddings using OFFBEAT fuel performance code

Alessandro Scolaro

Hydrogen generated during the waterside corrosion of zirconium claddings can diffuse within the material, forming hydrides that alter the mechanical properties of the claddings. These hydrides may lead to detrimental effects such as delayed hydride crackin ...

2025

The OFFBEAT multi-dimensional fuel behavior solver

Andreas Pautz, Alessandro Scolaro, Carlo Fiorina

The OpenFOAM Fuel BEhavior Analysis Tool, or OFFBEAT, is a multi-dimensional fuel performance code under collaborative development at the Laboratory for Reactor Physics and Systems Behaviour (LRS) of the EPFL and at the PSI. The code can be used both for s ...

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2020

Modeling of Sodium Fast Reactors Thermal Expansion Reactivity Feedback using GeN-Foam and Serpent

Mathieu Hursin, Alessandro Scolaro, Giovanni Nervi

Sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) offer a promising alternative to conventional light-water technologies but present unique safety and design challenges. Among others, reactivity feedback effects associated to core deformations are significantly larger th ...

American Nuclear Society2024

A reduced order accelerator for time-dependent segregated neutronic solvers

Andreas Pautz, Alessandro Scolaro, Carlo Fiorina, Stefan Radman

The deterministic solution of the neutron transport problem entails the coupled solution of several partial differential equations, one for each energy group, direction and/or spherical harmonic. Several techniques have been devised for accelerating the so ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2018

Extension of the OFFBEAT fuel performance code to finite strains and validation against LOCA experiments

Andreas Pautz, Alessandro Scolaro, Carlo Fiorina, Edoardo Luciano Brunetto

The mechanical analysis of nuclear fuel behavior under base-irradiation conditions has traditionally been performed adopting the small-strain approximation. However, many cases of interest for fuel behavior involve the occurrence of large rod deformations ...

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2023

Fuel performance code to code comparative analysis for the OECD/NEA MPCMIV benchmark

Alessandro Scolaro

The recently developed Multi-Physics Pellet Cladding Mechanical Interaction Validation (MPCMIV) benchmark includes dedicated transient fuel performance exercises. In this work, three fuel performance codes (BISON, OFFBEAT, FAST) are used to perform support ...

2024

Artificial Neural Networks as Surrogate Models for Uncertainty Quantification and Data Assimilation in 2-D/3-D Fuel Performance Studies

Andreas Pautz, Mathieu Hursin, Alessandro Scolaro, Carlo Fiorina, Daniel Jerôme Siefman

This paper preliminarily investigates the use of data-driven surrogates for fuel performance codes. The objective is to develop fast-running models that can be used in the frame of uncertainty quantification and data assimilation studies. In particular, da ...

2020

Preliminary Sensitivity Analysis of Time-Dependent Code Outputs in Fuel Performance Models Using OFFBEAT for Future Calibration

Mathieu Hursin, Alessandro Scolaro, Edoardo Luciano Brunetto, Sara Maccario

Fuel performance codes are essential for predicting fuel rod behavior in nuclear reactors. These codes comprise a complex system of models with empirical constants that require calibration against experimental data. To support this calibration, this study ...

American Nuclear Society2025

Development of a dynamic-mesh porosity transport model for multi-dimensional fuel performance codes

Andreas Pautz, Alessandro Scolaro, Edoardo Luciano Brunetto

The porosity redistribution within nuclear fuel pellets exposed to high power ratings plays a critical role in the thermo-mechanical behavior of fast reactor fuel. Traditional fuel performance codes predict porosity migration through advection-dominated tr ...

2025

PuMMA blind benchmark: Performance of high plutonium content MOX fuel under irradiation

Alessandro Scolaro, Carlo Fiorina, Edoardo Luciano Brunetto

This paper presents the results of the first phase of the benchmark exercise in the PuMMA project, aimed at extending the reliability of fuel performance codes for Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuels with high plutonium content. The exercise involved the simulation of ...

2025

Two-phase modelling for fission gas sweeping in restructuring nuclear oxide fuel

Alessandro Scolaro

In this work, we propose a modelling approach for the intra-granular fission gas behaviour in UO2 under restructuring process. Leveraging the definition of restructured volume fraction, we consider the fuel matrix transition from the non-restructured to th ...

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA2024

Investigating the Accuracy of Porous-Medium Treatments in the Analysis of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems

Alessandro Scolaro, Thomas Arthur Louis Joseph Guilbaud

Porous-medium thermal-hydraulic modeling has become more popular in recent years for reactor analysis due to its flexibility and the ease of its implementation within multi-physics, PDE-oriented libraries like OpenFOAM and MOOSE.A porous-medium approach of ...

American Nuclear Society2024

Towards coupling conventional with high-fidelity fuel behavior analysis tools

Andreas Pautz, Carlo Fiorina, Alessandro Scolaro, Edoardo Luciano Brunetto

Multi-dimensional fuel performance codes have the potential to enhance the understanding of complex phenomena affecting fuel integrity, but their application is often limited by the high computational cost. Recognizing that many multi-dimensional aspects s ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022

Investigation on the effect of eccentricity for fuel disc irradiation tests

Andreas Pautz, Carlo Fiorina, Alessandro Scolaro

A varying degree of eccentricity always exists in the initial configuration of a nuclear fuel rod. Its impact on traditional LWR fuel is limited as the radial gap closes relatively early during irradiation. However, the effect of misalignment is expected t ...

2021

Investigation of the PCMI failure of pre-hydrided Zy-4 cladding during Reactivity Initiated Accidents with ALCYONE and OFFBEAT fuel performance codes

Alessandro Scolaro, Matthieu Alain Max Reymond

This paper presents simulations of Reactivity Initiated Accident on PWR fuel rods performed with two fuel performance codes: ALCYONE and OFFBEAT. These simulations were carried out in the framework of the first phase of the High-Burnup Experiments of React ...

2024

Comparison of Bayesian Model Calibration Techniques for Future Application to Fuel Performance Behavior Models

Mathieu Hursin, Alessandro Scolaro, Sara Maccario

This paper explores data assimilation methods in the context of Bayesian Calibration for fuel performance models. It compares deterministic and stochastic approaches, concentrating on the Generalized Linear Least Squares (GLLS) method and stochastic techni ...

American Nuclear Society2024

Cell-Wise Temperature and Deformation Reactivity Feedback Modeling in Heat Pipe-Cooled Microreactors

Alessandro Scolaro

The compact design of microreactors can potentially lead to a strong interdependence between neutronics and thermo-mechanics, making the development of coupling methodologies essential to quantify the importance of such effects. This study introduces a hig ...

American Nuclear Society2025