Validation of a Computer Code for Use in the Mechanical Design of Spallation Neutron Targets

The present work concentrates on comparing a numerical code and a closed-form analytic solution for determining transient stress waves generated by an impinging, high-intensity proton pulse onto a perfectly elastic solid cylindrical target. The comparison of the two methods serves both to benchmark the physics and numerical methods of the codes, and to verify them against analytic expressions that can be established for calculating the response of the target for simple cases of loading and geometry. Additionally, the comparison elucidated the effects of approximations used in the computation of the analytic results. Two load cases have been investigated: (1) an instantaneously uniform thermal loading along the central core, and (2) a ramped and uniform thermal load applied along the central core. In addition, the influence of the approximations applied to the accurate analytic forms has been elucidated. By validating these analytical results, the closed-form solution may be confidently used to "bound" the solution prior to initiating more detailed and comprehensive numerical studies.