The paper presents an application of a variance decomposition method for the sensitivity analysis of the thermal hydraulic (TH) model of the Passive Containment Cooling System (PCCS) of an Advanced Pressurized Reactor (AP1000). The Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA) is considered as the most representative accident for identifying the Failure Damage Domain (FDD) of the PCCS with respect to the ind...

sures experienced by a pipeline can be either beneficial or detrimental from an operational performance perspective, depending on the amount, the two phase regime of the mixture (whether homogeneous or slug) and the nature and cause of the transient. It is generally held that when free (undissolved) air, or gas, is present in a hydraulic system, it can greatly reduce the surge pressure levels b...

Current models used for predicting vegetation responses to climate change are often guided by the dichotomous needs to resolve either (i) internal plant water status as a proxy for physiological vulnerability or (ii) external water and carbon fluxes and atmospheric feedbacks. Yet, accurate representation of fluxes does not always equate to accurate predictions of vulnerability. We resolve this ...

Most historic and traditional mortars were made with lime. Due to their nature and function lime mortars weather and need to be replaced. Ordinary portland cement mortars can often be incompatible with historic masonry causing structural and aesthetic damage. Petrographic analysis of original mortars from Clonmacnoise Monastery and Ardamullivan Castle evidenced that they were fabricated with fe...

This paper presents a coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) model for simulating failure processes in geological media. The coupling between stress/strain and heat transfer describing how thermal expansion affects stress is based on the theory of thermo-elasticity. Additionally, fluid flow pore-pressure governed by Biot's consolidation theory. Stress/strain-dependent porosity/permeability/...

A continuum damage mechanics (CDM) based constitutive model has been developed to describe elastic, plastic and damage behavior of porous rocks. The pressure sensitive inelastic deformation of porous rocks together with their damage mechanisms are studied for drained and undrained conditions. Fracture mechanics of microcrack andmicro-void nucleation and their coalescence are incorporated into t...

Drought-induced forest dieback has been widely reported over the last decades, and the evidence for a direct causal link between survival and hydraulic failure (xylem cavitation) is now well known. Because vulnerability to cavitation is intimately linked to the anatomy of the xylem, the main objective of this study was to better understand the xylem anatomical properties associated with cavitat...

We discuss the relationship between the dynamically changing tension gradients required to move water rapidly through the xylem conduits of plants and the proportion of conduits lost through embolism as a result of water tension. We consider the implications of this relationship to the water relations of trees. We have compiled quantitative data on the water relations, hydraulic architecture an...

Warming and drought will occur with increased frequency and intensity at high latitudes in the future. How heat and water stress can influence tree mortality is incompletely understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate how carbon resources, stem hydraulics, and wood anatomy and density determine the ability of black spruce saplings to survive daytime or night-time warming (+ 6 °C in compar...

For most angiosperms, producing and maintaining flowers is critical to sexual reproduction, yet little is known about the physiological processes involved in maintaining flowers throughout anthesis. Among extant species, flowers of the genus Calycanthus have the highest hydraulic conductance and vein densities of species measured to date, yet they can wilt by late morning under hot conditions. ...