Simulation of Convection in Water Phantom Induced by Periodic Radiation Heating

H.H. Chen-Mayer[1], and R. Tosh[1]
[1]Ionizing Radiation Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA
Published in 2009

Water calorimetry is employed to establish a primary reference standard for radiation dosimetry by measuring the temperature rises in a water phantom (a cube of about 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm) subjected to a beam of ionizing radiation.  We use COMSOL Multiphysics to model the system using the Heat Transfer module and the Incompressible Navier-Stokes module with a geometry of 2D-axial symmetry. We have developed a technique using a modulated periodic incident radiation to establish a steady state, and measure the system response in the frequency domain.