A tree-based automated machine learning approach of the obstructed view factor of thermal radiation in nuclear pebble beds

For the nuclear pebble bed of the high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), a tree-based automated machine learning approach is developed to discuss the complicated thermal radiation behaviors. The AutoML model for calculating the obstructed view factor between any two particles in the pebble bed includes the gradient boosting regression tree model with the fine-tuned hyperparameters and the analytical base model. Using the discrete packing of the HTR-PM nuclear reactor and the leaped Halton sequence, a large dataset of the view factor under different conditions is generated to train the AutoML model. On the same platform, numerical results show that AutoML model is approximately 5 × 105 times faster than the traditional approach. The Pareto front of the AutoML model indicates that the mean squared error decreases with the model complexity until it reaches the optimal solution. Then, the trained AutoML model is applied to the engineering pebble bed. It is shown that the average radiation exchange factor near the wall is lower than that in the bulk region. In addition, the packing height is also an important parameter for evaluating the radiative behaviors. In particular, when the height of the nuclear pebble bed is less than 20 times particle diameter, it is necessary to consider the contribution of the packing height to the radiation effective thermal conductivity. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd