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Title: Improvement of the 2D/1D Method in MPACT Using the Sub-Plane Scheme

Abstract

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Michigan are jointly developing the MPACTcode to be the primary neutron transport code for the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA). To solve the transport equation, MPACT uses the 2D/1D method, which decomposes the problem into a stack of 2D planes that are then coupled with a 1D axial calculation. MPACT uses the Method of Characteristics for the 2D transport calculations and P3 for the 1D axial calculations, then accelerates the solution using the 3D Coarse mesh Finite Dierence (CMFD) method. Increasing the number of 2D MOC planes will increase the accuracy of the alculation, but will increase the computational burden of the calculations and can cause slow convergence or instability. To prevent these problems while maintaining accuracy, the sub-plane scheme has been implemented in MPACT. This method sub-divides the MOC planes into sub-planes, refining the 1D P3 and 3D CMFD calculations without increasing the number of 2D MOC planes. To test the sub-plane scheme, three of the VERA Progression Problems were selected: Problem 3, a single assembly problem; Problem 4, a 3x3 assembly problem with control rods and pyrex burnable poisons; and Problem 5, a quarter core problem. These three problemsmore » demonstrated that the sub-plane scheme can accurately produce intra-plane axial flux profiles that preserve the accuracy of the fine mesh solution. The eigenvalue dierences are negligibly small, and dierences in 3D power distributions are less than 0.1% for realistic axial meshes. Furthermore, the convergence behavior with the sub-plane scheme compares favorably with the conventional 2D/1D method, and the computational expense is decreased for all calculations due to the reduction in expensive MOC calculations.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. ORNL
  2. University of Michigan
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Consortium for Advanced Simulation of LWRs (CASL)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1344278
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: M&C 2017 - International Conference on Mathematics & Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science & Engineering, Jeju, South Korea, 20170416, 20170420
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Graham, Aaron M, Collins, Benjamin S, and Downar, Thomas. Improvement of the 2D/1D Method in MPACT Using the Sub-Plane Scheme. United States: N. p., 2017. Web.
Graham, Aaron M, Collins, Benjamin S, & Downar, Thomas. Improvement of the 2D/1D Method in MPACT Using the Sub-Plane Scheme. United States.
Graham, Aaron M, Collins, Benjamin S, and Downar, Thomas. 2017. "Improvement of the 2D/1D Method in MPACT Using the Sub-Plane Scheme". United States.
@article{osti_1344278,
title = {Improvement of the 2D/1D Method in MPACT Using the Sub-Plane Scheme},
author = {Graham, Aaron M and Collins, Benjamin S and Downar, Thomas},
abstractNote = {Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Michigan are jointly developing the MPACTcode to be the primary neutron transport code for the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA). To solve the transport equation, MPACT uses the 2D/1D method, which decomposes the problem into a stack of 2D planes that are then coupled with a 1D axial calculation. MPACT uses the Method of Characteristics for the 2D transport calculations and P3 for the 1D axial calculations, then accelerates the solution using the 3D Coarse mesh Finite Dierence (CMFD) method. Increasing the number of 2D MOC planes will increase the accuracy of the alculation, but will increase the computational burden of the calculations and can cause slow convergence or instability. To prevent these problems while maintaining accuracy, the sub-plane scheme has been implemented in MPACT. This method sub-divides the MOC planes into sub-planes, refining the 1D P3 and 3D CMFD calculations without increasing the number of 2D MOC planes. To test the sub-plane scheme, three of the VERA Progression Problems were selected: Problem 3, a single assembly problem; Problem 4, a 3x3 assembly problem with control rods and pyrex burnable poisons; and Problem 5, a quarter core problem. These three problems demonstrated that the sub-plane scheme can accurately produce intra-plane axial flux profiles that preserve the accuracy of the fine mesh solution. The eigenvalue dierences are negligibly small, and dierences in 3D power distributions are less than 0.1% for realistic axial meshes. Furthermore, the convergence behavior with the sub-plane scheme compares favorably with the conventional 2D/1D method, and the computational expense is decreased for all calculations due to the reduction in expensive MOC calculations.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1344278}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}

Conference:
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