A finite subelement formulation of the variational nodal method
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
- Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
The variational nodal method (VNM) combines either P{sub N} or SP{sub N} approximations in angle with hybrid finite elements in space to yield nodal response matrices. The even-parity flux within each node has been represented by a set of orthogonal polynomials in space, from which the local flux distribution can be reconstructed. Until recently, however, the formulation constrained cross sections to be uniform within the node. Thus, it shares with other nodal methods the requirement that heterogeneous fuel assemblies be homogenized before performing global calculations and then be reconstructed afterward. More recently, some success has been achieved in circumventing this restriction with local mesh refinement and with the use of very high order polynomials. In this work, the authors take an alternate approach to incorporating heterogeneous nodes into the variational nodal method--one which may eventually enable each fuel assembly in a thermal reactor to be treated as one node while explicitly retaining the cross sections for each fuel pin cell in the global transport calculations.
- OSTI ID:
- 298304
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-981106--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 79; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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