Recent developments in discrete ordinates electron transport

Conference · Tue Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1985 · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5580221

Morel, J E; Lorence, Jr, L J

The discrete ordinates method is a deterministic method for numerically solving the Boltzmann equation. It was originally developed for neutron transport calculations, but is routinely used for photon and coupled neutron-photon transport calculations as well. The computational state of the art for coupled electron-photon transport (CEPT) calculations is not as developed as that for neutron transport calculations. The only production codes currently available for CEPT calculations are condensed-history Monte Carlo codes such as the ETRAN and ITS codes. A deterministic capability for production calculations is clearly needed. In response to this need, we have begun the development of a production discrete ordinates code for CEPT calculations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the basic approach we are taking, discuss the current status of the project, and present some new computational results. Although further characterization of the coupled electron-photon discrete ordinates method remains to be done, the results to date indicate that the discrete ordinates method can be just as accurate and from 10 to 100 times faster than the Monte Carlo method for a wide variety of problems. We stress that these results are obtained with standard discrete ordinates codes such as ONETRAN. It is clear that even greater efficiency can be obtained by developing a new generation of production discrete ordinates codes specifically designed to solve the Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck equation. However, the prospects for such development in the near future appear to be remote.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM
• OSTI ID: 5580221
• Report Number(s): CONF-860610-
• Journal Information: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States), Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Vol. 52; ISSN TANSA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

654001* -- Radiation & Shielding Physics-- Radiation Physics
Shielding Calculations & Experiments
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
C CODES
CHARGED-PARTICLE TRANSPORT
COMPUTER CODES
DEPTH DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
DISCRETE ORDINATE METHOD
ELECTRONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
LEPTONS
O CODES
RADIATION DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
RADIATION TRANSPORT
SPATIAL DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS