Engineering Papers⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Evans, Thomas M

Publications and source records attributed to Evans, Thomas M.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Shift: A Massively Parallel Monte Carlo Radiation Transport Package

This paper discusses the massively-parallel Monte Carlo radiation transport package, Shift, developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It reviews the capabilities, implementation, and parallel performance of this code package. Scaling results demonstrate very good strong and weak scaling behavior of the implemented algorithms. Benchmark results from various reactor problems show that Shift results compare well to other contemporary Monte Carlo codes and experimental results.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Three-dimensional discrete ordinates reactor assembly calculations on GPUs

In this paper we describe and demonstrate a discrete ordinates sweep algorithm on GPUs. This sweep algorithm is nested within a multilevel comunication-based decomposition based on energy. We demonstrated the effectiveness of this algorithm on detailed three-dimensional critical experiments and PWR lattice problems. For these problems we show improvement factors of 4 6 over conventional communication-based, CPU-only sweeps. These sweep kernel speedups resulted in a factor of 2 total time-to-solution improvement.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2014

A Monte Carlo synthetic-acceleration method for solving the thermal radiation diffusion equation

We present a novel synthetic-acceleration-based Monte Carlo method for solving the equilibrium thermal radiation diffusion equation in three spatial dimensions. The algorithm performance is compared against traditional solution techniques using a Marshak benchmark problem and a more complex multiple material problem. Our results show that our Monte Carlo method is an effective solver for sparse matrix systems. For solutions converged to the same tolerance, it performs competitively with deterministic methods including preconditioned conjugate gradient and GMRES. We also discuss various aspects of preconditioning the method and its general applicability to broader classes of problems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Massively Parallel, Three-Dimensional Transport Solutions for the k-Eigenvalue Problem

We have implemented a new multilevel parallel decomposition in the Denovo dis- crete ordinates radiation transport code. In concert with Krylov subspace iterative solvers, the multilevel decomposition allows concurrency over energy in addition to space-angle, enabling scalability beyond the limits imposed by the traditional KBA space-angle partitioning. Furthermore, a new Arnoldi-based k-eigenvalue solver has been implemented. The added phase-space concurrency combined with the high- performance Krylov and Arnoldi solvers has enabled weak scaling to O(100K) cores on the Jaguar XK6 supercomputer. The multilevel decomposition provides sucient parallelism to scale to exascale computing and beyond.

Arnoldi↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coupled Neutronics Thermal-Hydraulic Solution of a Full-Core PWR Using VERA-CS

The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) is developing a core simulator called VERA-CS to model operating PWR reactors with high resolution. This paper describes how the development of VERA-CS is being driven by a set of progression benchmark problems that specify the delivery of useful capability in discrete steps. As part of this development, this paper will describe the current capability of VERA-CS to perform a multiphysics simulation of an operating PWR at Hot Full Power (HFP) conditions using a set of existing computer codes coupled together in a novel method. Results for several single-assembly cases are shown that demonstrate coupling for different boron concentrations and power levels. Finally, high-resolution results are shown for a full-core PWR reactor modeled in quarter-symmetry.

Core Simulator↗
DOE OSTI2014

Watts Bar Unit 1 Cycle Zero Power Physics Tests Analysis with VERA-CS

The Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) is developing a collection of methods and software products known as VERA, the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications, including a core simulation capability called VERA-CS. A key milestone for this endeavor is to validate VERA against measurements from operating nuclear power reactors. The first step in validation against plant data is to determine the ability of VERA to accurately simulate the initial startup physics tests for Watts Bar Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1 (WBN1) cycle 1. VERA-CS calculations were performed with the Insilico code developed at ORNL using cross section processing from the SCALE system and the transport capabilities within the Denovo transport code using the SPN method. The calculations were performed with ENDF/B-VII.0 cross sections in 252 groups (collapsed to 23 groups for the 3D transport solution). The key results of the comparison of calculations with measurements include initial criticality, control rod worth critical configurations, control rod worth, differential boron worth, and isothermal temperature reactivity coefficient (ITC). The VERA results for these parameters show good agreement with measurements, with the exception of the ITC, which requires additional investigation. Results are also compared to those obtained with Monte Carlo methods and a current industry core simulator.

CASL↗