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Wang, K.

Publications and source records attributed to Wang, K..

At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Using Laguerre polynomials to compute the matrix exponential in burnup calculations

An essential part of burnup analysis is to solve the burnup equations. The burnup equations can be regarded as a first-order linear system and solved by means of matrix exponential methods. Because of its large spectrum, it is difficult to compute the exponential of the burnup matrix. Conventional methods of computing the matrix exponential, such as the truncated Taylor expansion and the Pade approximation, are not applicable to burnup calculations. Recently the Chebyshev Rational Approximation Method (CRAM) has been applied to solve burnup matrix exponential and shown to be robust and accurate. However, the main defect of CRAM is that its coefficients are not easy to obtain. In this paper, an orthogonal polynomial expansion method, called Laguerre Polynomial Approximation Method (LPAM), is proposed to compute the matrix exponential in burnup calculations. The polynomial sequence of LPAM can be easily computed in any order and thus LPAM is quite convenient to be utilized into burnup codes. Two typical test cases with the decay and cross-section data taken from the standard ORIGEN 2.1 libraries are calculated for validation, against the reference results provided by CRAM of 14 order. Numerical results show that, LPAM is sufficiently accurate for burnup calculations. The influences of the parameters on the convergence of LPAM are also discussed. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Comparisons on thin and thick neutron target for low energy proton beam

As the progress on accelerator physics and neutronics, the compact neutron sources driven by low energy and high intensity beam are becoming extensively developed and researched all around the world. The neutron target of an accelerator driven neutron source is one of the key components, and the stability of the neutron target affect the operation and performance of the neutron facility. When a low energy proton is projected to the beryllium target, the main reaction is the inelastic scattering between the proton and extra-nuclear electrons. As the decreasing of proton energy, the rate of elastic scattering between proton and target nucleus begins to increase. When the energy of proton is very low, the pickup charge reaction begins to appear. Focus on the problems brought by high intensity proton beam such as proton implantation, radiation damages, heat deposition and gas production, we performed sufficient numerical simulations for both thin and thick target determined by proton range. The results show that the critical problem for thick target is the proton implantation, causing the forming of bubbles and beryllium flaked in vacuum. The thin target sacrifices a little neutron yield, but avoid the proton stopped in target, and decrease the radiation damage and energy deposition. (authors)

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Research on Fast-Doppler-Broadening of neutron cross sections

A Fast-Doppler-Broadening method is developed in this work to broaden Continuous Energy neutron cross-sections for Monte Carlo calculations. Gauss integration algorithm and parallel computing are implemented in this method, which is unprecedented in the history of cross section processing. Compared to the traditional code (NJOY, SIGMA1, etc.), the new Fast-Doppler-Broadening method shows a remarkable speedup with keeping accuracy. The purpose of using Gauss integration is to avoid complex derivation of traditional broadening formula and heavy load of computing complementary error function that slows down the Doppler broadening process. The OpenMP environment is utilized in parallel computing which can take full advantage of modern multi-processor computers. Combination of the two can reduce processing time of main actinides (such as {sup 238}U, {sup 235}U) to an order of magnitude of 1{approx}2 seconds. This new method is fast enough to be applied to Online Doppler broadening. It can be combined or coupled with Monte Carlo transport code to solve temperature dependent problems and neutronics-thermal hydraulics coupled scheme which is a big challenge for the conventional NJOY-MCNP system. Examples are shown to determine the efficiency and relative errors compared with the NJOY results. A Godiva Benchmark is also used in order to test the ACE libraries produced by the new method. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

A hybrid Monte Carlo and response matrix Monte Carlo method in criticality calculation

Full core calculations are very useful and important in reactor physics analysis, especially in computing the full core power distributions, optimizing the refueling strategies and analyzing the depletion of fuels. To reduce the computing time and accelerate the convergence, a method named Response Matrix Monte Carlo (RMMC) method based on analog Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate the fixed source neutron transport problems in repeated structures. To make more accurate calculations, we put forward the RMMC method based on non-analog Monte Carlo simulation and investigate the way to use RMMC method in criticality calculations. Then a new hybrid RMMC and MC (RMMC+MC) method is put forward to solve the criticality problems with combined repeated and flexible geometries. This new RMMC+MC method, having the advantages of both MC method and RMMC method, can not only increase the efficiency of calculations, also simulate more complex geometries rather than repeated structures. Several 1-D numerical problems are constructed to test the new RMMC and RMMC+MC method. The results show that RMMC method and RMMC+MC method can efficiently reduce the computing time and variations in the calculations. Finally, the future research directions are mentioned and discussed at the end of this paper to make RMMC method and RMMC+MC method more powerful. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

A multi-group Monte Carlo core analysis method and its application in SCWR design

Complex geometry and spectrum have been the characteristics of many newly developed nuclear energy systems, so the suitability and precision of the traditional deterministic codes are doubtable while being applied to simulate these systems. On the contrary, the Monte Carlo method has the inherent advantages of dealing with complex geometry and spectrum. The main disadvantage of Monte Carlo method is that it takes long time to get reliable results, so the efficiency is too low for the ordinary core designs. A new Monte Carlo core analysis scheme is developed, aimed to increase the calculation efficiency. It is finished in two steps: Firstly, the assembly level simulation is performed by continuous energy Monte Carlo method, which is suitable for any geometry and spectrum configuration, and the assembly multi-group constants are tallied at the same time; Secondly, the core level calculation is performed by multi-group Monte Carlo method, using the assembly group constants generated in the first step. Compared with the heterogeneous Monte Carlo calculations of the whole core, this two-step scheme is more efficient, and the precision is acceptable for the preliminary analysis of novel nuclear systems. Using this core analysis scheme, a SCWR core was designed based on a new SCWR assembly design. The core output is about 1,100 MWe, and a cycle length of about 550 EFPDs can be achieved with 3-batch refueling pattern. The average and maximum discharge burn-up are about 53.5 and 60.9 MWD/kgU respectively. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Evaluation of Global Observations-Based Evapotranspiration Datasets and IPCC AR4 Simulations

Quantification of global land evapotranspiration (ET) has long been associated with large uncertainties due to the lack of reference observations. Several recently developed products now provide the capacity to estimate ET at global scales. These products, partly based on observational data, include satellite ]based products, land surface model (LSM) simulations, atmospheric reanalysis output, estimates based on empirical upscaling of eddycovariance flux measurements, and atmospheric water balance datasets. The LandFlux-EVAL project aims to evaluate and compare these newly developed datasets. Additionally, an evaluation of IPCC AR4 global climate model (GCM) simulations is presented, providing an assessment of their capacity to reproduce flux behavior relative to the observations ]based products. Though differently constrained with observations, the analyzed reference datasets display similar large-scale ET patterns. ET from the IPCC AR4 simulations was significantly smaller than that from the other products for India (up to 1 mm/d) and parts of eastern South America, and larger in the western USA, Australia and China. The inter-product variance is lower across the IPCC AR4 simulations than across the reference datasets in several regions, which indicates that uncertainties may be underestimated in the IPCC AR4 models due to shared biases of these simulations.

Mueller, B.↗
DOE OSTI2011

Polarization observables in deuteron photodisintegration below 360 MeV.

High precision measurements of induced and transferred recoil proton polarization in d({rvec y}, {rvec p})n have been performed for photon energies of 277-357 MeV and {theta}cm = 20{sup o}-120{sup o}. The measurements were motivated by a longstanding discrepancy between meson-baryon model calculations and data at higher energies. At the low energies of this experiment, theory continues to fail to reproduce the data, indicating that either something is missing in the calculations and/or there is a problem with the accuracy of the nucleon-nucleon potential being used.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Exclusive neutral pion electroproduction in the deeply virtual regime

We present measurements of the ep{yields}ep{pi}{sup 0} cross section extracted at two values of four-momentum transfer Q{sup 2}=1.9 GeV{sup 2} and Q{sup 2}=2.3 GeV{sup 2} at Jefferson Lab Hall A. The kinematic range allows one to study the evolution of the extracted cross section as a function of Q{sup 2} and W. Results are confronted with Regge-inspired calculations and GPD predictions. An intepretation of our data within the framework of semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering is also discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Global Intercomparison of 12 Land Surface Heat Flux Estimates

A global intercomparison of 12 monthly mean land surface heat flux products for the period 1993-1995 is presented. The intercomparison includes some of the first emerging global satellite-based products (developed at Paris Observatory, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, University of California Berkeley, University of Maryland, and Princeton University) and examples of fluxes produced by reanalyses (ERA-Interim, MERRA, NCEP-DOE) and off-line land surface models (GSWP-2, GLDAS CLM/ Mosaic/Noah). An intercomparison of the global latent heat flux (Q(sub le)) annual means shows a spread of approx 20 W/sq m (all-product global average of approx 45 W/sq m). A similar spread is observed for the sensible (Q(sub h)) and net radiative (R(sub n)) fluxes. In general, the products correlate well with each other, helped by the large seasonal variability and common forcing data for some of the products. Expected spatial distributions related to the major climatic regimes and geographical features are reproduced by all products. Nevertheless, large Q(sub le)and Q(sub h) absolute differences are also observed. The fluxes were spatially averaged for 10 vegetation classes. The larger Q(sub le) differences were observed for the rain forest but, when normalized by mean fluxes, the differences were comparable to other classes. In general, the correlations between Q(sub le) and R(sub n) were higher for the satellite-based products compared with the reanalyses and off-line models. The fluxes were also averaged for 10 selected basins. The seasonality was generally well captured by all products, but large differences in the flux partitioning were observed for some products and basins.

Jimenez, C.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Drift Loss-Cone Distributions Electrons in the Jovian Synchrotron Zone from 06 and VIP4 Models

Relativistic electrons (10-50 MeV) play an important role to account for the observed synchrotron decimetric radiation in Jupiter's inner radiation belt (L < 4). A detailed knowledge of these electron distributions is required to understand the synchrotron emission observations and the associated on-going physical processes. In this paper, instead of assuming electrons drift along constant L-shell at the magnetic equator as many earlier studies adopted, we calculate the size of the theoretical drift-loss cone for relativistic electrons using both the O6 and VIP4 magnetic field models. Model maps of the synchrotron emission for specific electron distributions are shown for comparison.

Wang, K.↗