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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Accelerating detector simulations with Celeritas: Profiling and performance optimizations

Celeritas is a GPU-optimized Monte Carlo (MC) particle transport code designed to meet the growing computational demands of next-generation high energy physics (HEP) experiments. It provides efficient simulation of electromagnetic (EM) physics processes in complex geometries with magnetic fields, detector hit scoring, and seamless integration into Geant4-driven applications to offload EM physics to GPUs. Recent efforts have focused on performance optimizations and expanding profiling capabilities. This paper presents some key advancements, including the integration of the Perfetto system profiling tool for detailed performance analysis and the development of track-sorting methods to improve computational efficiency.

Lund, Amanda [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)]↗
DOE OSTI2017

Gamma-ray dose from an overhead plume

Standard plume models can underestimate the gamma-ray dose when most of the radioactive material is above the heads of the receptors. Typically, a model is used to calculate the air concentration at the height of the receptor, and the dose is calculated by multiplying the air concentration by a concentration-to-dose conversion factor. Models indicate that if the plume is emitted from a stack during stable atmospheric conditions, the lower edges of the plume may not reach the ground, in which case both the ground-level concentration and the dose are usually reported as zero. However, in such cases, the dose from overhead gamma-emitting radionuclides may be substantial. Such underestimates could impact decision making in emergency situations. The Monte Carlo N-Particle code, MCNP, was used to calculate the overhead shine dose and to compare with standard plume models. At long distances and during unstable atmospheric conditions, the MCNP results agree with the standard models. As a result, at short distances, where many models calculate zero, the true dose (as modeled by MCNP) can be estimated with simple equations.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Induced Radioactivity in Lead Shielding at the National Synchrotron Light Source

The National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory was shut down in September 2014. Lead bricks used as radiological shadow shielding within the accelerator were exposed to stray radiation fields during normal operations. The FLUKA code, a fully integrated Monte Carlo simulation package for the interaction and transport of particles and nuclei in matter, was used to estimate induced radioactivity in this shielding and stainless steel beam pipe from known beam losses. The FLUKA output was processed using MICROSHIELD® to estimate on-contact exposure rates with individually exposed bricks to help design and optimize the radiological survey process. This entire process can be modeled using FLUKA, but use of MICROSHIELD® as a secondary method was chosen because of the project’s resource constraints. Due to the compressed schedule and lack of shielding configuration data, simple FLUKA models were developed in this paper. FLUKA activity estimates for stainless steel were compared with sampling data to validate results, which show that simple FLUKA models and irradiation geometries can be used to predict radioactivity inventories accurately in exposed materials. During decommissioning 0.1% of the lead bricks were found to have measurable levels of induced radioactivity. Finally, post-processing with MICROSHIELD® provides an acceptable secondary method of estimating residual exposure rates.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2018

Production of Th 229 for medical applications: Excitation functions of low-energy protons on Th 232 targets

As a part of a general program to evaluate production routes for 229 Th, we studied production of 229 Th via proton-induced reactions on 232 Th targets bombarded with low-energy protons, E p ≤ 40MeV. The reported excitation functions include those for proton-induced reactions on natural thorium yielding to 228,229,230&232 Pa isotopes; 232 Th( p,xn ) reactions, where x=1, 3, 4, and 5, at proton energy ranges of 12–40 MeV. Although the data for 232 Th(p,n) 228 Pa, 232 Th(p,3n) 230 Pa, and 232 Th(p,5n) 232 Pa reactions were deduced by direct analysis of the thorium foils after irradiation, the data for 232 Th(p,4n) 229 Pa were obtained by radiochemical techniques. The half-life of 229 Pa was evaluated and determined to be 1.55 ± 0.01 d. Further, the α-branching ratio, α/(α + EC) of 229 Pa was evaluated to be 0.53 ± 0.10% by allowing 229 Pa to decay for ~7d, then chemically extracting and quantifying the 225 Ac (t 1/2 = 10.0±0.1d) from 229 Pa samples. In addition, we report the effective production cross section of 229 Th in a thick 232 Th target in the proton energy range of 23–33 MeV. The peak of the excitation function for the 232 Th(p,4n) 229 Pa reaction occurs at 162 ± 14 mb and E p =29.7±0.5MeV. This is only slightly larger than the effective cross section for the 232 Th(p,x) 229 Th reaction (obtained from a thick target experiment). This data indicates that the 232 Th(p,4n) 229 Pa reaction is the major reaction pathway for the cumulative 232 Th(p,x) 229 Th reaction cross section in this energy range. The measured cross sections were compared with theoretical cross sections using the simulation codes Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) and Monte Carlo Neutral Particle 6 (MCNP6). Furthermore, at proton energy ranges of 12–33 MeV, the cumulative excitation function predicted by PHITS for the reactions leading to 229 Th was in close agreement with the experimental function, whereas the function predicted by MCNP6 was a factor of two higher at the peak of the excitation function.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Precision Description of Processes at Colliders in the SANC System

A review of the SANC computer system intended for theoretical support of experiments at colliders is presented. The system allows the precision predictions to be obtained semiautomatically for a wide class of particle interaction processes within the Standard Model. In this case, one considers total contributions of one-loop radiative corrections. Basic elements of the computer system are described, and examples of using the system for the high-precision description of certain processes of the Standard Model particle interactions are given. The MCSANC code developed using the Monte Carlo simulation is presented, which is used to calculate cross sections of a number of processes, investigated at the Large Hadron Collider. The prospects of research development in this field for theoretical support at future hadron and lepton colliders are discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

lanl/jaybenne

Monte Carlo thermal radiation transport code

Ryan, Ben↗
DOE OSTI2023

Fully Implicit Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis of the ARC-Class Vacuum Vessel

The coupled simulation of fusion reactor blankets including neutronics, thermal-hydraulics and thermo-mechanics is expected to speed up the design cycle of fusion reactor design concepts. In this work we demonstrate tight implicit coupling of conjugate heat transfer using the open-source Computational Fluid Dynamics software OpenFOAM for thermo-fluid mechanics and Diablo for thermo-solid mechanics. The heat transfer analysis is augmented by volumetric energy deposition from neutronic calculations using the Monte Carlo N-particle code on both solid and fluid parts of the vacuum vessel. An additional heat flux is imposed on the first wall estimated from the design power of the reactor. The tight coupling is realized through the open-source coupling library, preCICE, and tested on the vacuum vessel of the affordable, robust, compact reactor design by Commonwealth Fusion Systems. The features of the coupling and the influence of different coupling parameters such as coupling schemes, acceleration techniques and convergence criterion are discussed. The coupled simulation results are compared to a thermal-hydraulics simulation which includes only the fluid domains (the liquid immersion molten salt blanket and cooling channel) to demonstrate usefulness of a coupled simulation. Further analysis is performed to identify regions of hot spots for subsequent design improvement. This introduces the outline for integrating conjugate electromagnetics and fluid/solid mechanics (e.g., allow for deformation of the cooling channel walls) with our present approach for future analysis.

Sircar, Arpan↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sensitivity-based Similarity Metrics for New Experiment Design Optimization

The nuclear data used in advanced reactor simulations requires validation. Data from nuclear criticality experiments can provide this validation. New nuclear criticality experiment design requires extensive knowledge and expert judgement such that the experimental design parameters are selected in such a way to keep the experiment subcritical. To aide in this experimental design process, professionals can utilize sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis relies on matching new application experiments with currently existing benchmark experiments. Currently, there is functionality in the Whisper 1.1 software package to calculate a similarity metric based on neutron multiplication factor sensitivity coefficients between a new application designed by the user and existing International Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiment Project (ICSBEP) benchmarks. The Whisper 1.1 software package is included in Monte Carlo N-Particle ® Code Version 6.21 (MCNP ® 6.2). This work is geared toward expanding this capability to new similarity metrics based on beta-effective sensitivity coefficients and reactivity coefficient sensitivity coefficients. While the investigation of these sensitivity coefficients is presented in detail in separate works at this same conference, this work will be primarily focused on studying the similarity metrics in more detail. These similarity metrics will then be incorporated into the optimization algorithms used for experiment design in EUCLID (Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in nuclear Data), which is a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) project designed to constrain nuclear data of interest, such that adjustments can be made to possible inaccuracies. A more detailed optimization can be subsequently performed by breaking down these similarity metrics by isotope, reaction, and energy.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

MCNP Version 6.2 Release Notes

Monte Carlo N-Particle or MCNP ® is a general-purpose Monte Carlo radiation-transport code designed to track many particle types over broad ranges of energies. This MCNP Version 6.2 follows the MCNP6.1.1 beta version and has been released in order to provide the radiation transport community with the latest feature developments and bug fixes for MCNP. Since the last release of MCNP major work has been conducted to improve the code base, add features, and provide tools to facilitate ease of use of MCNP version 6.2 as well as the analysis of results. These release notes serve as a general guide for the new/improved physics, source, data, tallies, unstructured mesh, code enhancements and tools. For more detailed information on each of the topics, please refer to the appropriate references or the user manual which can be found at http://mcnp.lanl.gov. This release of MCNP version 6.2 contains 39 new features in addition to 172 bug fixes and code enhancements. There are still some 33 known issues the user should familiarize themselves with (see Appendix).

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development and Validation of a Geant4 Radiation Shielding Simulation Framework

Geant4 (`Geometry and Tracking') is a C++ Monte- Carlo simulation toolkit developed by the Geant4 Collaboration under CERN and is used to describe inter- actions between particles and matter. It has been shown, through significant benchmarking against physical experiments and other software, to be remarkably accurate at simulating interactions between particles and matter. Currently, Geant4 is being used on world-wide projects such as ATLAS, CMS, Muon g-2, and ILC, largely due to being accurate, open-source, and written in a modern language. This openness and modernity is striking when compared to other Monte-Carlo simulation toolkits such as the Fortran toolkit MCNP (Monte-Carlo N-Particle code), which is restricted in acquisition and use by the US government. Despite barriers in the use of MCNP and having been written in an antiquated language, MCNP is still considered industry-standard for many fields, including radiation shielding. This paper details the development and validation of a radiation shielding simulation framework in Geant4 aimed at flexibility and ease of simulations with the goal of replacing MCNP scripts.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

AFIT and LANL Collaboration Research Proposals [Slides]

MCNP is a general-purpose, continuous-energy, generalized-geometry, time-dependent, Monte Carlo radiation-transport code designed to track many particle types over broad ranges of energies. MCNP has the capability to track particles on unstructured polyhedral meshes that are embedded into the legacy constructive solid geometry (CSG).

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Implementation of the Windowed Multipole Method in Shift

The windowed multipole (WMP) method has been implemented in the Shift Monte Carlo (MC) radiation transport code with support for both CPU and GPU execution. With this method, small WMP data libraries (~100 MB) can be used to accurately Doppler broaden cross sections to arbitrary temperatures “on the fly” during an MC simulation. This approach yields significant memory savings relative to traditional methods, making it ideal for high-fidelity analysis such as coupled multiphysics simulations. This document provides the exact forms of the WMP equations used by Shift, as well as a detailed description of the structure of WMP HDF5 data files provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Shift implementation has been validated against the OpenMC radiation transport code, with excellent agreement demonstrated for 70 nuclides across an operative range of temperatures. CPU and GPU performance testing using a small module reactor (SMR) problem demonstrated that this method decreases the neutron tracking rate by a factor of ~2 on the Summitdev machine. A new set of WMP data being developed in-house will employ novel methods to improve tracking rates.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Conjugate Heat Transfer Analysis in Pressurized Helium Gas Cooling Channels

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is working with NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes (NMR) on their efforts to produce Mo-99 from the irradiation of Mo-100 targets. The NMR target consists of an Inconel window that allows the electron beam to penetrate and irradiate a stack of Mo-100 disks. The irradiation process generates large amounts of heat and is cooled using pressurized helium gas flowing at 400 g/s. LANL provides both numerical analysis support and experimental support. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and conjugate heat transfer (CHT) analysis are performed on the NMR target to analyze the helium flow and volumetric heating through the NMR system. In this iteration of numerical analysis, we update the Mo-100 disk thickness to 0.74 mm and the gap between the Inconel window and the first disk to 0.69 mm. Estimates of the heat flux from the electron beams from Monte Carlo N-Particle code (MCNP) analysis were combined with CFD to perform the CHT analysis. The pressure drop through the targets, force applied on the first disk, beam window and target disk temperatures are some of the quantities estimated using the simulations. The pressure drop through the target was estimated as 0.198 MPa, while the force due to venturi effects across the first disk was estimated to be 100 N. The results show maximum window temperatures over 600 °C and peak disk temperatures over 1600 °C. Past work has shown that beyond 650-700 °C, the Inconel window becomes susceptible to yield and rupture. The increased temperature in these results reduces the margin of error possible on beam spot size. The disk temperatures showed a sinusoidal distribution with the 6 th – 8 th disk from each window exhibiting highest disk temperatures. The peak temperature of the stainless steel housing was close to 316 °C and that of the laminations and spacers was approximately 582 °C.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Celeritas R&D Report: Accelerating Geant4

Celeritas is a new Monte Carlo (MC) detector simulation code designed for computationally intensive applications on high-performance heterogeneous architectures. In the past two years Celeritas has advanced from prototyping a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-based single physics model in infinite medium to implementing a full set of electromagnetic (EM) physics processes in complex geometries. The current release of Celeritas, version 0.4, has incorporated full device-based navigation, an event loop in the presence of magnetic fields, and detector hit scoring. New functionality incorporates a scheduler to offload electromagnetic physics to the GPU within a Geant4-driven simulation, enabling straightforward integration of Celeritas into the high energy physics (HEP) experimental frameworks CMSSW and ATLAS FullSimLight. On the Perlmutter supercomputer, Celeritas performs EM physics between 3× and 18× faster using the machine’s Nvidia GPUs compared to using only CPUs, corresponding to an electrical power efficiency up to a factor of 5. When running a multithreaded Geant4 ATLAS test beam application with full hadronic physics, using Celeritas to accelerate the EM physics results in an overall simulation speedup of 1.7–2.2× on GPU and 1.2× on CPU. In a CMS test application using tt¯ events and the prototype Run 4 configuration, compared to Geant4 CPU, Celeritas with a Nvidia A100 improves overall throughput up to a factor of 2.7× but cannot be efficiently shared with more than 8 cores.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Computational study of tungsten and depleted uranium photoneutron targets for a 20 MeV electron linear accelerator

Neutron production can be realized with a high energy electron linear accelerator by using Bremsstrahlung and photoneutron converters. In this study, Monte Carlo N-Particle Code (MCNP) was used to evaluate potential photonuclear target designs for a high energy electron linear accelerator for applications such as neutron radiography and neutron resonance spectroscopy. A computational model was developed to inform a target design that would yield a high number of neutrons. It consists of a 20 MeV electron beam incident on a Bremsstrahlung target and a photonuclear target to generate neutrons. This computational model showed that a thickness of 0.75 inches for both tungsten and depleted uranium yields the most neutrons from photoneutron reactions. Saturation in the total number of generated neutrons was observed at over 0.75-inch thickness for both evaluated materials. Depleted uranium yielded approximately twice the number of neutrons overall compared to tungsten. The highest neutron surface flux for Depleted Uranium was 1.06 × 10-4 neutrons/cm2/source electron, and for Tungsten it was 5.12 × 10-5 neutrons/cm2/source electron. The optimal target design for this study’s application would consist of a 0.75 inch-thick block of depleted uranium with the length, width, and/or diameter varying dependent on application.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

A Fast Universal Kinematic Fitting Code for Low-Energy Nuclear Physics: FUNKI_FIT

We present an open-source kinematic fitting routine designed for low-energy nuclear physics applications. Although kinematic fitting is commonly used in high-energy particle physics, it is rarely used in low-energy nuclear physics, despite its effectiveness. A FORTRAN and ROOT C++ version of the FUNKI_FIT kinematic fitting code have been developed and published open access. The FUNKI_FIT code is universal in the sense that the constraint equations can be easily modified to suit different experimental set-ups and reactions. Two case studies for the use of this code, utilising experimental and Monte–Carlo data, are presented: (1) charged-particle spectroscopy using silicon-strip detectors; (2) charged-particle spectroscopy using active target detectors. The kinematic fitting routine provides an improvement in resolution in both cases, demonstrating, for the first time, the applicability of kinematic fitting across a range of nuclear physics applications. The ROOT macro has been developed in order to easily apply this technique in standard data analysis routines used by the nuclear physics community.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1976

A Monte-Carlo simulation of galactic cosmic ray effects in the lunar regolith

A Monte-Carlo soil mixing computer code was used to evaluate isotopic effects induced by galactic cosmic rays in samples on the top surface of the lunar regolith and in lunar core tubes. For surface samples, good agreement was found between theoretical predictions of Ne-21 concentrations, neutron fluences, and Xe-131/Xe-126 ratios, and the corresponding observations.

Langevin, Y.↗