High performance and high fidelity deterministic neutron transport methods for nuclear reactor lattice physics simulations

这个博士项目的目的是开发新颖的、自适应的。基于现代、多核和多核、高性能分布式计算(HPC)硬件架构的数值算法，能够实现大规模核反应堆格子物理模拟的高保真空间和能量共振自屏蔽。数值算法将在多核(GPU)硬件加速增强的多核硬件架构上使用最新的共享和分布式内存算法。空间和能量共振自屏蔽算法将包括一套不同的共振自屏蔽算法，包括稀释法(EM)、子群方法(SGM)、嵌入自屏蔽法(ESSM)、有限元不连续支撑法(FEDS)和超精细自屏蔽法(USSM)。这将使空间和能量自屏蔽的一系列保真度得以实现，从而可以评估这些方法的相关计算效率和精度。它还将使能够研究核反应堆堆芯内宿主材料内不同核素之间的共振干扰效应(或相互自屏蔽)的方法成为可能。最终目标将是开发能够对多维、单核燃料组件和多核燃料组件(所谓的色集核反应堆晶格物理计算)以及可能的紧凑型核反应堆堆芯进行空间和能量自屏蔽的数值算法。空间离散将使用精确的几何协调非均匀有理B样条(NURBS)增强方法来解决中子分布的空间变化，这将是对高保真能量共振自屏蔽方法的补充。还将利用空间-能量自适应以及能量方面的分层数值求解算法来提高空间和能量共振自屏蔽算法的计算效率。

The aim of this PhD project is to develop novel, self-adaptive. numerical algorithms on modern, multi-core and many-core, high performance distributed computing (HPC) hardware architectures that enable high-fidelity spatial and energy resonance self-shielding of large-scale nuclear reactor lattice physics simulations. The numerical algorithms will use the latest shared and distributed memory algorithms on multicore hardware architectures that have been augmented by manycore (GPU) hardware acceleration. The spatial and energy resonance self-shielding algorithms will comprise a suite of different resonance self-shielding algorithms ranging from equivalence-in-dilution methods (EM), sub-group methods (SGM), embedded self-shielding methods (ESSM), finite element discontiguous supportmethods (FEDS) and ultrafine self-shielding methods (USSM). This will enable a range of fidelities of spatial and energy self-shielding to be performed so that the relevant computational efficiencies and accuracies of the methods can be assessed. It will also enable methods that can investigate resonance inference effects (or mutual self-shielding) between different nuclides within host materials within the nuclear reactor core. The eventual aim will be to develop numerical algorithms that can perform spatial and energy self-shielding for multidimensional single and multiple nuclear fuel assemblies (so called colour-set nuclear reactor lattice physics calculations) as well as potentially compact nuclear reactor cores. The spatial discretisation will use exact geometry conforming Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline (NURBS) enhanced methods for resolving the spatial variation in the neutron distribution which will complement the high-fidelity energy resonance self-shielding methods. Space-energy adaptivity as well as hierarchical numerical solution algorithms in energy will also be exploited to improve the computational efficiency of the space and energy resonance self-shielding algorithms.