Comparison of multimesh hp-FEM to interpolation and projection methods for spatial coupling of thermal and neutron diffusion calculations

0363238 - ÚT 2012 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Dubcová, Lenka - Šolín, Pavel - Hansen, G. - Park, H.
Comparison of multimesh hp-FEM to interpolation and projection methods for spatial coupling of thermal and neutron diffusion calculations.
Journal of Computational Physics. Roč. 4, č. 230 (2011), s. 1182-1197. ISSN 0021-9991. E-ISSN 1090-2716
R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA100760702
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20570509
Keywords : reactormultiphysics simulation * coupled diffusion * multiphysics error
Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics, Electrical Engineering
Impact factor: 2.310, year: 2011
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021999110005905

Multiphysics solution challenges are legion within the field of nuclear reactor design and analysis. One major issue concerns the coupling between heat and neutron flow (neutronics) within the reactor assembly. These phenomena are usually very tightly interdependent, as large amounts of heat are quickly produced with an increase in fission events within the fuel, which raises the temperature that affects the neutron cross section of the fuel. Furthermore, there typically is a large diversity of time and spatial scales between mathematical models of heat and neutronics. Indeed, the different spatial resolution requirements often lead to the use of very different meshes for the two phenomena. As the equations are coupled, one must take care in exchanging solution data between them, or significant error can be introduced into the coupled problem. We propose a novel approach to the discretization of the coupled problem on different meshes based on an adaptive multimesh higher-order finite element method (hp-FEM), and compare it to popular interpolation and projection method.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0199245