COMPARISONS AMONG THREE COUPLING FORMS OF CYLINDRICAL NODAL EXPANSION METHODS

Abstract

Nodal expansion method (NEM) is a typical nodal method in solving neutron diffusion equation in coarse mesh spatial discretization. NEM has been extended to cylindrical geometry in previous studies. Cylindrical NEM can be realized by different forms, where the variables in the nodal coupling equations are classified as net current, flux or partial current at the nodal surface, respectively. The three types of coupling forms of NEM have been implemented in PANGU code for the high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) physics analysis. This paper derives the three types of coupling forms of NEM, and analyzes their performance in solving the HTGR model containing void region.

Keywords

• nodal expansion method
• cylindrical geometry
• coupling equation
• htgr