Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2012.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Macdonald, Ruaridh (Ruaridh R.)
Other Authors: Benoit Forget.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76954
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author Macdonald, Ruaridh (Ruaridh R.)
author2 Benoit Forget.
author_facet Benoit Forget.
Macdonald, Ruaridh (Ruaridh R.)
author_sort Macdonald, Ruaridh (Ruaridh R.)
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2012.
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spelling mit-1721.1/769542019-04-10T14:32:51Z Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy Macdonald, Ruaridh (Ruaridh R.) Benoit Forget. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering. Nuclear Science and Engineering. Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2012. "June 2012." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 42). Monte Carlo computationals methods are widely used in academia to analyze nuclear systems design and operation because of their high accuracy and the relative ease of use in comparison to deterministic methods. However, current Monte Carlo codes require an extensive knowledge of the physics of a problem as well as the computational methods being used in order to ensure accuracy. This investigation aims to provide better on-the-fly diagnostics for convergence using Shannon entropy and statistical checks for tally undersampling in order to reduce the burden on the code user, hopfully increasing the use and accuracy of Monte Carlo codes. These methods were tested by simulating the OECD/NEA benchmark #1 problem in MCNP. It was found that Shannon entropy does accurately predict the number of batches required for a source distribution to converge, though only when when the Shannon entropy mesh was the size of the tally mesh. The investigation of undersampling showed evidence of methods to predict undersampling on-the-fly using Shannon entropy as well as laying out where future work should lead. by Ruaridh Macdonald. S.B. 2013-02-14T15:31:48Z 2013-02-14T15:31:48Z 2012 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76954 824621818 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 42 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Nuclear Science and Engineering.
Macdonald, Ruaridh (Ruaridh R.)
Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy
title Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy
title_full Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy
title_fullStr Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy
title_full_unstemmed Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy
title_short Investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in MCNP using Shannon entropy
title_sort investigation of improved methods for assessing convergence of models in mcnp using shannon entropy
topic Nuclear Science and Engineering.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/76954
work_keys_str_mv AT macdonaldruaridhruaridhr investigationofimprovedmethodsforassessingconvergenceofmodelsinmcnpusingshannonentropy