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An efficient, robust, domain-decomposition algorithm for particle Monte Carlo

Journal of Computational Physics

Brunner, Thomas A.; Brantley, Patrick S.

A previously described algorithm [T.A. Brunner, T.J. Urbatsch, T.M. Evans, N.A. Gentile, Comparison of four parallel algorithms for domain decomposed implicit Monte Carlo, Journal of Computational Physics 212 (2) (2006) 527-539] for doing domain decomposed particle Monte Carlo calculations in the context of thermal radiation transport has been improved. It has been extended to support cases where the number of particles in a time step are unknown at the beginning of the time step. This situation arises when various physical processes, such as neutron transport, can generate additional particles during the time step, or when particle splitting is used for variance reduction. Additionally, several race conditions that existed in the previous algorithm and could cause code hangs have been fixed. This new algorithm is believed to be robust against all race conditions. The parallel scalability of the new algorithm remains excellent. © 2009 Elsevier Inc.

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Effects of mass ablation on the scaling of X-ray power with current in wire-array Z pinches

Physical Review Letters

Lemke, R.W.; Sinars, Daniel S.; Waisman, E.M.; Cuneo, M.E.; Yu, E.P.; Haill, Thomas A.; Hanshaw, Heath L.; Brunner, Thomas A.; Jennings, C.A.; Stygar, William A.; Desjarlais, Michael P.; Mehlhorn, Thomas A.; Porter, J.L.

X-ray production by imploding wire-array Z pinches is studied using radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulation. It is found that the density distribution created by ablating wire material influences both x-ray power production, and how the peak power scales with applied current. For a given array there is an optimum ablation rate that maximizes the peak x-ray power, and produces the strongest scaling of peak power with peak current. This work is consistent with trends in wire-array Z pinch x-ray power scaling experiments on the Z accelerator. © 2009 The American Physical Society.

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Post-processing V&V level II ASC milestone (2360) results

Moreland, Kenneth D.; Chavez, Elmer A.; Weirs, Vincent G.; Brunner, Thomas A.; Trucano, Timothy G.; Karelitz, David B.

The 9/30/2007 ASC Level 2 Post-Processing V&V Milestone (Milestone 2360) contains functionality required by the user community for certain verification and validation tasks. These capabilities include loading of edge and face data on an Exodus mesh, run-time computation of an exact solution to a verification problem, delivery of results data from the server to the client, computation of an integral-based error metric, simultaneous loading of simulation and test data, and comparison of that data using visual and quantitative methods. The capabilities were tested extensively by performing a typical ALEGRA HEDP verification task. In addition, a number of stretch criteria were met including completion of a verification task on a 13 million element mesh.

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Estimating Z-Pinch computing resources

Brunner, Thomas A.

The Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories produces high energy density environments. Computer simulations of the experiments provide key insights and help make the most efficient use of the facility. This document estimates the computer resources needed in order to support the experimental program. The resource estimate is what we would like to have in about five years and assumes that we will have a robust, scalable simulation capability as well as enough physicists to run the simulations.

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Towards a predictive MHD simulation capability for designing hypervelocity magnetically-driven flyer plates and PWclass z-pinch x-ray sources on Z and ZR

Mehlhorn, Thomas A.; Yu, Edmund Y.; Vesey, Roger A.; Cuneo, M.E.; Jones, Brent M.; Knudson, Marcus D.; Sinars, Daniel S.; Robinson, Allen C.; Trucano, Timothy G.; Brunner, Thomas A.; Desjarlais, Michael P.; Garasi, Christopher J.; Haill, Thomas A.; Hanshaw, Heath L.; Lemke, Raymond W.; Oliver, Bryan V.; Peterson, Kyle J.

Abstract not provided.

Obtaining identical results on varying numbers of processors in domain decomposed particle Monte Carlo simulations

Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering

Gentile, N.A.; Kalos, Malvin; Brunner, Thomas A.

Domain decomposed Monte Carlo codes, like other domain-decomposed codes, are difficult to debug. Domain decomposition is prone to error, and interactions between the domain decomposition code and the rest of the algorithm often produces subtle bugs. These bugs are particularly difficult to find in a Monte Carlo algorithm, in which the results have statistical noise. Variations in the results due to statistical noise can mask errors when comparing the results to other simulations or analytic results. If a code can get the same result on one domain as on many, debugging the whole code is easier. This reproducibility property is also desirable when comparing results done on different numbers of processors and domains. We describe how reproducibility, to machine precision, is obtained on different numbers of domains in an Implicit Monte Carlo photonics code.

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Implicit Riemann solvers for the Pn equations

Brunner, Thomas A.; Mehlhorn, Thomas A.

The spherical harmonics (P{sub n}) approximation to the transport equation for time dependent problems has previously been treated using Riemann solvers and explicit time integration. Here we present an implicit time integration method for the P n equations using Riemann solvers. Both first-order and high-resolution spatial discretization schemes are detailed. One facet of the high-resolution scheme is that a system of nonlinear equations must be solved at each time step. This nonlinearity is the result of slope reconstruction techniques necessary to avoid the introduction of artifical extrema in the numerical solution. Results are presented that show auspicious agreement with analytical solutions using time steps well beyond the CFL limit.

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ALEGRA-HEDP : version 4.6

Brunner, Thomas A.; Garasi, Christopher J.; Haill, Thomas A.; Mehlhorn, Thomas A.; Robinson, Allen C.; Summers, Randall M.

ALEGRA is an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element code that emphasizes large distortion and shock propagation in inviscid fluids and solids. This document describes user options for modeling resistive magnetohydrodynamics, thermal conduction, and radiation transport effects, and two material temperature physics.

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ALEGRA : version 4.6

Wong, Michael K.; Brunner, Thomas A.; Garasi, Christopher J.; Haill, Thomas A.; Mehlhorn, Thomas A.; Drake, Richard R.; Hensinger, David M.; Robbins, Joshua R.; Robinson, Allen C.; Summers, Randall M.; Voth, Thomas E.

ALEGRA is an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian multi-material finite element code used for modeling solid dynamics problems involving large distortion and shock propagation. This document describes the basic user input language and instructions for using the software.

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Forms of Approximate Radiation Transport

Brunner, Thomas A.

Photon radiation transport is described by the Boltzmann equation. Because this equation is difficult to solve, many different approximate forms have been implemented in computer codes. Several of the most common approximations are reviewed, and test problems illustrate the characteristics of each of the approximations. This document is designed as a tutorial so that code users can make an educated choice about which form of approximate radiation transport to use for their particular simulation.

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22 Results
22 Results