Comparative assessment of different approaches for the use of CAD geometry in Monte Carlo transport calculations

Abstract

Computer aided design (CAD) is an important industrial way to produce high quality designs. Therefore, CAD geometries are in general used for engineering and the design of complex facilities like the ITER tokamak. Although Monte Carlo codes like MCNP are well suited to handle the complex 3D geometry of ITER for transport calculations, they rely on their own geometry description and are in general not able to directly use the CAD geometry. In this paper, three different approaches for the use of CAD geometries with MCNP calculations are investigated and assessed with regard to calculation performance and user-friendliness. The first method is the conversion of the CAD geometry into MCNP geometry employing the conversion software McCad developed by KIT. The second approach utilizes the MCNP6 mesh geometry feature for the particle tracking and relies on the conversion of the CAD geometry into a mesh model. The third method employs DAGMC, developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for the direct particle tracking on the CAD geometry using a patched version of MCNP. The obtained results show that each method has its advantages depending on the complexity and size of the model, the calculation problem considered, and the expertise of the user.