Flux-corrected transport techniques applied to the radiation transport equation discretized with continuous finite elements

Abstract

The Flux-Corrected Transport (FCT) algorithm is applied to the unsteady and steady-state particle transport equation. The proposed FCT method employs the following: (1) a low-order, positivity-preserving scheme, based on the application of M-matrix properties, (2) a high-order scheme based on the entropy viscosity method introduced by Guermond [1], and (3) local, discrete solution bounds derived from the integral transport equation. The resulting scheme is second-order accurate in space, enforces an entropy inequality, mitigates the formation of spurious oscillations, and guarantees the absence of negativities. Space discretization is achieved using continuous finite elements. Time discretizations for unsteady problems include theta schemes such as explicit and implicit Euler, and strong-stability preserving Runge–Kutta (SSPRK) methods. The developed FCT scheme is shown to be robust with explicit time discretizations but may require damping in the nonlinear iterations for steady-state and implicit time discretizations.