Added short section on DBRC in documentation. Closes #433.

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Paul Romano 2015-09-21 10:48:25 +07:00
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@ -1027,14 +1027,19 @@ probability distribution function can be found by integrating equation
Let us call the normalization factor in the denominator of equation
:eq:`target-pdf-1` :math:`C`.
It is normally assumed that :math:`\sigma (v_r)` is constant over the range of
Contant Cross Section Model
---------------------------
It is often assumed that :math:`\sigma (v_r)` is constant over the range of
relative velocities of interest. This is a good assumption for almost all cases
since the elastic scattering cross section varies slowly with velocity for light
nuclei, and for heavy nuclei where large variations can occur due to resonance
scattering, the moderating effect is rather small. Nonetheless, this assumption
may cause incorrect answers in systems with low-lying resonances that can cause
a significant amount of up-scatter that would be ignored by this assumption
(e.g. U-238 in commercial light-water reactors). Nevertheless, with this
(e.g. U-238 in commercial light-water reactors). We will revisit this assumption
later in :ref:`energy_dependent_xs_model`. For now, continuing with the
assumption, we write :math:`\sigma (v_r) = \sigma_s` which simplifies
:eq:`target-pdf-1` to
@ -1232,6 +1237,35 @@ If is not accepted, then we repeat the process and resample a target speed and
cosine until a combination is found that satisfies equation
:eq:`freegas-accept-2`.
.. _energy_dependent_xs_model:
Energy-Dependent Cross Section Model
------------------------------------
As was noted earlier, assuming that the elastic scattering cross section is
constant in :eq:`reaction-rate` is not strictly correct, especially when
low-lying resonances are present in the cross sections for heavy nuclides. To
correctly account for energy dependence of the scattering cross section entails
performing another rejection step. The most common method is to sample
:math:`\mu` and :math:`v_T` as in the constant cross section approximation and
then perform a rejection on the ratio of the 0 K elastic scattering cross
section at the relative velocity to the maximum 0 K elastic scattering cross
section over the range of velocities considered:
.. math::
:label: dbrc
p_{dbrc} = \frac{\sigma_s(v_r)}{\sigma_{s,max}}
where it should be noted that the maximum is taken over the range :math:`[v_n -
4/\beta, 4_n + 4\beta]`. This method is known as Doppler broadening rejection
correction (DBRC) and was first introduced by `Becker et al.`_. OpenMC has an
implementation of DBRC as well as an accelerated sampling method that are
described fully in `Walsh et al.`_
.. _Becker et al.: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2008.12.001
.. _Walsh et al.: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2014.01.017
.. _sab_tables:
------------