Wang, Yaqi (2009-05). Adaptive Mesh Refinement Solution Techniques for the Multigroup SN Transport Equation Using a Higher-Order Discontinuous Finite Element Method. Doctoral Dissertation.
Thesis
In this dissertation, we develop Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) techniques for the steady-state multigroup SN neutron transport equation using a higher-order Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Method (DGFEM). We propose two error estimations, a projection-based estimator and a jump-based indicator, both of which are shown to reliably drive the spatial discretization error down using h-type AMR. Algorithms to treat the mesh irregularity resulting from the local refinement are implemented in a matrix-free fashion. The DGFEM spatial discretization scheme employed in this research allows the easy use of adapted meshes and can, therefore, follow the physics tightly by generating group-dependent adapted meshes. Indeed, the spatial discretization error is controlled with AMR for the entire multigroup SNtransport simulation, resulting in group-dependent AMR meshes. The computing efforts, both in memory and CPU-time, are significantly reduced. While the convergence rates obtained using uniform mesh refinement are limited by the singularity index of transport solution (3/2 when the solution is continuous, 1/2 when it is discontinuous), the convergence rates achieved with mesh adaptivity are superior. The accuracy in the AMR solution reaches a level where the solution angular error (or ray effects) are highlighted by the mesh adaptivity process. The superiority of higherorder calculations based on a matrix-free scheme is verified on modern computing architectures. A stable symmetric positive definite Diffusion Synthetic Acceleration (DSA) scheme is devised for the DGFEM-discretized transport equation using a variational argument. The Modified Interior Penalty (MIP) diffusion form used to accelerate the SN transport solves has been obtained directly from the DGFEM variational form of the SN equations. This MIP form is stable and compatible with AMR meshes. Because this MIP form is based on a DGFEM formulation as well, it avoids the costly continuity requirements of continuous finite elements. It has been used as a preconditioner for both the standard source iteration and the GMRes solution technique employed when solving the transport equation. The variational argument used in devising transport acceleration schemes is a powerful tool for obtaining transportconforming diffusion schemes. xuthus, a 2-D AMR transport code implementing these findings, has been developed for unstructured triangular meshes.
