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ORNL–General Atomics partnership on ceramic matrix composites
A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) with the objective of working together on advanced ceramic matrix composite materials for applications in extreme environments. Materials that can withstand extreme temperatures, radiation, corrosion, and mechanical stress are required in aerospace, defense, energy, and other sectors.
According to the agreement, the San Diego–based GA-EMS will use resources from ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility to develop “scalable, efficient manufacturing techniques for extreme environment materials including precursors, fibers, composites, and coatings utilized in carbon/carbon (C/C), carbon/silicon carbide (C/SiC), and SiC/SiC composite systems.”
Benjamin C. Bowers, Bojan Petrovic
Nuclear Technology | Volume 189 | Number 2 | February 2015 | Pages 186-201
Technical Note | Radiation Transport and Protection | doi.org/10.13182/NT12-162
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
New computational methods in dose assessment and shielding calculations have drastically increased possible accuracy and resolution of the solution, while also increasing both memory demand and running time. In many cases, a trade-off must occur between these two parameters due to limited computational resources. This becomes prominent, particularly in hybrid deterministic-stochastic methods used for automated variance reduction, where the trade-off is additionally sought between the importance-generating deterministic portion and actual Monte Carlo simulations. This technical note examines this trade-off for the FW-CADIS methodology implemented in the MAVRIC (Monaco with Automated Variance Reduction using Importance Calculations) module of SCALE6, applying it to a simplified model of a power reactor. For the purposes of this study, the allowed total CPU time was held constant (12 and 48 h). It was found that improving the accuracy of the deterministic portion (within the single-processor limitation of the program version used) at the cost of reducing the available time for Monte Carlo was beneficial for the overall efficiency. While the analysis is specific to the selected problem, it is expected that the findings in a broader sense are relevant for other similar hybrid shielding methodologies and applications.