On-the-fly Doppler broadening method based on optimal double-exponential formula

AbstractAs temperature changes constantly in nuclear reactor operation, on-the-fly Doppler broadening methods are commonly adopted for generating nuclear cross sections at various temperatures in neutron transport simulation. Among the existing methods, the widely used SIGMA1 approach is inefficient because it involves error function and Taylor series expansion. In this paper, we present a new on-the-fly Doppler broadening with optimal double-exponential formula based on SuperMC to improve efficiency with given accuracy. In this method, double-exponential formula in 1/16 steps is used for broadening cross section at low energy, with both accuracy and efficiency. Meanwhile, the Gauss–Hermite quadrature of different orders is used for broadening cross section at resonance energy. The method can generate neutron cross section rapidly and precisely at the desired temperature. Typical nuclide cross sections and benchmarking tests are presented in detail.

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