Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Publication Date

Fall 11-7-2024

Abstract

Numerical simulations of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target during the implosion process require high fidelity models of the radiation transport process. This work is interested in the transport of high-energy light-ions and neutrons in a background ICF plasma. As these energetic particles slow down, they experience knock-on (recoil) and thermonuclear (TN) collisions with the light-ions in the background plasma. These recoil and TN collisions excite the background light-ions causing them to transport through the plasma further exciting background light-ions. Mathematically, this cascading effect is described as a system of linear Boltzmann transport equations coupled through recoil and TN collision operators. A deterministic solution method to the coupled multi-species transport equations with application to ICF problems is developed in this work. Furthermore, new multigroup data was generated utilizing modern light-ion data, and efficient and accurate solution methods were developed for problems with highly forward-peaked differential cross sections.

Keywords

charged particle transport, inertial confinement fusion

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Nuclear Engineering

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Nuclear Engineering

First Committee Member (Chair)

Prof. Charles Fleddermann

Second Committee Member

Prof. Anil Prinja

Third Committee Member

Dr. James Warsa

Fourth Committee Member

Prof. Dmitriy Anistratov

Fifth Committee Member

Prof. Forrest Brown

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