Reduction in spatial discretization error in the method of characteristics by using the mobile-chord ray tracing method

The mobile-chord method is applied to the method of characteristics (MOC) to reduce the spatial discretization error in ray traces. In the mobile-chord method, the offset of a ray trace in a strip depends on the azimuthal angle and this variation cancels the spatial discretization error of each ray trace. Although the mobile-chord method has been employed in the evaluation of the collision probability, it has not yet been applied to the MOC. The mobile-chord method is implemented in the AEGIS code, which is a lattice physics code based on the MOC. Verification calculations are carried out for the pin-cell and whole core geometries of the C5G7 benchmark problem by using UO2 and mixed oxide (MOX) fuels. The calculation results indicate that the spatial discretization error in the mobile-chord method is smaller than that in the equidistant ray tracing method, which is commonly used in conventional MOC codes. Since the mobile-chord method can be used along with the cyclic ray tracing method, it is expected to be an attractive candidate for conventional MOC codes.