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Homogenization of a neutronic critical diffusion problem with drift

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2007

Yves Capdeboscq
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Rutgers University, 110 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA (ycrc@math.rutgers.edu)

Abstract

In this paper we study the homogenization of an eigenvalue problem for a cooperative system of weakly coupled elliptic partial differential equations, called the neutronic multigroup diffusion model, in a periodic heterogeneous domain. Such a model is used for studying the criticality of nuclear reactor cores. In a recent work in collaboration with Grégoire Allaire, it is proved that, under a symmetry assumption, the first eigenvector of the multigroup system in the periodicity cell controls the oscillatory behaviour of the solutions, whereas the global trend is asymptotically given by a homogenized diffusion eigenvalue problem. It is shown here that when this symmetry condition is not fulfilled, the asymptotic behaviour of the neutron flux, corresponding to the first eigenvector of the multigroup system, is dramatically different. This result enables to consider new types of geometrical configurations in practical nuclear reactor core computations.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 2002

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