MSCS for coupled transients

The Minimal Serpent Coupling Script (MSCS) for transient simulations is a short (< 400 lines with comments) Python program intended to give a minimal working example of a wrapper program that can communicate with Serpent in the coupled transient calculation mode. MSCS provides a working example of externally coupled multi-physics simulations with Serpent and may be a good starting point for the users that are interested in running such simulations with Serpent.

Description

The coupling script communicates with Serpent using the file based communication mode.

Here, the coupling script calculates the fuel temperature solution itself. In many cases that part of the coupling script should be replaced by writing the input for an external solver, running the external solver and reading the results from the external solver output.

The temperature treatment of the interaction physics is done on-the-fly using the TMS temperature treatment technique for the base cross sections and interpolation of thermal scattering data for the thermal scattering libraries.

The problem solved here is a 200 cm long fuel rod in infinite lattice with axially black boundary conditions. The time dependent fuel temperature is solved by MSCS assuming no heat conduction out of fuel.