MERCURY + VISIT: INTEGRATION OF A REAL-TIME GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS CAPABILITY INTO A MONTE CARLO TRANSPORT CODE

摘要

Validation of the problem definition and analysis of the results (tallies) produced during a Monte Carlo particle transport calculation can be a complicated, time-intensive processes. The time required for a person to create an accurate, validated combinatorial geometry (CG) or mesh-based representation of a complex problem, free of common errors such as gaps and overlapping cells, can range from days to weeks. The ability to interrogate the internal structure of a complex, three-dimensional (3-D) geometry, prior to running the transport calculation, can improve the user's confidence in the validity of the problem definition. With regard to the analysis of results, the process of extracting tally data from printed tables within a file is laborious and not an intuitive approach to understanding the results. The ability to display tally information overlaid on top of the problem geometry can decrease the time required for analysis and increase the user's understanding of the results. To this end, our team has integrated VisIt, a parallel, production-quality visualization and data analysis tool into Mercury, a massively-parallel Monte Carlo particle transport code. VisIt provides an API for real time visualization of a simulation as it is running. The user may select which plots to display from the VisIt GUI, or by sending VisIt a Python script from Mercury. The frequency at which plots are updated can be set and the user can visualize the simulation results as it is running.