A publication of the Advanced Simulation & Computing Division, NA-121.2, NNSA Defense Programs
December 2008
NA-ASC-500-08—Issue 9
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New 3-D Ion Beam Simulation Capabilities Explored via Sensitivity Analysis
Funded by the ASC Program, initial sensitivity studies of ion beam performance have been completed, using the new three-dimensional modeling capabilities of Sandia’s Aleph physics simulation code.
This study has characterized the effects on Aleph’s predictions of current density, due to variations in physics model parameters and numerical algorithm parameters. This is a key step in understanding: (a) the domain of applicability of the physics models in Aleph, and (b) the best values for the numerical algorithm parameters that produce fast, correct results. The latter is particularly important, since Aleph’s run time can vary by an order of magnitude (10 hrs vs. 100 hrs) depending on the numerical parameter settings. This study also employed Sandia’s DAKOTA software toolkit to establish the Aleph run matrix for the sensitivity study, and to execute the Aleph runs on Sandia’s Thunderbird Institutional/Nuclear Weapons Capacity Computing Cluster. Follow-on studies will perform a validation of the Aleph physics model via quantitative comparisons to experimental data.
Figure 1. Ion number density and current density.
Figure 2. Ion number density and current density.
Figure 3. Ion number density and current density.
Figure 4. Potential field.
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