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April Novak

NPRE 596 Graduate Seminar Series - April Novak

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
NPRE 596 Graduate Seminar Series
Location
1310 Digital Computer Laboratory, 1304 W. Springfield Avenue, Urbana, IL
Date
Mar 21, 2023   4:00 - 4:50 pm  
Speaker
April Novak, Maria Goeppert Mayer Fellow, Computational Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory
Cost
Free and Open to the Public
E-Mail
nuclear@illinois.edu
Phone
217-333-2295
Views
91
Originating Calendar
NPRE seminars

High-Fidelity Multiphysics for Fission: Challenges, Accomplishments, and Future Directions

Abstract: Nuclear reactors represent tightly-coupled physics interactions between thermal-hydraulics, neutronics, material performance, structural mechanics, chemistry, and more. Multiphysics modeling is the practice of accounting for these physics interactions during design and analysis. Recent advancements in high performance computing now enable multiphysics simulations with state-of-the-art Monte Carlo neutron transport and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools. This talk will discuss current research challenges in Monte Carlo-based multiphysics modeling for fission systems, with emphasis on methods development at Argonne National Laboratory using high-resolution CFD and Monte Carlo tools. Example applications of NekRS, OpenMC, and MOOSE to advanced fission reactors shall be presented, and a novel data transfer method with on-the-fly re-skinning of Computer Aided Design (CAD)-based Monte Carlo models shall be shown for a Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) application. Finally, student opportunities at Argonne National Laboratory for graduate students will be introduced.

Bio: Dr. April Novak is the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Fellow in the Computational Sciences Division of Argonne National Laboratory, where she conducts research in multiphysics modeling and simulation, computational thermal-hydraulics, and multiscale methods. April is the lead developer of the Cardinal application, an open-source software tool that couples the NekRS Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and OpenMC Monte Carlo codes to the MOOSE framework. As part of her PhD research, April developed multiscale methods for pebble bed analysis within the coarse-mesh thermal-fluid Pronghorn MOOSE application. She now leads several projects in the high-resolution multiphysics space with applications to fast reactor core radial expansion and gas microreactors, and supports a broad range of nuclear industry collaborations. She has a PhD in nuclear engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (2020) and a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2015).

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