Advances in space radiation shielding codes

Area of Science:

• Space science and engineering
• Computational physics
• Radiation protection

Background:

• Early space radiation shielding utilized Monte Carlo methods, contributing to space programs but facing limitations.
• These methods were often restricted to 1D problems, leading to inaccurate boundary condition representation and high computational costs.
• Shielding evaluations occurred late in the design process, negatively impacting spacecraft design and increasing costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate high-speed computational procedures for spacecraft radiation shield analysis.
• To enable early integration of radiation constraints into the design process for improved performance and cost-effectiveness.
• To address the limitations of Monte Carlo methods in complex spacecraft geometry.

Main Methods:

• Pursuit of deterministic solutions to the Boltzmann equation over several decades.
• Application of the Finite Element Method (FEM) for standard engineering geometry.
• Development of rapid computational procedures enabling field mapping within the International Space Station (ISS).

Main Results:

• Deterministic Boltzmann equation solutions allow ISS field mapping in minutes.
• A single ray trace in FEM geometry takes only 14 milliseconds.
• The computational efficiency demonstrated limits the direct application of Monte Carlo methods to these engineering models.

Conclusions:

• Improved spacecraft shield design necessitates early consideration of radiation constraints.
• High-speed deterministic methods offer a viable alternative to traditional Monte Carlo simulations for radiation analysis.
• Further research can explore coupling Monte Carlo methods with efficient geometry coupling for enhanced efficiency.