RAY-EFFECT MITIGATION IN DISCRETE ORDINATE-LIKE ANGULAR FINITE ELEMENT APPROXIMATIONS IN NEUTRON TRANSPORT.

A generalization is made of a previous phase-space finite element approximation of the second-order form of the one-group, two-dimensional neutron transport equation in x-y geometry. Three angular approximations are formulated and compared: continuous piecewise bilinear finite element, piecewise constant finite element, and discrete ordinate. These are incorporated into a unified formalism of discrete ordinate-like equations, enabling the spatial variables to be treated identically using piecewise linear or bilinear finite elements. The resulting equations are solved iteratively by a weighted conjugate gradient method in an improved version of the computer code FENT. Numerical and analytical comparisons of the angular approximations are made.