30-min Research Chunks

When limited on time, these research tasks are a good place to start. Most should be able to be finished with ~30min of Dedicated effort. Remember to record your work and track your progress so that when you next have time to work you do not have to spend half the time remembering what you learned/did last time.

These Tasks will be divided based on current project focuses. I (Braden) Will do my best to add chunks to this document as you complete them, but the idea is that you will eventually learn how to create similar bite sized research plans for yourself, so please do not be afraid to create your own here. You can either use this page to record thoughts and comments, or you can use the issue board where the larger research tasks can be found.Time spent recording progress and writing your thoughts is time well spent.

Open MC Work

• Download and Use an Example Pin Cell

  • Consider trying to change the geometry and reflective boundaries. Record what these changes mean. (Eg: Adjust the reflective boundary so that it is twice as far away. What would this represent in a larger "infinite" reactor?

• Create a Commented version of the Pin Cell Code

  • If you do this by yourself, this can take much longer than 30 minutes as you have to read large amounts of documentation. Consider using chat GPT to help get you started, then work through the code piece by piece until you have a solid understanding of what is being done. Use the Documentation or Chat GPT if you have a question about what a specific line does.

• Write a material section for the type of steel we want to use.

  • Learn how to write a material section. Write down questions you have and try to find the answers. Consider replacing the clad of your pin cell model with the steel to make sure it is behaving as you expect.

• Write the geometry section

  • In this simulation we will be using a steel "coupon", build an appropriate geometry. Consider using the geometry debug or plotting feature to check progress.
  • Note: Keep the geometry as simple as possible. Maybe start with an infinite plate. Theoreticly this will only take 30-minutes, but in practice this can take longer if you are unfamiliar with python or some of the geometry arguments used (+ - | ~ ect.). Don't be afraid to break this up further. For example you could break it into three parts:
    1. Learn what the geometry arguments mean and write a python cheat sheet
    2. Find an example file and switch out the Material. Try to make some changes to the geometry. Add comments to remind me what different parts of the geometry section do.
    3. Build my geometry section from scratch, using the example file as a guide.

• Make a Slide for each code section you have written so far.

Literature Work

• Explore What Types of Steel are used in Nuclear Reactors. Write your Findings down

  • There are a few types of steel that are used in reactors. Learn about them. Learn what is different, what the composition of each is, what the strengths and weaknesses of each are. Consider creating a table of some kind for easy reference

• Learn about the type of steel used in the MIT Flow Loop

  • In our OpenMC work we will want to know the composition of the Steel in the loop. Try and find that information. If you get stuck, ask Braden for a good starting point.

• Find 5 papers about irradiating steel in Molten Salt

  • We want to find 5 good papers that will help us write a literature review. Do not spend time reading the whole paper, read only the title and abstract. Add each paper to Research Rabbit

• For each Paper: Speed Read the Paper (x5)

  • When reading the paper the first time our focus should be on what was done and how it applies to our work. This can be accomplished by a quick read of the paper. Try not to get too lost in the weeds. The idea is that you ONLY spend 30 minutes the first time. If you don;t understand something, make a note of it and we will explore it later. After the 30 minutes, summarize your findings (E.g. This study is looking at irradiating a 316-Stainless Steel Coupon. They use the same steel, but use a different kind of salt called --- . They found that corrosion was reduced during irradiation.)

  • The best way to read scientific papers is not front to back. I have found that the following method is most effective. The items in bold italics are about as far I would expect you to get in a 30 min initial reading.

    1. Title
    2. Abstract/Summary
    3. Figures
    4. Conclusions
    5. Introduction
    6. Methods
    7. Discussion