MCNP Visual Editor Computer Code Manual

For Vised Version 19K

Released November, 2005

L.L. Carter and R.A. Schwarz

For the latest information visit WWW.MCNPVISED.COM

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 Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 5
1.1 INSTALLATION NOTES................................................................................................ 6
1.2 PROGRAM BACKGROUND ........................................................................................... 6
2.0 BEGINNING AN INTERACTIVE EDITING SESSION....................................................... 7
2.1 IMPORTANT FILES IN THE VISUAL EDITOR ............................................................... 9
2.2 THE MAIN MENU FUNCTIONS ................................................................................. 10
2.3 READING AND WRITING THE INPUT FILE ................................................................ 10
3.0 FILE OPTIONS .................................................................................................................... 12
4.0 THE INPUT WINDOW ........................................................................................................ 12
5.0 PLOTTING AND CHANGING PLOT PARAMETERS...................................................... 13
5.1 UPDATE .................................................................................................................. 14
5.2 LAST BUTTON ......................................................................................................... 14
5.3 ZOOM CHECK BOX.................................................................................................. 14
5.4 ORIGIN CHECK BOX ................................................................................................ 14
5.5 CHANGING THE EXTENTS ........................................................................................ 15
5.6 REFRESH CHECK BOX ............................................................................................. 15
5.7 THE SURFACE AND CELL CHECK BOX .................................................................... 15
5.8 COLOR CHECK BOX ................................................................................................ 15
5.9 FACETS CHECK BOX ............................................................................................... 15
5.10 WW MESH CHECK BOX ....................................................................................... 16
5.11 RECT CHECK BOX ................................................................................................. 16
5.12 TAL MESH CHECK BOX ........................................................................................ 16
5.13 PLOT ROTATION OPTIONS ..................................................................................... 16
5.14 SCALES CHECK BOX ............................................................................................. 16
5.15 RES TEXT BOX ...................................................................................................... 16
5.16 PSCRIPT CHECK BOX ............................................................................................ 16
5.17 CHANGING THE BASIS ........................................................................................... 16
5.18 VIEWING GLOBAL/LOCAL COORDINATES ............................................................. 17
5.19 SETTING CELL LABELS ......................................................................................... 17
5.20 LEVEL PULLDOWN MENU ..................................................................................... 17
6.0 THE SURFACE WINDOW .................................................................................................. 18
6.1 CREATING A SURFACE ............................................................................................ 18
6.2 SCANNING A SURFACE ............................................................................................ 19
6.3 DELETING A SURFACE ............................................................................................. 19
6.4 EDITING A SURFACE................................................................................................ 19
6.5 HIDING AND SHOWING SURFACES........................................................................... 19
6.6 SURFACE COMMENTS.............................................................................................. 19
6.7 ENTERING SURFACE DIMENSIONS IN INCHES .......................................................... 19
6.8 SURFACE DISTANCE ................................................................................................ 20
6.9 SURFACE DELTA ..................................................................................................... 20
6.10 MACROBODY SURFACES ....................................................................................... 20

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 6.11 THE SURFACE WIZARD ......................................................................................... 21
7.0 THE CELL WINDOW .......................................................................................................... 22
7.1 CREATING A CELL .................................................................................................. 22
7.2 DISCUSSION OF CELL PASTE AND CUT OPERATIONS.............................................. 23
7.3 SPECIAL SENSE CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................... 25
7.4 CREATING A CELL WITH UNIVERSES ....................................................................... 25
7.5 USING UNDO ........................................................................................................... 26
7.6 REGISTER ................................................................................................................ 26
7.7 SCANNING A CELL .................................................................................................. 26
7.8 DELETING A CELL ................................................................................................... 26
7.9 EDITING A CELL ...................................................................................................... 26
7.10 CREATE LIKE......................................................................................................... 27
7.11 HIDING AND SHOWING CELLS ............................................................................... 27
7.12 CELL COMMENTS .................................................................................................. 27
7.13 SPLITTING A CELL ................................................................................................. 28
7.15 CREATING A SQUARE LATTICE .............................................................................. 30
7.16 CREATING A HEXAGONAL LATTICE ....................................................................... 31
7.17 SPECIAL HEX LATTICE DISPLAY OPTIONS ............................................................ 32
7.18 THE CELL WIZARD ............................................................................................... 32
8.0 MATERIALS......................................................................................................................... 37
8.1 CREATING A MATERIAL .......................................................................................... 37
8.2 SCANNING A MATERIAL .......................................................................................... 38
8.3 DELETE A MATERIAL .............................................................................................. 38
8.4 EDIT A MATERIAL ................................................................................................... 38
8.5 THE VISED.DEFAULTS FILE ..................................................................................... 38
8.6 MATERIAL LIBRARY ............................................................................................... 40
8.7 MATERIAL OPTIONS ................................................................................................ 41
9.0 IMPORTANCES ................................................................................................................... 41
9.1 SETTING CELL IMPORTANCES ................................................................................. 41
9.2 USING A SCALE FACTOR ......................................................................................... 41
9.3 USING A GEOMETRIC FACTOR................................................................................. 42
9.4 THE IMPORTANCE DISPLAY .................................................................................... 42
9.5 TRUNCATING IMPORTANCES ................................................................................... 42
10.0 TRANSFORMATIONS ...................................................................................................... 43
11.0 RENUMBER CELLS/SURFACES..................................................................................... 44
12.0 RUN ..................................................................................................................................... 45
13.0 PARTICLE DISPLAY......................................................................................................... 46
13.1 SDEF SOURCE PLOTTING ..................................................................................... 47
13.2 KCODE SOURCE PLOTTING ................................................................................. 47
13.3 PARTICLE TRACK PLOTTING ................................................................................. 48
13.4 SETTING POINT COLOR AND SIZE.......................................................................... 48
13.5 SETTING ENERGY OR WEIGHT RANGES ................................................................ 48

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 13.6 PROBLEMS GENERATING PARTICLE TRACKS ........................................................ 49
14.0 TALLY PLOTS ................................................................................................................... 50
15.0 CROSS SECTION PLOTS.................................................................................................. 51
16.0 3D RAY TRACED IMAGE ................................................................................................ 52
16.1 3D COLOR PLOTS ................................................................................................. 53
16.2 3D UPDATE THE PLOT BASIS ................................................................................ 53
16.3 COLOR BY CELL/SURFACE .................................................................................... 53
16.4 DRAW LINES AROUND CELLS ............................................................................... 53
16.5 COLOR CELLS BY MATERIAL ................................................................................ 53
16.6 3D SHADING ......................................................................................................... 54
16.7 DISTANCE SHADING .............................................................................................. 54
16.8 POINT/PLANE SOURCE TYPE ................................................................................. 54
16.9 SHOW THE PLOT PLANE ........................................................................................ 54
16.10 HIDE/SHOW COOKIE CUTTERS ............................................................................ 54
16.11 PLOT TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD/PLOT PLANE ...................................................... 54
16.12 PLOT RESOLUTION .............................................................................................. 54
16.13 3D RADIOGRAPHIC PLOTS .................................................................................. 55
16.14 3D TRANSPARENT PLOTS ................................................................................... 55
17.0 DYNAMIC 3D DISPLAY................................................................................................... 55
18.0 CAD IMPORT ..................................................................................................................... 57
18.1 2D CAD IMPORT ................................................................................................... 57
18.2 3D CAD IMPORT .................................................................................................. 60
18.3 CONSTRAINTS/RESTRICTIONS FOR 3D CAD CONVERSION ................................... 62
18.4 USING CAD AS A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR MCNP WITH PERIMETER
MODELING ..................................................................................................................... 63
18.5 3D DISPLAY OF IMPORTED CAD FILES ................................................................ 63
18.6 CONVERSION OF LARGE FILES .............................................................................. 65
19.0 READ AGAIN..................................................................................................................... 66
20.0 BACKUP INP...................................................................................................................... 67
21.0 PROBLEM REPORTING ................................................................................................... 67
22.0 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 67
APPENDIX A............................................................................................................................... 69
APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................... 90

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1.0 Introduction
The Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) computer code is a particle transport code with
powerful three dimensional geometry and source modeling capabilities that can be
applied to reactor physics, shielding, criticality, environmental nuclear waste cleanup,
medical imaging, and numerous other related areas.

Creating a MCNP input file with a line editor is both tedious and error prone as it entails
arduous descriptions of geometry, tallies, sources, and optimization parameters. These
input files may contain thousands of lines, and once the input file is created, substantial
additional time is often required to plot and test the geometry and to correct any errors.

The Visual Editor (References 1-7) was developed to assist the user in the creation of
MCNP input files. While the initial motivation in the development of the Visual Editor
was for the creation of input files, its other uses as a graphical user interface to MCNP
may be even more important to a typical user than the creation of input files. These
powerful features include:

♦ Two side-by-side 2-D plots of the geometry.

♦ Capability to plot source points to verify the MCNP source.
♦ Optional 3-D views using either ray tracing or dynamic wire mesh displays.
♦ Capability to dynamically build a geometry while viewing it as it evolves.
♦ Optional manual editing of the input file and immediate re-initialization with the
changes showing up in the plots.
♦ Dynamic input of materials, transformations, and importances (using the mouse).
♦ Dynamic displays of particle tracks, cross sections, and tallies.
♦ A surface wizard to optionally assist the user in creating (and visually being able to
see the surface types) surfaces.
♦ A cell wizard to assist the user in creating cells.
♦ Optional import and conversions of a CAD file to an MCNP input file.

Work on the Visual Editor started around 1992. The first release to RSICC was in 1997.
The Visual Editor code became part of the MCNP package with the release of version 5
of MCNP.

The Visual Editor allows the user to easily set up and modify the view of the MCNP
geometry and to determine model information directly from the plot window. The Visual
Editor also allows the user to interactively create an input file with the help of two or
more dynamic cross sectional views of the model. A wide selection of menu options
enables rapid input of information and immediate visualization of the geometry and other
information being created.

The current version of the Visual Editor runs on either Windows or Linux platforms.

The new user should practice with a few simple problems before trying to create an
involved geometry. An example exercise is given in Appendix A showing detailed steps,
with graphical displays -- if this is a first time use of the Visual Editor you should read

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Sections 1.1, 1.2, and 2.0 before doing the example in Appendix A. Such examples also
aid in understanding the basics of the reading in and saving of MCNP input files, the
plotting of the geometry in the two plot windows, etc.

The following discussion summarizes how to use the graphical interface. The Visual
Editor is constructed with user-friendly menu buttons so this manual is primarily to help
the new user get started and to provide some detail when specific questions arise. The
discussion here assumes that the user has some familiarity with the MCNP geometry
specification, as described in the MCNP manual. Additional information on the Visual
Editor, including training opportunities can be found at the Visual Editor website
(www.mcnpvised.com). Users are encouraged to take a training class since so many
different aspects are involved in fully utilizing the Visual Editor.

The contents of this manual is also contained in the Visual Editor help package, and can
be accessed by selecting “Help->Help Topics” from the main menu. The help package
contains a table of contents and is searchable. Additionally, each of the individual
windows has a help button that will take the user to the appropriate section of the help
package.

1.1 Installation Notes

For many applications, the Visual Editor executable can be used as distributed.

If you want to do particle track plotting, cross section plotting, or run MCNP inside the
Visual Editor, the xsdir file must be in the same directory as the Visual Editor executable
or a path to xsdir must be specified on the system as required for running MCNP. If
binary cross section files are involved, they must be compatible with the current version
of the Visual Editor, or else you should switch to ASCII cross section files.

To access the material libraries, the code will try to use the default environment variable
to read the libraries from the installed location. If this fails, you need to create a
“vised.defaults” file for the configuration of MCNP on your system. See the section on
materials for more information on how to do this. This creation of a “vised.defaults” file
is usually a good thing to do for flexibility and to keep things parallel with your use of
MCNP.

1.2 Program Background

The size of the fonts used by the windows is fixed and cannot be changed. The font used
is called “ariel 7”. If the Visual Editor windows appear too large for your screen, it is
recommended that you increase your screen resolution. The ideal screen resolution is
1280x1024.

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The development of the Windows Visual Editor utilized a Windows 2000 platform. For
best performance, it is recommended that users run the Visual Editor in Windows 2000 or
Windows XP. Table 1.1 below lists the different operating systems and what is known
about its compatibility with the Visual Editor. If an operating system is not listed, than
the code has not been tested on that platform and its functionality is not known.

Table 1.1. Operating System Compatibility.

Operating Compatibility
System
Windows 2000 Most compatible, this is the Visual Editor development platform.
Windows XP Very compatible with 2000 version and should be just as stable.
Windows NT Somewhat unstable, not recommended.
Windows 98 Very unstable, not recommended.
Windows 95 Very unstable, not recommended.

2.0 Beginning An Interactive Editing Session

Use Windows explorer to bring up the Visual Editor. Figure 2.1 shows a view of the
initial screen. Notice that the main menu functions are shown across the top and that
each plot window has its own set of plot commands. You can read in an input file by
using the “File->Open” command (which will reformat the input file) or the “File->Open
(do not modify input) command, which will not change the input file.

Figure 2.1. Startup configuration for the Visual Editor.

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To create a new geometry, you create surfaces by selecting “Surface” from the main
menu and following the instructions beginning in Section 6.0 for the surface window –
even experienced users may find it convenient to just use the surface wizard discussed in
Section 6.11 to create new surfaces. These surfaces can then be used to create cells, by
selecting “Cell” from the main menu and following the instructions beginning in Section
7.0 for the cell window. A Cell Wizard, discussed in section 7.18, is also available to aid
in the creation of cells.

The input window, shown at the bottom of Figure 2.1, can be displayed by selecting
“Input” from the main menu. In the input window, a title card indicating the creation
date is created by default when starting from scratch and not reading in an input file. If
you want to add you own title, enter it above this card, then select “Save-Update” from
the menu. This will temporarily cause the line containing the creation date to go away,
but it will come back as a comment card after the first cell is created.

You can edit the file in the input window and then select the “Save-Update” menu option
to update the plots to reflect the changes made. This gives you the freedom to work
either in editor mode or use the graphical interface commands. If the file is modified by
hand in such a way that it is no longer valid, it is possible when doing “Save-Update”,
that the Fortran will generate a fatal error causing the Visual Editor to terminate, although
an attempt is made to trap most fatal errors.

When doing a “Save – Update” command, the Visual Editor writes out the input to a
temporary file name called inpn. When you are ready to save the file to a permanent file,
use the “File->Save” command or the “File->SaveAs” command.

The Visual Editor will automatically back up the file every five minutes to a file called
“inpn.sav”, so if the Visual Editor crashes, you will not lose more than 5 minutes of
work. Also, if the Visual Editor encounters a MCNP fatal error that it can not recover
from, it will try to save the input into a file called “inpcrash”.

Error and information messages are sent to the text window that is located under the main
menu.

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2.1 Important Files In The Visual Editor
Table 2.1 shows a list of the files used by the Visual Editor. The Visual Editor prints out
a number of auxiliary files. Because of this, you may want to run the Visual Editor in its
own directory and transfer the input files you are creating or working on to that directory.

Table 2.1. Files used by the Visual Editor.

File Name Description
inp Used by the Visual Editor as the default input file name. This file is
overwritten each time the editor starts up. The Visual Editor will give
unpredictable results if you try to read this file in as the input file.
inpn Inpn is the file that is created when doing a “Save-Update” command in the
input window. The Visual Editor will give unpredictable results if you try to
read this file in as the input file.
inpn1, inpn2, By selecting “backup” from the main menu a new inpn? (inpn1, inpn2, inpn3,
inpn3, … …) file is created representing the contents of the current file being worked on.
inpn.sav The input file is backed up every 5 minutes to this file, so if the system crashes
you will not lose more than 5 minutes of work. The Visual Editor will give
unpredictable results if you try to read this file in as the input file.
inpcrash If MCNP generates a fatal error that results in a “stop” statement, a message is
sent to the Visual Editor telling the user that the code is about to terminate. It
then saves the current input file into a file called inpcrash. This will allow the
user to get the file that was generated up to the point of the fatal error. The
Visual Editor will give unpredictable results if you try to read this file in as the
input file.
outp, outq, … In normal plotting mode, the outp file is overwritten and does not sequentially
increase. In other modes, such as 3D plotting, particle track plotting, tally
plotting and running, the outp file name increases sequentially just like when
running MCNP outside the Visual Editor. If the Visual Editor crashes,
always check this file to see if there are fatal MCNP errors not trapped by
the Visual Editor.
inpt Temporary file used for 3D plotting and collision point plotting.
outp3d Output file for 3D plotting.
outmc Contains MCNP output messages, normally written to standard out. If the
Visual Editor crashes, always check this file to see if there are fatal MCNP
errors not trapped by the Visual Editor.
vised.defaults The file containing the location of xsdir and the material libraries, this file is
needed for using the material libraries and for selecting isotopes when creating
materials. See Section 8.5.
stndrd.n Standard material file containing neutron cross sections available for all users.
stndrd.p Standard material file containing photon cross sections available for all users.
usr.n User specific material file containing neutron cross sections for the individual
user.
usr.p User specific material file containing photon cross sections for the individual
user.

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2.2 The Main Menu Functions
Table 2.2 provides an overview of the main menu options and their purpose.

Table 2.2. Main Menu Options.

Menu Option Description
File Used to open and save MCNP input files. File-> New View is used to open
additional plot windows into the geometry.
Input Used to bring up a simple text editor containing the complete contents of the
input file, including cards not recognized by the Visual Editor. The input file
can be edited by hand in this window.
Update Plots Update both plot windows.
Surface Bring up the surface window to scan, create or modify surfaces.
Cell Bring up the cell window to scan, create or modify cells.
Data Menu for some data cards: materials, importances, transformations.
Run Enable the running of MCNP input files.
Particle Display Bring up the source window that allows for source point display and particle
track plotting.
Tally Plots Allow the plotting of tallies from a runtpe or mctal files. This is the same
capability that currently exists when requesting MCPLOT (mcnp
inp=filename z options)
Cross Section Allow the plotting of MCNP cross sections. This is the same capability that
Plots currently exists when requesting MCPLOT (mcnp inp=filename ixz options)
3D View Allows the rendering of a 3D view of the geometry or a radiographic image
using ray tracing, or select “Dynamic 3D Display” to obtain a dynamic wire
mesh display in some current versions of the Visual Editor.
CAD Import Import a CAD 2D dxf or 3D sat file.
Read_again Update the plots after the file that was read in has been modified by an
external text editor. This allows the user to edit the file outside the Visual
Editor and only use the Visual Editor to plot the geometry.
Backup Creates a backup file that sequentially increases (inpn1, inpn2, …).
View Select the active plot window.
Help Shows the version number, along with access to this manual in electronic
form, including an index and search ability.

2.3 Reading and Writing the Input File

The attempt is made to read the MCNP input file and write out the same information to
the inpn file. If the input file is created outside the Visual Editor, you will find that when
you save it, the Visual Editor will change the order of the lines in the input file. If the
user does not want the Visual Editor to change the input file, they can open up the input
file with the File->Open(do not modify input) option. However, in this mode the creation
capabilities of the Visual Editor are disabled and the Visual Editor is only used for
plotting.

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Below is the order in which the Visual Editor writes out the input file:

1. Title card
2. Cell Cards
3. blank line
4. Surface Cards
5. blank line
6. Transformations
7. Mode
8. Source
9. Materials
10. Importances
11. Other data [VOL, PWT, EXT, FCL, PD, DXC, NONU, WWN, TMP]
12. Data not recognized by the Visual Editor

The editor does it best to keep the original comments in the proper locations. The "$"
comments from the inp file for cell and surface cards are read into the Visual Editor, but
only one "$" comment will be written out for a cell or surface card; i.e., if there are more
than one "$" comments for a given cell or surface, only the first one will be written to the
inpn file. The Visual Editor will print out an error message saying the “$ comment is
lost.”

There are a number of data cards that are still not individually recognized by the Visual
Editor such as the source and tally cards. These are stored in a temporary file and written
back out to the input file when it is saved. All cards that are individually recognized by
the Visual Editor will be formatted to its specific style. For example importances are
written out in a special format that uses a "$" comment on each line to show the cell
numbers involved for that line. The Visual Editor also does not currently allow the cell
parameters to be specified on the cell card, it will strip off the cell card parameters and
place them in a data block. To avoid this problem, the input file can be read in without
modification with the “File->Open (do not modify input)” option or by using the “Read
Again” option

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3.0 File Options
The file menu has a number of typical options available in Windows applications,
however, there are a few Visual Editor specific options.

File->New View will open up a new plot window with the plot parameters set to default
values.

File->Open will bring up a file selection window that will allow a new MCNP input file
to be read in. A file opened in with this command will be re-formatted by the Visual
Editor to enable the creation capabilities.

File->Open (do not modify input) will bring up a file selection window that will allow a
new MCNP input file to be read in. A file opened in with this command will not be
modified and all creation capabilities (surface, cell, materials, etc.) will be turned off.
However, all plotting capabilities will still be available including 2D plots, 3D plots and
particle plots. The input can also be opened up in an external text editor and the plots can
be updated by using the “Read_again” menu option.

File->Clear Input will clear the active input file, so the user can start over from scratch.
This removes all surface, cell and MCNP data information.

File->Save and File->Save As must be used to save the current input file that is being
generated. If you leave the Visual Editor before saving the file, all the information
currently in memory will be lost.

4.0 The Input Window

To bring up the input window, select Input from the main menu. This will bring up a text
window that shows the entire contents of the input file. If an input file has not yet been
read in, it will show a single default comment card indicating the current date.

As surfaces and cells are created, they will show up in this input window. At any time,
the user can type any valid MCNP data into the input window and then select “Save-
Update” to reset the Fortran memory and update the plots. This gives the user the
freedom to work either with the Visual Editor interface tools or to work in text mode.

The Visual Editor does not individually handle all MCNP data cards at this time. Data
cards individually recognized by the Visual Editor are cells, surfaces, materials,
importances, and transformation. Data cards that are not individually recognized by the
Visual Editor are read in from an input file, and are copied directly over into the input
window. Currently, the only way to change these data cards is to change them by hand in
the input window and then select “Save-Update” to update the Fortran memory with the
modifications that have been made.

It is important to note that doing a “Save-Update” in the input window, saves the file out
to a temporary file called “inpn”. The user must select File->Save or File->Save As to
save the file to permanent storage.

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5.0 Plotting And Changing Plot Parameters
The Visual Editor starts up with two default plot windows. Additional plot windows can
be created by selecting File->New View.

Figure 5.1 shows an expanded view of a Visual Editor plot window and the various
plotting options available on the top and side of the plot window. Also shown is the
menu that is displayed when you right click in the plot window. The top portion of this
menu can be used to change some of the plot parameters. Also, included in this menu are
some shortcuts to common surface and cell operations.

To print out a hard copy of a plot, select “File->Print” from the main menu and it will
send the contents of the currently selected window to the printer. To include plots in a
document, right click in the plot window and select the “send to clipboard” option. Then
go into the text document and select paste to paste.

Figure 5.1. Plot Window Options.

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5.1 Update
As it's name implies, the "Update" button is used to redraw the plot for that window.

To update all plots, use the “Update plots” main menu option. You typically use the
“Update plots” button to create the plots after reading in a new input file. This is not
done automatically because there are times when you do not want the plot to be displayed
because it would take too long to generate.

When you change the basis, origin, or extent parameters by hand, you need to select
“Update” in the specific window or "Update plots" from the main menu to redraw the
plots with the new plot values.

5.2 Last Button

The "Last" button enables you to go back to prior plots. For instance, if you use the
“Zoom” button to zoom in on a region in the geometry, the last button will take you back
to the “Unzoomed” view. All of the plot parameters are saved when the plot is changed
and "Last" will go backwards through the sequence of plots. The parameters changed by
"Origin", "Zoom" and "Basis" can all be recalled with "Last". Last remembers the last
1000 plots made for each plot window.

5.3 Zoom Check Box

The "Zoom" check box enables the user to magnify a portion of the plot. When the
"Zoom" check box is selected, the user can drag the mouse across a portion of the
geometry and that area will be magnified. This is useful for intricate work in small cells.

The Visual Editor stays in zoom mode until you uncheck the “Zoom” check box. This
allows for multiple zoom operations to be done in a row.

Sometimes it is useful to click zoom on one plot and then drag the mouse across a zoom
area in a different plot. The identified area will then be shown in the original plot
window.

5.4 Origin Check Box

The origin is the center of the plot. The origin of the two plots automatically defaults to
0,0,0. These coordinates can be set by hand by entering the desired origin values in the
three text boxes below the “Origin” check box. Once the new origin is ready to be
implemented, select "Update plots".

Another way to adjust the origin involves selecting the "Origin" check box for the plot
and then setting the origin by clicking in the plot to define the location for the new center
of the plot. The origin can be set in either plot window. The plot will stay in “origin”
mode until the origin check box is clicked again to turn it off.

The buttons to the left of the origin values, enable the user to change the origin “x”, “y”
or “z” value by clicking on the coordinate to be changed and selecting its value with a

14
click of the mouse from one of the plot windows. For example, if the right plot is an xy
view and the left plot is an xz view, you can change the elevation of the xy view by
clicking the z box for the right plot and then clicking the at a different z value on the left
plot. The z for the right plot will change to that selected value, resulting in a different
cross sectional view.

5.5 Changing the Extents

The horizontal extent is the distance from the center of the plot to a horizontal edge of the
plot. The vertical extent is the distance from the center of the plot to the top/bottom of
the plot. The extents for the plots automatically default to 100. The extents can be
changed by typing in desired extents under the “Extent” label and selecting “Update” or
by using the slider bar on top of the plot windows. This modifies the extent by a scale
factor between 0.1 and 10. You can also click on the left/right side of the slider bar
handle to increase/decrease the extents by about 10% for each click.

The buttons to the left of the extent values, allow the user to square up the extents. This
is often used after “zooming” in on a region. Both extents will be set to the value you
click on making them equal.

5.6 Refresh Check Box

This check box defaults to the checked “on” position. Turn this check box off if you do
not want to update the plot window when cells or surfaces are modified or when “Update
Plots” is selected from the main menu. There are times when you may not want to
update a particular plot window. For example, you might want to turn off plotting if the
view contains a large lattice that is time consuming to plot. Be careful when you use this
check box to turn off plotting, since the plot will not be updated until you turn this check
box on again.

5.7 The Surface and Cell Check Box

When the "Surface" check box is turned on, surface numbers will appear on the plots next
to their respective surface. If the check box is turned off, surface numbers do not appear.
Next to the surface check box is a text box where you can enter the font size to use for the
surface label. Increase this number to increase the label size

When the "Cell" check box is turned on, cell numbers will appear inside the cells. The
meaning of the “cell” number is determined by the cell label that has been selected. As
with surface numbers, the size of the font used for cell numbers can be changed by
changing the number in the text box.

5.8 Color Check Box

This check box will enable color plotting. The color can be set to represent Materials or
any of the items specified by the “color by” option, as shown in Figure 5.1.

5.9 Facets Check Box

When displaying macrobody surfaces, this check box will change the display to include
the surface facet number when a macrobody surface is involved.

15
5.10 WW Mesh Check Box
By checking this check box, the weight window mesh will be displayed if this option is
used in the active input file.

5.11 Rect Check Box

Select this check box to change the plot window to a rectangular plot instead of a square
plot. A rectangular plot is needed to see the grid lines or the plot legend. Tally and cross
section plots also look better in a rectangular plot instead of a square plot.

5.12 Tal Mesh Check Box

By checking this check box, the tally mesh will be displayed if the input file contains a
tally mesh.

5.13 Plot Rotation Options

The 2D plots can be rotated through three different angles. Selecting “Axial” will rotate
the plot in a counter clockwise direction around the axial axis pointing out of the plot
window. The default rotation angle is 15 degrees. The “Vert” option will rotate the 2D
view along the angle between the horizontal and axial vector. This will cause the view to
rotate around the vertical axis. The “Horiz” option will rotate the 2D view along the
angle between the vertical and axial vector. This will cause the view to rotate around the
horizontal axis.

5.14 Scales Check Box

The “Scales” pull down menu allows you to display a border around the geometry plot or
a grid across the plot. This can only be seen if the “Rect” check box has been set.

5.15 Res Text Box

The resolution text box sets the resolution for color plots. The default value is 300. The
maximum value is 3000. The higher the resolution, the better the color resolution on a
color plot. The drawing time will increase as this value increases.

5.16 Pscript Check Box

When this checkbox is selected, a postscript file is written to the out.ps file when the
current active plot when it is updated. This works for general geometry plots, particle
collision plots and 3D plots.

5.17 Changing the Basis

One of the advantages of multiple plots is the ability to view the same geometry with
multiple cross sectional slices. This is especially helpful with complex three-dimensional
geometries. The first three text entries of the basis represent the horizontal axis vector of
the plot and the lower three text entries of the basis represent the vertical axis vector of
the plot. The text entries can be changed by hand and the plot will be updated to the
indicated basis vectors by selecting the “Update” button or “Update Plots” menu option
to redraw the plots. The left plot in the Editor defaults to an xz basis and the right

16
defaults to a xy basis. A "Basis" pull down menu is available in the top left portion of the
plot window with the choices of xy, xz, yx, yz, zx, and zy.

The basis menu is also available by clicking the right button in the plot window. The
basis can also be entered by hand by setting the six basis vectors and then selecting the
“Update” button or “Update Plots” menu option to redraw the plots. The code will
normalize each basis vector and adjust them, if necessary, to be normal.

5.18 Viewing Global/Local Coordinates

The Global/local menu determines how the displayed coordinates at the top of the plot
window are to be interpreted. With local set, the coordinates are for the universe prior to
being transformed because of a transformation or a fill, otherwise the coordinates are
relative to the origin of the geometry.

5.19 Setting Cell Labels

Selecting the "Labels" button with the right mouse button will bring up menu which lists
the cell labels recognized by MCNP. These labels are: CEL, IMP:, RHO, DEN, VOL,
FCL:, MAS, PWT, MAT, TMPn, WWNn:, EXT:p, PD, DXC:, U, LAT, FILL, and
NONU. Those items with a ":" have a pull right menu to choose p, n, e. Items with an
“n” in their name require that you enter the requested value at the top of the plot window
in the “n =” text box.

5.20 Level Pulldown Menu

The level pulldown menu allows you to hide lower levels of a lattice for complex
geometries that have lattices inside of lattices, such as a reactor core filled with fuel
assemblies. The geometry will only be plotted to the level specified. Level 1 is the top
level, normal geometries will plot at this level. Level 3 will go down one universe level,
level 5 will go down two universe levels.

By setting these level buttons, you can significantly decrease the amount of time it takes
to make a plot of a lattice geometry by suppressing the plotting of lower universe
information. Additionally, you can use the special lattice cell label options to plot useful
information about the lattice geometry.

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6.0 The Surface Window
Figure 6.1 shows the surface window. This window is used to create new surfaces, delete
surfaces and modify surfaces. The operation that is being performed is determined by the
mode shown at the top of the surface window. The default mode is “Create new” which
will create a new surface -- even experienced users may find it convenient to just use the
surface wizard discussed in Section 6.11 to create new surfaces. All recognized MCNP
surface types can be created or modified.

Figure 6.1. The surface window.

6.1 Creating a Surface

To create a new surface, first select a surface type, either by clicking on the “Surfaces”
menu option or doing a right click in the gray area of the window as demonstrated in
Figure 6.1. All surface types will show up including surfaces defined by points and
macrobody surfaces.

The surface number will be set by default when creating a surface. The editor uses the
last valid surface number and increments it by one. The surface coefficients are typically
entered by hand. For some of the simple surfaces you can use the mouse to set the
coefficients to an approximate value by clicking on the screen. For example, for a simple
sphere (SO surface), you can set the radius, by clicking on the screen.

You can indicate that the surface is a reflective surface by clicking on the “Reflective”
check box. You can assign a transformation to the surface, by either entering the
transformation number in by hand or clicking on the “Transformation” button to bring up
a list of available transformations for the input file. When you select a transformation,
the number of the transformation is placed in the transformation text box.

Select “Register” from the menu to create the surface and add it to the input file. Once a
surface is created, the mode changes to “Create like” which will default to creating
additional surface, just like the one that was created.

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 6.2 Scanning a Surface
You scan a surface, by clicking on the “Scan” mode and then dragging the mouse across
the surface in the plot window. You can alternatively type the surface number in by
hand. When you scan a surface, all the information about that surface is displayed in the
surface window.

6.3 Deleting a Surface

To delete a surface you first need to scan it in, by dragging across it with a mouse or by
entering the surface number when in “scan” mode. Once the surface has been scanned in
successfully, it can be deleted by selecting “Delete” from the menu. If the surface is used
as part of a cell, the Visual Editor will not let you delete it.

6.4 Editing a Surface

To edit a surface, you first need to scan the surface in and then change the mode to
“Edit”. In edit mode you can change the surface parameters, including the surface type.
Once you are done editing the surface, select “Register” to update the surface in the input
file and update the plot windows.

6.5 Hiding and Showing Surfaces

The surface “hide” and “show” menu options are used to hide and show surfaces. A
surface that is shown will appear as an infinite surface and it will show up, even if it is
not part of any cell.

In order to make cells, the Visual Editor needs to show these infinite surfaces that are not
part of any cell. The surface number for an infinite surface will have an “*” by it when
displayed in the plot window. It should not be confused with a reflective surface which
also has a “*”. Once a surface is used in a cell, it becomes a finite surface and the “*” is
removed from the label and it looks like it would in a normal MCNP plot window.

When you first enter the Visual Editor or when you do a “Save – Update” from the
“input” window, all of the unused surfaces are hidden. You need to select the “Show-
>Unused” option to show the unused surfaces if you need them for creating cells.
Because this is done fairly often when creating cells, it is included on the menu when you
do a right click in the plot window.

6.6 Surface Comments

The dollar comment ($) is in line with the surface description and is limited to 40
characters. The comment card is on its own line and can be 80 characters long. Both
dollar comments and surface comments can be entered for each surface.

6.7 Entering Surface Dimensions in Inches

The default is to represent all surface dimensions in centimeters. However, it is possible
to enter surface dimensions in inches by selecting the “Inches” option. In this mode all
dimensions are in inches, the plots will still be in cm and the surface dimensions will be
converted to centimeters when creating the surface card for the input file.

19
While in “Inches” mode, the dimensions of scanned surfaces will be in inches, the
“Surface delta” will be calculated as inches, and the distance will also be calculated in
inches.

6.8 Surface Distance

In scan mode, click on the “Distance” check box to have the Visual Editor calculate the
distance between two simple surfaces (planes, spheres, cylinders). Click the first check
box and drag across the first surface and then click the second check box and drag across
the second surface and the distance between the surfaces will be calculated. The Visual
Editor will take the dimension of the first surface minus the dimension of the second
surface, so it is possible for this value to be negative. This only works for surfaces of the
same type. This value will be in inches if “Inches” is selected.

It is possible to get a number of distances from a specific surface by getting the

dimension for the first surface and then leaving the second check box checked and
dragging across all surfaces for which you want the distance calculated relative to the
first surface.

6.9 Surface Delta

The “Surface Delta” button lets you create a new surface relative to an existing surface.
Set the mode to “Scan” and drag across the existing surface. Next change the mode to
“Create Like” and enter a value for the surface delta. Click on the Surface Delta button
and this amount is added to the surface coefficient. This only works for simple surfaces
such as planes, spheres and cylinders. For spheres and cylinders the delta is added to the
radius coefficient. This value will be in inches if “inches” is selected.

6.10 Macrobody Surfaces

All macrobody surfaces are supported and can be created, both in the surface window and
in the surface wizard. If problems occur when creating or modifying macrobody
surfaces, typically because of coincident surfaces, do a “Save-Update” in the input
window to reset the Fortran memory and the plots.

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6.11 The Surface Wizard
Figure 6.2 shows a view of the Surface Wizard. The surface wizard can be used to walk
the user through the process of creating a surface. This can be particularly useful for
creating macrobody surfaces. The Wizard also includes some options for creating some
specialized quadratic surfaces including ellipsoids and a slanted cylinder as shown in
Figure 6.3.

Figure 6.2. The surface wizard.

Figure 6.3. Special quadratic surfaces.

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7.0 The Cell Window
Figure 7.1 shows the cell window. After the appropriate surfaces have been created,
select “Cell” from the main menu to create a cell using these surfaces. In the cell window
you can create, edit, or delete cells. The default mode is “Create New” for creating new
cells. You also have options for creating cell lattices, and splitting a cell for biasing.

In “color” mode, the cells will be colored according to their material. However, the
default "B&W" mode is usually preferable since the plots are generated much more
rapidly in black and white. In both Color and B&W mode, geometry errors are shown as
dotted surfaces in red. These lines are easier to see in B&W mode.

Figure 7.1. The cell window.

7.1 Creating A Cell

Below are the basic steps for defining a cell when the cell window is active:

1. The editor selects a new default problem cell number when you open the cell window
or after you register a cell, but you can change this if you prefer to use a different cell
number.

2. Enter the material number for the cell from the keyboard, or bring up a list of defined
materials by clicking on the material button, then click on the desired material -- this
enters both the material and its default density into the cell window. The material
must be defined to appear in the material list window. To set the density, the material
must be used someplace else in the input file, the editor will get density from other
cells that use the material. If the material has not been used before, you will need to
enter the density by hand. Note: you may want to simplify things by not using
materials in the initial geometry model (just voids), but this does have the
disadvantage that the material regions will not show up by color on the plots.

3. Enter the material density from the keyboard (positive if atom density and negative if
gram density) if not set by selecting the material using the material button.

4. Enter fill number and/or universe number for the cell if required for the cell.

5. Drag the mouse across each relevant surface on the plots to select the bounding
surfaces for a simple object. A simple object is one where the sense (+/-) of the

22
 surfaces bounding the object is the same everywhere inside the object. When doing a
surface drag, verify that the editor found the surface by looking to see if the surface is
displayed in the white area at the bottom of the cell window. If the drag was not
successful, the error message "drag failed" will be displayed in this area, in which
case you need to try to do the drag again. Occasionally, when there are
inconsistencies in the geometry, a surface will not appear or there will not be a
response when the mouse is dragged across the surface. Do a "show" on this surface
and the drag should work. You may need to keep showing surfaces after each cell is
registered until this inconsistency is removed.

6. Click the left mouse button inside the object to indicate the sense of the surfaces for
the object. Note that some of the surface numbers in the white area will change sign.

7. Choose the "Paste" button (with the left mouse button) to add this simple object to the
cell description, or the "Cut" button to cut out this simple object from the cell being
formed. The white area now shows the surfaces with senses (and unions if needed) of
the partial cell card.

8. Repeat steps 5-7 for each "paste" or "cut" operation until the cell is completely
defined. You can also enter "Not" "cell numbers" if appropriate.

9. "Register" the cell to create it, where the white area will give the message "CELL
REGISTERED". The plots will also be updated to show the new cell, where dashed
lines will be replaced with solid lines along the portions of surfaces where valid cells
are defined on each side of the surface.

If you do not want to use the mouse operations described above to create the cell, you can
enter the cell description in by hand and then select “Register” to create the cell.

7.2 Discussion Of Cell Paste And Cut Operations

The bounding surface description of the cell is defined through a series of "Paste" and
"Cut" operations. The "Paste" operation allows a complex geometry to be created by
pasting together simple convcave objects such as parallelepipeds, spheres, cylinders, or
more general shapes. The "Cut" operation allows the user to remove a piece from inside
of the currently defined cell. For example; to create a cell outside a cube but inside a
sphere, the first step is to define the outer spherical portion of the cell by crossing the
spherical surface with the mouse and then setting the sense with the mouse and doing a
paste operation. Next remove the inner cube by crossing each of its six surfaces with the
mouse, clicking inside the cube to set the sense of the surfaces and then using the "Cut"
operation to remove the cube from the cell description. Finally select register to create
the cell.

The reason that only simple shapes can be used in creating a cell, is the sense of all the
surfaces must be the same for all locations within all the surfaces. For example in Figure
7.2, to create cell 1 on the right, you will need to do two sequential paste operations.
First add the upper rectangular region to the cell description by dragging across surfaces

23
4, 6, 2, and 1, setting the sense by selecting a point in the center of these four surfaces,
and then selecting paste. Second, add the other rectangular region by dragging across
surfaces 4, 5, 3, and 2, selecting a point in the center of these surfaces, then selecting
paste. Finally, select “register” to create the cell consisting of the union of these two
rectangular regions

First point

Second point

Figure 7.2. Two sequential paste operations.

This needs to done with two paste operations because the sense for surfaces 5 and 2
changes depending on the location inside cell 1. If you dragged across all six surfaces
and then selected a point for the sense, the sense for surfaces 5 and 2 would change
depending on where you clicked. Typically axial surfaces would also be involved in
creating the cell with “Paste” or “Cut” operations, but they are not included here to
simplify the discussion.

The "Paste" operation creates a set of intersections, with the sense of the surfaces
determined by the mouse location when the sense is entered. "Paste" allows the user to
paste together a complex, even disjoint (although this is typically not desirable), cell from
simple objects. The “Paste” operation adds the region (using the union “:” operator) to
the cell being defined.

The "Cut" operation creates a sequence of unions, using the opposite sense of the surfaces
for the simple object. "Cut" allows the user to cut out simple objects one at a time.
Typically the perimeter of the cell has been formed with "paste" operations before the
"cut" operation, and the new cut will remove the defined region (using a cell
intersection). There is a special case in the creation of the "outside world" cell, or for

24
cells on the outer portion of a universe, where "cut" may be the only operation. Then the
cut produces a number of unions describing the cell as the region beyond.

Each time a cut or paste operation is made, the editor will take the portion already
defined, encase it in parenthesis and add on the portion that is being cut or pasted.
Because of this, complex cells created in the Visual Editor can sometimes be hard to
understand when looking at the input file.

7.3 Special Sense Considerations

To set the sense for the cell, it is important that the location for the sense is inside the
region being defined in all three dimensions. Because the sense is set within a 2D plot
window, the user must be sure that the sense is not on a surface and that it is inside the
region that is being defined in the third dimension. For example, if the sense is being set
in the XY plot window, the user must be sure the z elevation of the XY plot is inside the
region being defined.

7.4 Creating a Cell with Universes

The cell transformation number, universe number, and fill number should also be
appropriately set. These options introduce complications in defining the geometry since
the geometry creation is dynamic on the plots, so certain rules need to be followed
consistently to enable the creation of such cells.

As a general rule you need to use the following sequence in creating cells involving
universes, fills, and transformations for a cell that is part of a universe that fills a cell:

1. Create the fill cell first at the origin, but do not include the transformation. If the
plots are too messy around the origin, you may need to use the "hide" option to hide
some cells, and possibly surfaces, on the plots. In the cell window set the value for
fill.

2. Create the universe cells contained inside the fill cell. Remember that you do not
include the outer bounding surfaces that are included on the fill cell created in step 1
above. In the cell window set the universe value equal to the fill value set in step 1
above for each cell, then register the cells.

3. If a transformation is involved, return to the cell created in step 1 and modify it by

using the cell scan-edit option. To scan the fill cell, you will need to enter the cell
number by hand, since the fill cell will not show up in the plot windows. When the
mode is set to edit set the transformation, by selecting the transformation button to
select a transformation, or just enter the correct transformation number by hand in the
cell window. The plots for this universe will shift to the appropriate transformed
location. You must create all the transformations prior to using them in the cells.

If you have a universe inside of a universe, it is recommended that you create these from
the inside out. This will require a little backtracking as you set transformations and
universe numbers, but it should be the easiest method. Create the inside fill cell first,

25
then the inside cells that have the universe value set to this fill value. At this point you
can go back and transform the fill cell if needed. Next create the outside fill cell and all
the cells that compose the universe inside this fill cell. You will need to edit the inside
universe fill cell at this time and set the universe value to the fill value of the outside
universe. Finally, you can now transform the outside universe if needed.

7.5 Using Undo

A useful feature of the cell window is the “Undo” button. This button allows you to
correct mistakes prior to a register. Both drags and clicks (to set the cell sense) can be
"un-done" in reverse sequence one at a time. Even after a cell is registered the undo
button can be used to undo drags and clicks by scanning the cell and editing it. This can
only be done on cells created by the Visual Editor.

7.6 Register
"Register" is the final step in the cell making process. Once the cell is registered it is
officially incorporated into the geometry. All of the active plot windows with the
“Refresh” button selected will be updated to show the newly created cell. After creating
a number of cells, it is prudent to save the file using File->Save or backup the file by
selecting the “Backup” menu option.

7.7 Scanning a Cell

You scan a cell, by clicking on the “Scan” mode and then clicking inside a cell in the plot
window. You can alternatively type the cell number in by hand. When you scan a cell,
all the information about that cell is displayed in the cell window.

7.8 Deleting a Cell

To delete a cell you first need to scan it in, by selecting the cell in the plot window with
the mouse. Once the cell has been scanned in successfully, it can be deleted by selecting
“delete” from the menu. If the cell is used in another cell as a not (#) cell, the Visual
Editor will not let you delete it.

7.9 Editing a Cell

To edit a cell, you first need to scan the cell in and then change the mode to “Edit”. In
edit mode you can change the cell parameters. Once you are done editing the cell, select
“Register” to modify the cell in the input file and update the plot windows.

While in edit mode, if the cell was created with the Visual Editor, you can use the
“Undo” option to undo the operations used to create the cell. This will not work on a
complex cell created outside the Visual Editor.

In edit mode you can select “Clear” to clear the cell description and start over defining
the cell from scratch. The “Clear” button only clears the cell description, none of the
other cell parameters are changed.

You can also manually edit the cell by changing the cell description by hand and then
selecting “Register” when you are done modifying the cell.

26
7.10 Create like
You can use the “Create like” mode to create a new cell similar to an existing cell. A
common application of this is to create a new cell like a cell that already exists, but with a
transformation.

To use the “Create like” option, you need to first “Scan” in a cell and then change the
mode to “Create like”. The Visual Editor will automatically update the cell number to
the next valid number. At this point you can specify the cell parameters that you want to
be different and then register the cell to create it.

7.11 Hiding and Showing Cells

The cell “hide” and “show” main menu options are used to hide and show cells. This
option is not used very much, but can be used to define an object at the origin (To be
transformed later) over an existing geometry, by hiding the existing geometry.

7.12 Cell Comments

The dollar comment ($) is in line with the cell description and is limited to 40 characters.
The comment card is on its own line and can be 80 characters long. Both dollar
comments and cell comments can be entered for a cell.

27
7.13 Splitting a cell
Another feature available in the cell window is "Register for cell splitting" near the
bottom of the cell window. This allows you to divide a cell equally (by thickness, not by
volume) into a specified number of smaller cells. This is useful for setting importances in
a thick shield.

To use cell splitting, create the cell that is to be divided, then instead of selecting
“Register”, select "Register for cell splitting". Once this button is selected, another
window comes up that allows you to specify the number of splits (number of cells
created) and in some cases the type of splitting to be done. The editor will already know
the type of cell being split so you should never need to change this. See Figure 7.3 for an
example of splitting a cylinder created by cz surface 1 and pz surfaces 2 and 3.

Figure 7.3. Cell splitting options.

For a cell that will be split into n cells, possible geometry types for the splitting include:

1. “Sphere-in-Sphere” where n-1 radial surfaces are inserted between the inner and
outer spheres, where the inner sphere can have a radius of zero.

2. “Sphere” where n-1 radial surfaces are inserted inside a sphere surface.

28
 3. “Cylinder-in-Cylinder” where the inner and outer cylinders can be divided either
axially or radially -- in either case the inner cylinder radius can optionally be zero;
or (2) the inner cylinder is completely inside the outer cylinder, and the region is
divided into n cylinder-in-cylinder cells.

4. “Cylinder or Ring” where the inner and outer cylinders for the ring are the same
height and the ring can be split axially or radially, When the surface is just a
cylinder, it also can be split axially or radially.

5. “Box-in-Box”, where n-1 surfaces are inserted between the inner and outer box in
each of the -x, +x, -y, +y, -z, and +z directions with uniform spacing between the
inserted surfaces in each of the directions.

6. “Slab”, where a large parallelepiped region is divided with n-1 surfaces in the x,
y, or z direction as specified by the user.

Once the split is registered the cell splitting window disappears, and the multiple cells
that fill the original region appear in the geometry plots. The editor automatically creates
the n new cells and all the surfaces that are needed.

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7.15 Creating a Square Lattice
Note: Creating lattices as discussed in Sections 7.15 and 7.16 is relatively complicated
and all types of configurations can occur. If you have trouble creating a lattice with the
Visual Editor, you may first need to experiment with a simpler lattice or else enter the
cells involving the lattice manually in the Input window with a “Save – Update” after the
information has been entered to update Fortran memory and the plots.

A square lattice can be created by selecting the square lattice option in the cell window.
To create a square lattice, you need to specify the horizontal and vertical pitch along with
the number of rows. You can also include axial regions, by specifying the number of
axial regions. When requesting axial regions, you need to specify the upper and lower
coordinates for the surfaces that define the axial regions. The Visual Editor will then
create the surfaces required to create the lattice. Figure 7.4 shows the rectangular lattice
window for a rectangular lattice with three axial regions.

Figure 7.4. The Rectangular Lattice window.

Once a lattice has been defined the universe fill array is displayed to allow you to define
the universes filling the lattice. Universe values can be set in the lattice by selecting

30
different parameters using the “Select” options and then setting the universe value using
the “Set Universe Value” text box. For example, in Figure 7.4 column index 2 is
selected and set to universe 3. Other options that can be used for selecting lattice
locations include the universe number (allowing for a search and replace capability), the
axial index, and j index (row).

7.16 Creating a Hexagonal Lattice

A hexagonal lattice can be created by selecting the hexagonal lattice option in the cell
window. To create a hexagonal lattice, you need to specify the pitch and the number of
rows. You can also specify axial regions, by specifying the number of axial regions and
then indicating the coordinates for the axial surfaces. The Visual Editor will then create
the surfaces required to create the lattice. Figure 7.5 shows the hexagonal lattice window
for a lattice with three axial regions.

Figure 7.5. The hexagonal lattice window.

31
Once a lattice has been defined by the pitch, number of rows and number of axial regions,
a fill array will be displayed. Individual universes can be set by selecting locations in the
universe lattice using special selection options. For a hex lattice, available parameters are
the axial index, universe number, row, flat and flat index. In Figure 7.5, rows 1 through 3
have been set to universe 3.

7.17 Special Hex Lattice Display Options

The Visual Editor allows you to hide lower levels of a lattice by selecting the appropriate
level number for the plot. For a complex geometry with a universe in a universe, it is
possible to plot only the top universe by setting the plot level to 1. This can significantly
reduce the plotting time for plots where the internal details do not need to be plotted.

The Visual Editor also allows you to display the coordinates for the universe by setting
the global check box to local. This will show the actual coordinates for which the
surfaces were created prior to being moved by a transformation or by being include in a
universe.

There are a number of useful things that can be plotted for a hex lattice that can be found
under the lat menu of the cell label button. You can plot the universe number for each
lattice location, or various indices.

7.18 The Cell Wizard

Figure 7.6-1 through 7.6-14 shows a series of plots of the cell wizard being used to create
a cell. The cell Wizard will take the user through the process of creating a cell a step at a
time. The Figures below show the steps that the Wizard will take to generate a cell
composed of three paste operations. The first region is created in steps 1-4. The second
region is created in steps 5-8. The third region is created in steps 9-12.

The current active plot is shown in the wizard. This plot is for display purposes only, the
dragging and over the surfaces and setting the sense with the mouse is done in the main
plot windows.

Figure 7.6-1. Set the Mode to Create

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 Figure 7.6-2. Select the Surfaces

Figure 7.6-3. Use the Mouse to Set the Surface Sense

Figure 7.6-4. Select Paste to Add the Region

Figure 7.6-5. Select the Option to Continue to Create the Second Region

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 Figure 7.6-6. Drag across surfaces for the Second Region.

Figure 7.6-7. Set the Sense for the Second Region.

Figure 7.6-8. Paste the Second Region.

Figure 7.6-9. Select the Option to Continue to Create the Third Region.

34
Figure 7.6-10. Drag across surfaces for the Second Region.

Figure 7.6-11. Set the Sense for the Third Region.

Figure 7.6-12. Paste the Third Region.

Figure 7.6-13. Select Finish to Create the Cell.

35
Figure 7.6-14. Create the Cell.

36
8.0 Materials
Figure 8.1 shows a plot of the material window and the associated material library
window and isotope selection window. The material library allows users to store
commonly used materials in a file that can be accessed by the Visual Editor. It is
possible to move materials from the input file to the library and from the library to the
current input file. The isotope selection window is used to select the isotope cross
sections (the zaid) that make up a particular material.

Material Window

Material Library Window

Isotope Selection Window

Figure 8.1. The material creation windows.

8.1 Creating a Material

Prior to creating any materials, you must set the mode (N, P, E, etc.) for the problem by
typing the mode card in the input window and selecting Save-Update. If you do not do
this, the mode will default to neutron.

The materials are created by choosing the "Data->Materials" menu option. This brings
up a "Materials" window. At this point you can either read in materials from the material
library or create new materials.

37
For a new material, the material number will be automatically set. You can change this if
the number you change it to is not already used. You then need to specify a material
name and a material density (positive if atom density and negative if gram density). The
material density will be the default used on cell cards for that material when selected in
the cell window.

The material composition is generated by specifying each isotope of the material and its
mass fraction (negative) or atom fraction (positive). To do this, click on "Isotope:" in the
"Material Descriptions" window. This brings up a table of the elements. Select an
element with the left mouse button to bring up a menu showing the isotopes for that
element. If this menu does not show up, then you “vised.defaults” file is not valid. Click
on an isotope, to bring up the available cross section sets for the isotope. Choose the
appropriate cross section set by clicking on it with the mouse. When you do this, that
cross section set ID will appear under "isotope" in the material window. Enter the mass
fraction or atom fraction for that isotope in the material being created in the adjacent
"Fraction" box. Then select “Add” to add this isotope/fraction pair to the material
description.

At any time you can change these isotope/fraction pairs, by clicking on the pair to
change. Notice the Edit check box is set, indicating that you are in edit mode. Change
either the isotope or fraction. To get out of edit mode and create additional
isotope/fraction pairs, you must unselect the “edit” check box.

Repeat this for the other isotopes in the material. Then select "Register" to create the
material and add it to the input file.

8.2 Scanning a Material

There is no scan mode in the material window, instead whenever you click on one of the
materials its composition is listed.

8.3 Delete a Material

To delete a material, you need to select the material and then select the “Delete” option
from the menu. This will delete the material, provided it is not used by any cell.

8.4 Edit a Material

To Edit a material, click on the material, set the mode to “Edit” and then click on the
isotope-fraction pair that you want to change. This will activate the “Edit” check box
indicating that a isotope-fraction pair is being edited. At this point you can make changes
to either the isotope or fraction or delete the isotope by pressing the “Delete” button. To
get out of edit mode and enable the create mode to add additional isotope/fraction pairs,
un-check the “Edit” check box.

8.5 The Vised.defaults File

The Visual Editor needs to know where to find the material files for the material library
to work. The Visual Editor also needs to know where xsdir is, to allow for the selection
of cross sections from the isotope window.

38
The Visual Editor will try to determine the location of the material files from the MCNP
“DATAPATH ” environment variable. If this does not work, you need to specify the
location of the material library with the vised.defaults file. To create a vised.defaults file,
bring up the material window, by selecting “Data->Materials” and then select “Files”
from the Materials window. This will bring up a window like that shown in Figure 8.2.
Enter the full path for the location of each of the different files.

Figure 8.2. Select “Files” to set the location of the material library and xsdir files.

There are four types of material files that need to be specified in the File Locations
window:

stndrd.n: Standard material file containing neutron cross sections available for all users.

stndrd.p: Standard material file containing photon cross sections available for all users.

usr.n: User specific material file containing neutron cross sections for the individual
user.

usr.p: user specific material file containing photon cross sections for the individual user.

39
Typically the stndrd.n and stndrd.p files are generated for a group of people to contain a
set of commonly used materials. It is a good idea to keep these files in a central location,
perhaps in the same directory where you store your MCNP executable. These files
should be distributed with the Visual Editor executable.

The usr.n and usr.p files are a set of materials defined by the individual users. You create
the usr.n and usr.p files the first time you move materials (using the “Store” button) from
your input file to the library.

After entering the full path names for these files (see Figure 8.2), select the “Apply”
menu option and a vised.defaults file will be created. The Visual Editor will read this file
each time you start it up. This file must be in the same directory as the Visual Editor
executable so the Visual Editor can find it.

8.6 Material Library

You can transfer materials from the material library by selecting the “Library “ menu
option to bring up the material library and then selecting the materials you want to
include in your input file from the library of materials. If the materials do not show up
then the “vised.defaults” file is not correctly defined. Select the materials you want to
add from the library and select “Add” in the material library window to transfer the
materials from the library to the input file.

When the materials are first transferred to the input file, a default density is assigned to
each material. When selecting the material in a cell using the “Material” button on the
cell window, this default density is used for the cell density. However, if you go out of
the Visual Editor and come back in, or do a “Save-Update” operation in the input
window, these default densities are lost and the editor must then look to see if the
material is used in the input file to get the density off the cell card. If the material is not
used, the density will not be known and you will have to set it by hand.

Caution: The standard materials compositions and densities have been selected from
what is desired in a typical application. This requires a judgment in most cases. A
composition and density that may be perfectly acceptable in most applications, may be
very unacceptable in a special application. Trace element activation or temperature, for
example, may mean important differences. When using standard materials, the user
should always carefully review the acceptability of these materials.

To add materials to the material library, select the materials that you want to place in the
library and then select “Store” from the menu to transfer those materials to the user
library. They will be placed in “usr.n” if they are neutron materials and they will be
placed in “usr.p” if they are photon materials. Within the material library window, you
need to select “Save” to update the user files.

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8.7 Material Options
If you click on the “Options” check box, a number of text boxes will appear that allow
you to fill in additional material options such as gas, estep, nlib, plib, elib. Refer to the
MCNP manual for more information on these. These have not been tested very much.

9.0 Importances
You can set importances by choosing “Data->Importances” from the main menu. From
this Window, the importance for your problem can be set by selecting cells directly from
the plot window and then setting their importance values. Figure 9.1 shows a plot of the
importance window.

Figure 9.1. The importance window.

9.1 Setting Cell Importances

The importance window allows you to set the importance of individual cells or groups of
cells. You can select individual cells on the plot or drag across a series of cells.

Once the cells have been selected, you can set them to a specific importance value by
clicking on the “Set Importance” check box and then entering a value for the importance.
Select “Register” to update the input file and the plots.

9.2 Using a Scale Factor

You can multiply the selected importance by a scale factor, by selecting the “Factor”
check box and selecting the “Scale Factor” option. Next, enter the multiplication factor
into the “Factor” text box and all the importances will be multiplied by this factor. Select
“Register” to update the input file and the plots.

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 9.3 Using a Geometric Factor
To set the importances using a geometric factor, select the “Factor” check box and then
select the “Geometric Factor” option. To use the geometric factor you need to identify
the starting importance and the factor to use in the appropriate text boxes. The Visual
Editor remembers the sequence in which the cells were selected which can be used to
assign a geometric factor to the importances. The Editor will use the starting importance
as the importance for the first cell selected. For each additional cell selected, it multiplies
the previous importance by the geometric factor. For example, if the starting importance
is 4 and the geometric factor is 2, the first six selected cells would have importances of 4,
8, 16, 32, 64, 128.

9.4 The Importance Display

If the display is set to “Decimal”, the importances are shown as decimal numbers as
shown in Figure 9.1. If the display is set to “Power of 2”, the importances are shown as
powers of 2, so 2, 4, 8, 16 becomes 1, 2, 3, 4.

9.5 Truncating importances

When generating importances using a factor, especially a geometric factor that is not an
integer, it is sometimes desirable to truncate the importances to an integer. If the Integer
check box is selected, all the importances will be truncated to the nearest integer. Be
careful when using this option, since all values below 1 will be set to zero.

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10.0 Transformations
To create or modify transformations, select "Data->Transformations” from the main
menu. The transformation window provides spaces to enter the elements of the
transformation. When the correct coordinates have been entered, select "Register" to
create the transformation and update the Fortran memory. This process may be repeated
as many times as necessary for subsequent transformations. Figure 10.1 shows a view of
the transformation window.

Figure 10.1. The transformation window.

The “Origin” button indicates if the rotation is relative the main axis or the axis being
transformed to. The “Units” button indicates the units for the values in the rotation
matrix, the default is “Degrees”, but this can be changed to “Cosine Theta” in this box.
For more information on the “Origin” and “Rotation Units” options, refer to the MCNP
manual.

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11.0 Renumber Cells/Surfaces
The surface and cell numbers in the input file can be renumbered by bringing up the
renumber panel shown in Figure 11.1. The user indicates the starting cell number and
starting surface number to use when the cells and surfaces are renumbered and the Visual
Editor will renumber the cells and surfaces in the input file.

Figure 11.1. The “Surface/Cell renumber” window.

This feature can be used to combine two input files into a larger combined input file, by
renumbering the surfaces and cells of one of the input file in a range that will be beyond
the maximum surface and cell number in the other input file. For example, if each of the
input files contains 100 cells and 100 surfaces, the user could renumber the first input file
starting with cell number 1 and surface number 1 and perhaps renumber the second input
file starting at cell number 500 and surface number 500. The files could then be
combined without the surface numbers conflicting between the two files. Additional
work will need to be done by the user to make sure the cells, such as the outside world,
do not doubly define space.

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12.0 Run
The “Run” window can be displayed by selecting “Run” from the main menu. The
“Run” window will allow you to run input files without going outside the Visual Editor.
Figure 12.1 shows a view of the “Run” window. To run an input file, it must be in the
same directory as the Visual Editor executable.

Figure 12.1. The “Run” window.

To run an input file, enter the name of the input file and optionally the output file and
other files involved in the run, then select “Run” from the menu to run the problem. This
will run the MCNP that is compiled as part of the Visual Editor, it does not run the
MCNP that you may have installed outside of the Visual Editor. A valid copy of the
xsdir file is required to run files in the Visual Editor just like it is needed for running a
normal MCNP input file. As the problem is running the number of particles run and the
amount of time used in the run so far is constantly updated at the top of the window.
While running the problem, you can select the “Stop” button to gracefully stop the run.

Notice that you can also enter options (i, x, r, p) that will be used for the run. Some
options will not work such as the “z” option for plotting tallies. Instead you need to
select the “Tally Plots” option from the main menu to do tally plots.

45
If you select the option to overwrite existing files, the files that you specified will be
removed before the run starts to prevent the file names from incrementing.

The Visual Editor can also run input files from the command prompt, by typing a
command line similar to that for MCNP such as “vised inp=ipig outp=opig”. This also
allows the Visual Editor to be included in batch files. When the Visual Editor runs
MCNP from the command prompt, it brings up the Visual Editor, along with the “Run”
window and runs the input file inside the “Run” window. When the run is over, the
“Run” window and the Visual Editor are closed.

13.0 Particle Display

To display source points or particle tracks, select “Particle Display” from the main
Window menu. Reference 6 has a good summary of the particle track plotting
capabilities of the MCNP Visual Editor.

Figure 13.1 shows the particle display window. This window provides three primary
options: source point plotting of the SDEF source; KCODE source generation point
plotting; and particle track plotting, which can also be used to display the SDEF source.

The points are projected onto the 2D plot plane defined by the currently active plot for all
three options. The distance from the plot plane defaults to 100. The user can change this
value. If a particle event occurs outside this range it is not plotted.

Figure 13.1. The particle display window.

46
13.1 SDEF Source Plotting
For problems with an SDEF source, you can select to do a display of the source starting
points by selecting the “SDEF” option. This will plot the starting source point locations.
You can set the number of points to plot in the “Number of Particles” text box and you
can set how far away from the plot plane points will be plotted in the “Distance from the
Plot Plane (cm)” text box, the default is 100 cm. Since the plot represents a 2-D plane
through the geometry, all points at the defined distance away form the plot plane will be
projected onto the plot. Because of this, it is possible to see source points on the plot
plane for source geometries that do not show up in the plot.

After doing a source plot, the number of particles successfully plotted will be displayed.
This can be used to provide useful information about the source or the source biasing.

13.2 KCODE Source Plotting

For a KCODE problem, the Visual Editor can be used to plot the source generation points
for each cycle, where cycle “1” is defined to be the source points for the initial KSRC
defined in the input. The cycle numbers are specified in the “cycles” text box. The cycle
numbers must be monotonically increasing separated by blanks or commas or a dash to
represent a range of cycles. For example 1-5 to indicate cycles 1 through 5. The source
points per cycle are written out as a set of source files with names srcz”n”, where the “n”
represents the cycle number.

After the cycles have been specified, select the “RUN” option, then select “Plot” at the
top of the window to run MCNP with the previously opened input file. When “Plot” is
selected, the Visual Editor will execute MCNP and write out the cycles requested by the
user. The input file will run to completion, but will only write out the requested cycles.
If the user specified cycles 1-5, but the input file runs for 10 cycles. The code will still
run for 10 cycles when “Plot” is selected, even though only the first 5 cycles are written
to srcz”n” files.

After doing a “RUN”, you can plot the source generation points by selecting the “PLOT”
KCODE option, which will read the srcz”n” files and display the points on the plot. It is
up to the user to verify that the source points from the srcz”n” files correspond to the
geometry being plotted.

The KCODE particle plot can be made in two different modes, either “Cumulative” or
“Animate.” If the “Cumulative” option is selected, all of the source points generated for
all of the selected cycles are plotted, giving a cumulative source point density plot. If the
“Animate” options is selected, the source generation points for each cycle are plotted then
erased to plot the next set of points, producing an animation of the source generation
points for the specified cycles.

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13.3 Particle Track Plotting
For both SDEF and KCODE Problems, the Visual Editor can be used to plot particle
tracks by selecting the “TRACKS” Option. The user must set the “Number of Particles”
and the “Distance from the Plot Plane (cm)”. Next the events to be plotted must be
selected with the option button to the right of “TRACKS”. Possible events include
source points, surface crossings, tally contributions, and collision points. The default is
to plot collision points. Finally, select “Plot” from the menu to run MCNP and generate
the points. This does not run the MCNP on your system, but instead the MCNP that
comes as part of the Visual Editor package.

For the “TRACKS” option, you can choose to only plot those collision that lead to an
eventual contribution to a tally. This can be helpful in determining how particles get to a
particular tally. To activate this option, select the “Tally Contributions Only” check box.
There is an additional option to indicate the tally number for which contributions will be
plotted, and another option for the Segment Number if an fs card is involved for the tally
(“1” for the first entry on the fs card, etc.). It is recommended that all tallies except the
tally of interest be removed from the input file.

The Visual Editor does not “connect the dots” when doing particle track plotting, instead,
it only plots the points of interest, such as collisions, where each point will represent a
collision.

13.4 Setting Point Color and Size

In particle track plotting, the colors will vary from Red to Blue depending on the energy
of the particle, depending on the energy or weight of the particle prior to collision. Every
time a particle is plotted, the code will adjust the maximum and minimum values plotted
so far and will change the color depending on the weight or energy of the particle. This
is not very precise, since the max and min range will change as more particles are run.

There are a number of different options that will set the particle color and size. The
“Color By” option allows you to specify what the color of the point represents. For
particle tracks the color varies from blue to red, when “color by” is set to energy, blue
corresponds to a low energy event and red to a high-energy event. When “color by” is set
to weight, low weight events will be blue and high weight events will be red.

You can set the size of the point plotted by changing the “Point” size. The default is to
use the “Pixel” size, which is the smallest size, but does not show up on the printer very
well. There are five other increasing larger point sizes that can be selected for displaying
the points. Additionally, the “Border” check box can be selected to create a dark border
around each of the points.

13.5 Setting Energy or Weight Ranges

You can specify the energy range or weight range that should be plotted by selecting
either the “Energy range” check box or the “Weight range” check box and then entering
the minimum and maximum values that will be plotted.

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13.6 Problems Generating Particle Tracks
Getting source plotting and particle track plotting to work correctly can take some effort.
Below is some advice on how to overcome common problems.

1. For SDEF plotting, you are executing the source point generation routine. For
plotting KCODE cycle generation points and particle tracks, the input file is run
by the MCNP portion of the Visual Editor. Because of this it is a good idea to
make sure the input file does not have any fatal errors in the source, so run it in
MCNP first.

2. If it runs in MCNP and still crashes while plotting in the Visual Editor, look at the
output file (outp) and the “outmc” file to see if you can find any fatal errors.

3. KCODE cycle plotting and particle track plotting will fail if you are using a
binary cross section set that is not consistent with the compiler that was used to
compile the Visual Editor. In this case you will need to switch to an ascii cross
section set or regenerate the binary cross sections in a compatible manner.

4. Make sure a valid xsdir is in the same directory as the input file being read by the
Visual Editor. Since you are now running the code, the vised.defaults file will not
be used to find the xsdir file. The xsdir in the directory where the Visual Editor
executable is stored is not used for particle track plotting.

5. When doing KCODE cycle running using the “Run” option, you should not run
the problem beyond the last cycle specified in cycles, since you will not be
generating any new information.

6. Particle track plotting for tally contributions seems to work best if you only have
the tallies of interest in the problem you are running.

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14.0 Tally Plots
The Visual Editor will allow the plotting of MCNP tallies. In general it makes available
the plotting capabilities currently available in the MCPLOT plotting package discussed in
Appendix B of the MCNP manual. Figure 14.1 shows the tally plot window along with
the two additional windows used to set the titles and tally plotting parameters.

To display tally plots, you first need to read in a valid runtpe or mctal file. In the top of
the tally window, indicate the type of file and it’s name. Next select “Start” from the
menu. This will cause MCNP to read in the file so it will be ready to do tally plots. At
this point you can select “Plot” from the menu to generate the default tally plot. Set plot
titles and plot axis titles in the panel obtained from selecting "Titles" at the top of the
"Tally Plotting" window. Choose plot options, such as loglog, in the panel obtained from
selecting "Options" at the top of the "Tally Plotting" window. These two panels should
be left open until you want to divert back to the original defaults for generating the tally
plot.

Figure 14.1. The tally plotting window.

Tally plots are easier to see when the plot window has been set to rectangular so you may
want to click on the “Rect” check box to the left of the plot window.

50
Most of the capabilities of MCPLOT as outlined in Appendix B of the MCNP manual are
available using the Visual Editor interface. The titles can be changed by selecting
“Titles” from the menu and other plot options, also discussed in Appendix B, can be set
by selecting “Options” from the plot menu.

When you change the plot parameters you will usually need to select “Plot” from the
menu to update the plot.

15.0 Cross Section Plots

The Visual Editor will allow the plotting of MCNP cross sections. In general it makes
available the plotting capabilities currently available in the MCPLOT plotting package
discussed in Appendix B of the MCNP manual. Figure 15.1 shows the tally plot window
along with the two additional windows used to set the titles and plotting parameters.

To display cross section plots, you first need to read in a valid input file. Enter the name
of the file at the top of the cross section plotting window. Next select “Read” from the
menu. This will cause MCNP to read in the file so it will be ready to do cross section
plots. At this point you can select “Plot” from the menu to generate the default cross
section plot.

Figure 15.1. The cross section plotting window.

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Cross section plots are easier to see when the plot window has been set to rectangular so
you may want to click on the “Rect” check box to the left of the plot window.

Most of the capabilities of MCPLOT for cross section plotting as outlined in Appendix B
of the MCNP manual are available using the Visual Editor interface. The titles can be
changed by selecting “Titles” from the menu and other plot options can be set by
selecting “Options” from the plot menu.

When you change the plot parameters you will usually need to select “Plot” from the
menu to update the plot. Only cross sections for materials and isotopes specified in the
input file can be plotted.

16.0 3D Ray Traced Image

To generate 3D ray traced image of the plot of the geometry, select “3D View->Ray
Traced Image” from the main menu. There are two general types of plots that can be
made. The first is a color ray trace image and the second is a radiographic image. The
radiographic image will generate a black and white plot that shows the density of the
objects in the plot. This density can represent track length or can represent the track
length times the cross section for a specific source energy. Figure 16.1 shows the Visual
Editor displaying both types of plots.

Figure 16.1. Two different types of 3D rendering.

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16.1 3D Color Plots
To create a 3D color plot, you first must have a completely defined input file that will
execute without fatal errors. This option will not work on partial files. Read the input
file into the Visual Editor. Then set a 2D plot window so that it will become the image
plane of the 3D plot with the appropriate (x,y,z) origin and the desired extents; i.e., rays
will be traced from the “viewpoint source” to the rectangle defined by this image plane
(and beyond), where the basis vectors of the 2D image will automatically be adjusted to
represent an image plane that is perpendicular to the source-point-to-origin-of-the-image-
plane vector.

Inside the 3D plotting window, set the viewpoint for the 3D geometry, this viewpoint
must not be on the plot plane and cannot be in a zero importance cell.

You need to specify which cells are to be displayed in 3D. The cells can be listed with
either spaces or commas separating the different cells. A range of cells can be indicated
with a dash. For example 1-5 would display cells 1 through 5 in 3D. If you specify a cell
that does not exist in the input file, a warning message will be printed. You need to be
careful to not include the outside world as one of the cells to display in 3D, or the cell
that contains the 3D source for the plot.

A number of options can be set to change the look of the plot. Once these have been set,
select “Normal 3D plot” from the menu to generate a 3D plot.

16.2 3D Update the Plot Basis

To generate a 3D plot, MCNP needs to make sure the view is orthogonal to the plot plane
and will adjust the basis to make this happen. The basis vectors used for the plot are
shown. If you check on the “Update Plot Basis” check box, the plot basis vectors will be
updated to reflect these new values.

16.3 Color by Cell/Surface

If the “Color by cell” option is set, the color represents the material in the cell. This is
the default option. If “Color by surface” is selected then each surface will be shown in a
different color.

16.4 Draw Lines Around Cells

If “Draw lines around cells” is selected, a black line is drawn around each cell. This is
the default option. If “No lines around cells” is selected, only the color shading of the
cells is shown.

16.5 Color Cells by Material

If “Color cells by material” is selected, each cell is colored according to its material type.
This is the default option. If “Do not color cells” is selected, the cells are not colored. If
you also select to not draw lines, then nothing is plotted.

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16.6 3D Shading
If “Use 3D Shading” is selected, the color of each cell is darkened as the angle between
the view and the reflection off the object increases, providing a 3D look. This is the
default option. If “Use 2D shading”, is selected, the color of the cell is kept constant
independent of the angle between the view and the reflection off the object.

16.7 Distance Shading

If “Use distance shading” is selected, cells that are further away become darker. This is
the default option. If “No distance shading”, is selected, the cells stay the same color
independent of the distance away from the view.

16.8 Point/Plane Source Type

If “Point source” is selected, the source points for the rays are all generated from the view
specified by the user. This is the default option. If “Plane source” is selected, the source
points are generated on a plane that intersects the view and is parallel to the plot plane.
This will generate a plot as seen from an infinite viewpoint.

16.9 Show the Plot Plane

If “Hide the plot plane image” is selected, particles do not stop at the plot plane, but
continue until they enter the outside world. This is the default option.

If “Show plot plane image” is selected, the plot plane image will be shown if a 3D cell
has not been found by the time the ray hits the plot plane. This allows for the
combination of both 2D and 3D plotting. For this option to work, you also need to set the
“Stop at the plot plane” option.

16.10 Hide/Show Cookie Cutters

If “Hide cookie cutters” is selected, the cookie cutter cell is ignored and will not be used
to create a cut away view of the geometry. This is the default option.

To create a cut away view of a 3D image, create a cookie cutter cell as described in the
MCNP manual. Then select “Show cookie cutters” to cut out everything inside the
cookie cutter cell.

16.11 Plot to the Outside World/Plot Plane

If “Plot to the outside world” is selected, this will create all 3D images of all the cells
found until the ray hits the outside world. This is the default option.

If “Stop at the plot plane” is selected, the ray tracing will stop at the plot plane and will
optionally show the plot plane image if “Show plot plane image” is enabled.

16.12 Plot Resolution

The “Res” text box sets the resolution that will be used to generate the 3D ray-traced
image. The default is 300. The higher this number the better the 3D image will look,
however, higher resolutions take a long time to generate.

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16.13 3D Radiographic Plots
To create a radiographic plot, set up the geometry plot as if doing a normal 3D plot.
Additionally, you must set the maximum ray length which will correspond to pure black.
If this value is not known, create a plot using a temporary non-zero value then look at the
output display at the bottom of the window. The maximum radiographic length as
calculated by MCNP will be displayed. You can then use this value to create an accurate
radiographic plot.

The user can also select to multiply the track length by the cross section for a given
source energy. If this option is selected, both the maximum ray length and the energy of
the source particle must be specified.

Most of the plot options and features are ignored when doing the radiographic view. The
only plot option that can be changed is to plot from a point source or a plane source, all
other options are ignored.

To generate the radiographic plot after all of the parameters have been set select
“Radiographic 3D” from the menu.

16.14 3D Transparent Plots

Set up a transparency plot like a normal plot, except there are two additional parameters
that need to be specified, the “cell transparency” and the “Average Cell Thickness”. The
user will not typically know what these values are without first generating a transparent
plot using the default values. After the plot is generated, the code will print out the
average “cell thickness” and the “maximum non-transparency”.

Generate the plot again using the calculated cell thickness and scaling the transparency
value so that the calculated non-transparency will be less than 1. The non-transparency
value indicates the maximum saturation of color that was generated. If this value is
greater than 1.0, then the color goes to pure white where this happens in the plot and the
user should lower the “cell transparency” until the reported “maximum non-
transparency” is less than 1.0.

17.0 Dynamic 3D Display

The Visual Editor has a dynamic 3D display option that will generate a 3D geometry that
can be rotated with the mouse and the transparency of the cells can be set. Figure 17.1
shows a geometry of a cask generated using this feature.

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 Figure 17.1. Dynamic 3D Display.

The dynamic 3D display does not work for lattices and universes and can be slow in
generating complex geometries. There are a number of options for moving around the
geometry including “Roll”, “Pitch” and “Yaw” options that allow the viewpoint to
moved dynamically around the model.

There are also a number of visibility options for the cells including wireframe and
transparent. Figure 17.2 shows a transparent view of the geometry.

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 Figure 17.2. Dynamic 3D Display with a Transparent Geometry.

The resolution used to generate the geometry can be changed, but a higher resolution
will typically take longer to generate. By default, all cells that contain a material will be
displayed. To display individual cells, un-select the “Display Cells with Materials” check
box and then enter the cells to display in the “Cells to Display” text box.

18.0 CAD Import

The Visual Editor can read and convert some 2D dxf and 3D sat CAD files to
an MCNP input file.

18.1 2D CAD Import

An algorithm was created to read in a CAD dxf file using a dialog added to the MCNP
Visual Editor. To access the panel for importing a 2D CAD file, the user needs to select
CAD import ->2D Import from the main menu. This will bring up the “CAD Import”
panel. The user can then select “Import” to read in a CAD dxf file. The CAD geometry
can then be displayed prior to converting it to an MCNP format by selecting the “Update”
button for one of the plots.

For every line that crosses another line, the Visual Editor will segment the lines. This is
necessary to prevent multiply defined spaces in the MCNP geometry. It also allows the
user to remove a line segment using the “scan” and “delete” options on the “CAD

57
import” panel. To segment the lines, the user selects “Segment” from the “CAD Import”
panel. Figure 18.1 shows a plot of the surfaces before and after segmenting. Notice that
both the lines and circles are segmented. The geometry has still not been converted to an
MCNP format. At this point the user could choose to delete a segment by scanning the
segment in and then choosing the “delete” option.

Figure 18.1. CAD geometry before and after segmentation

To convert the file, the user selects the “Convert” option to create the MCNP surfaces
and MCNP cells. It is not necessary to segment the CAD file before converting, if the
user has not yet selected the segment option, the code will automatically detect this and
do the segmenting prior to converting the file. Once the file has been converted to
MCNP, the user should then select “Input” from the main Visual Editor menu and do a
“Save-Update” in the resulting “Input File” panel to display the MCNP plots.

This conversion works for most of the CAD geometric entities including, lines, polylines,
multilines, circles, arcs and ellipses and also works for the insertion of blocks. These
geometric entities include most of the 2D geometries that can be created by CAD. The
Visual Editor will display these geometric entities and allow the user to select any of
these items and remove them from the geometry (by scanning them and selecting the
“Delete” button) before converting them to MCNP. This can be done either before or

58
after segmenting the surfaces. The Visual Editor will also allow the insertion of an upper
and lower surface to bound the 2D geometry in the axial direction.

Figure 18.2 shows an example 2D CAD file that has been converted to MCNP. The
original CAD file is shown in the left plot window and displayed using the new Visual
Editor CAD plotting capabilities. The converted MCNP file is shown in the right plot
window. The original CAD file contains lines, polylines, polygons, multilines and
circles. The resulting MCNP geometry has 88 surfaces and 31 cells. The first few lines
of the resulting MCNP input file can be seen in the input window at the bottom of the
figure.

Figure 18.2. CAD geometry before and after conversion.

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18.2 3D CAD Import
The 3D conversion capability allows for importing 3D CAD geometries that were created
in CAD using “perimeter modeling” or “solid modeling”. The type of import should be
set in the 3D CAD import window, prior to importing the geometry.

“Perimeter modeling” is designed for a geometry that is created with CAD by defining
only the perimeter of each body. The conversion then determines each MCNP cell as the
outer perimeter along with the algorithm to determine any inner perimeters for that cell.
Perimeter modeling requires that the CAD bodies be completely contained inside each
other, although they can share one or more common face. With perimeter modeling
unions and intersections are not allowed. An example of perimeter modeling is shown in
Appendix B.

“Solid modeling” allows for a CAD model where all space is defined, including void
spaces, but doubly defined space is not allowed. This is the type of model that is
typically used for manufacturing. With solid modeling a minimum number of
subtractions and unions are allowed.

For conversion to MCNP, perimeter modeling is preferred because the CAD geometry is
simpler and much more reliable for conversion. This document will focus on perimeter
modeling unless otherwise stated.

The 3D CAD file must be exported from CAD in a SAT format in order to be read into
the Visual Editor. The SAT format was used because it is a universal format that can be
written and read by most CAD packages.

The SAT format supports five different types of surfaces. MCNP has equivalents for the
plane, cone (which includes cylinders), sphere, and torus. The program can successfully
convert all these surfaces. SAT also supports a spline surface that is modeled by a third
order polynomial (or greater). Because MCNP does not model above a second order
polynomial, SAT splines had no direct MCNP equivalent. Figure 18.3 shows examples
of some of CAD objects that can be converted.

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 Figure 18.3. Assorted CAD Objects Drawn in a CAD Package

Figure 18.4 shows a 3D display of the CAD objects (shown on the right), after they have
been imported into the Visual Editor. These were then converted to MCNP. The 2D
MCNP plot of the geometry is shown in the left of the figure. The top of the input file is
shown on the bottom left.

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 Figure 18.4 CAD Objects in the Visual Editor after Conversion

A number of features were included in the Visual Editor CAD conversion program to aid
in the conversion of 3D CAD files, including the ability to parse a complex object made
of a number of unions into simpler objects that are easy to convert and the ability to
convert objects with a small number of unions or intersections.

Many files created without prior intent for use with MCNP contain complexities that are
not important for MCNP and as such need to be modified to meet the conversion
constraints.

18.3 Constraints/Restrictions for 3D CAD Conversion

Because CAD programs place no real world restrictions on the geometry created, it was
necessary to define what constraints must be applied on the CAD software so that the
resulting SAT file could be converted to a valid MCNP geometry.

1) Each CAD surface must be expressed as a general (second order) quadratic in x,

y, and z. Splines cannot currently be converted.

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 2) The CAD model must define all of space. This means that regions of air need to
be defined as objects so they can be converted to the proper MCNP cell.

3) The CAD geometry should be inside a large box, or cylinder, or sphere, where the
region beyond this large box, or cylinder, or sphere in the conversion will be
defined as a MCNP cell for the “outside world” cell; i.e., with an importance of
zero.

4) A CAD region is limited in its complexity, so that the resulting MCNP cell does
not exceed the limits of an MCNP cell. If the cell is too complex, it must be split
into simpler cells.

5) For CAD solid modeling, a limited number of unions and intersections are
allowed; however, if an object is too complex, it must be split into a number of
simpler cells.

Although these constraints add some additional burden to the CAD designer, it will result
in a more efficient MCNP model that is not overly complex.

18.4 Using CAD as a Graphical User Interface for MCNP with Perimeter Modeling

If a CAD file does not currently exist, the conversion program allows for the import of a
simplified CAD geometry that can be converted to an MCNP format. The special format
defines solids that are entirely contained inside each other or sharing a common face.
This algorithm is designed for a geometry that is created with CAD by defining only the
perimeter of each body. The conversion then determines each MCNP cell as the outer
perimeter along with the algorithm to determine any inner perimeters for that cell.

18.5 3D Display of Imported CAD Files

Once the geometry has been imported, a 3D visualization of the CAD geometry is
displayed. The user can use the mouse to move around the geometry and change the
visibility of individual cells (hidden, solid, transparent or wireframe). Each cell is
displayed in a different color to help differentiate between the different imported bodies.

Figure 18.5shows an example of the display of imported bodies as read from the SAT
file. The top of the building is made transparent, and the pillars and central cone have the
wire frame removed so they appear solid. Details concerning the SAT file are shown in
the right side of Figure 18.5, where each body displayed is identified. When the user
clicks the mouse on a body in the plot window, the selected object will be identified in
the bottom panel on the right. The user can rotate the 3D image and move around the
object as desired, using the “rotate” button or the “yaw”, “pitch” and “roll” buttons.

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Figure 18.5. 3D CAD Visualization

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18.6 Conversion of Large Files

To show that the CAD conversion works for large files, a 1,000-sphere case was created.
Each set of 25 spheres was enclosed in a rectangular parallelepiped, to minimize the
number of surfaces used in the creation of the cells in the resulting MCNP geometry.
Without the parallelepipeds, the resulting air space between the 1,000 spheres would be
too complex for MCNP. Figure 18.6 shows the 3D display of the spheres with the boxes
hidden on the front, so the spheres can be seen, and some of the boxes set to transparent
in the back. The resolution of the spheres has been reduced to enable faster geometry
manipulation. The resolution used to generate a curved surface is set with the resolution
text box and indicates the number of intervals to use in 360 degrees.

Figure 18.6 3D Display of 1,000-Sphere Geometry

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Figure 18.7 shows the resulting MCNP geometry and input file after the CAD file has
been converted to MCNP.

Figure 18.7 MCNP Geometry with 1,000 Spheres

19.0 Read again

Some users may decide that they want to use their own text editor instead of the one
provided in the Visual Editor. You can do this to some extent by opening the input file in
your favorite text editor, then opening the same file in the Visual Editor. The Visual
Editor has been configured to allow it to read a file in use by another program. After
making changes by hand to the input file in the text editor and saving the updated file in
the text editor, select “Read_again” in the input window and it will read the input file
again and update the plot windows to reflect changes that have been made.

Alternatively, the file can be opened with the File->Open (do not modify input) option
which will read in the input file without modifying it. This will disable the creation
capability of the Visual editor (surfaces, cells, materials, etc.) but the visualization
features will still be available (2D plots, 3D plots, particle tracks, etc.). In this mode, the
unmodified input file will be displayed in the input window. Modifications to the input

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file can be made in this window and the plot will be updated when save-update is
selected.

20.0 Backup Inp

"Backup Inp" takes what is in memory and writes it out to the file inpn1, inp2, inp3, …
which sequentially increases like other MCNP output files. This will allow the user to
recover if an error occurs that causes the Visual Editor to crash. It will also allow the
user to keep track of previous versions of the same file making it possible to go back to
an earlier version if something goes wrong.

21.0 Problem Reporting

The Visual Editor is constantly being upgraded to fix problems in the code. Some
problems are known and have not yet been fixed, because they do not occur very often.
A list of bugs will be maintained on the Visual Editor web site at www.mcnpvised.com.
Before reporting a bug, make sure you check the outp and outmc files to see if it can
provide some additional information about the problem.

22.0 References

1. R. A. Schwarz, L. L. Carter, and N. Shrivastava, "Creation of MCNP Input Files With

a Visual Editor," Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Radiation
Shielding, Arlington, Texas, April 24-27, 1994, pp 454-459, American Nuclear
Society, La Grange Park, Illinois(1994).

2. L.L. Carter, R.A. Schwarz, “Visual Creation of Lattice Geometries for MCNP
Criticality Calculations,” Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, 77, 223
American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, Illinois (1997).

3. R.A. Schwarz, L.L. Carter, “Visual Editor to Create and Display MCNP Input Files,”
Trans. Amer. Nucl. Soc., 77, 311-312 American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park,
Illinois (1997).

4. R.A. Schwarz, L.L. Carter, K.E. Hillesland, V.E. Roetman, “Advanced MCNP Input
File Creation Using the Visual Editor,” Proc. Am. Nucl. Soc. Topical, Technologies
for the New Century, 2, 317-324, April, 1998, Nashville TN.

5. L.L. Carter, R.A. Schwarz, “The Visual Creation and Display of MCNP Geometries
and Lattices for Criticality Problems,” Trans. Amer. Nucl. Soc., American Nuclear
Society, La Grange Park, Illinois (1999).

6. R.A. Schwarz, L.L. Carter, W Brown, “Particle Track Visualization Using the MCNP
Visual Editor,” Proc. Am. Nucl. Soc. Topical Radiation Protection for Our National
Priorities Medicine, the Environment and, the Legacy, 324-331, 2000, Spokane,
Washington.

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7. R.A. Schwarz, L.L. Carter, “Current Status Of the MCNP Visual Editor,” 12th
Biennial RPSD Topical Meeting, April 14-18, 2002, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

68
 Appendix A

In this sample problem, we will create a small sphere inside a cross that will be placed
inside a larger sphere. Simply follow the steps shown on the next page for this creation.

Timesaving note: Even though this example is reasonably straightforward, there is a high
probability for a new user to make an error and lose some or all the data that was created.
It is a good practice to periodically save the current input file by repeating steps 85 to 87
with a different file name each time. Alternatively, you can select “Backup” from the
main menu and it will save the file to “inpn?”, where the “?” is a number (inpn1, inpn2,
inpn3, etc.). If an error occurs you can exit the Visual Editor and then start it up again
and read in your last saved file and pick up at that step in the creation. The cell menu
also has an “undo” option that will cancel the last operation performed when creating a
cell (drags, points, paste, cut) so if an error occurs when creating a cell you can remove
the last action using the undo button.

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 Start the Visual Editor
STEP ACTION DESCRIPTION
1. Start the Visual Editor Use Windows Explorer to start the Visual Editor.
2. Select input Open the “Input” window.
3. Enter a title before the Enter the title “Simple problem” at the top of the input window, then PRESS
line containing a default RETURN.
comment card
4. Select “Save-Update” Update the Fortran memory.

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 Create the small sphere
5. Select “Surface” from the Get ready to create surfaces.
main menu.
6. In the surface window set Set the radius of the default “so” surface to 20.
R to 20.
7. In the surface window, Create the surface, which will now appear in the plots.
select “Register”.

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 Set the Surface Labels.
8. Set the Surface label size Make the labels larger so they can be seen.
to 30 in the left window.
9. Click on “Surf” in the left Show surface labels.
plot window.
10. Set the Surface label size Make the labels larger so they can be seen.
to 30 in the right window.
11. Click on “Surf” in the right Show surface labels.
plot window.

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 Create a cell consisting of the small sphere.
12. Select “Cell” from the Get ready to create cell 1 inside the small sphere.
main menu
13. Drag across the sphere in Select the sphere surface. The “1” appears on white area of cell panel.
the left plot window.
14. Click the mouse inside the Set the sense for the surface of the sphere. “POINT ACCEPTED –Select Past or
sphere. Cut” appears on white area of cell panel.
15. Select “Paste” Add the sphere to the cell description.
16. Select “Register” Create the sphere cell.

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 Set the Cell Labels.
17. Set the Cell label size to 40 Make the labels larger so they can be seen.
in the left window.
18. Click on “Cell” in the left Show cell labels.
plot window.
19. Set the Cell label size to 40 Make the labels larger so they can be seen.
in the right window.
20. Click on “Cell” in the right Show cell labels.
plot window.

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 Set the Surface Type to PZ
21. In the “Cell” window, select “Close” Close the cell window to reveal the surface window.
22. In the “Surface” window, select “Activate” Make the surface window the active window. You can also just
click on the top of the surface window to activate it.
23. In the surface window select “Surfaces- Set the surface type to “pz”.
>Plane->pz”

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 Create the PZ surfaces for the cross.
24. Set D to –80 Set the pz coefficient to –80 for the bottom of the cross.
25. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.
26. Set D to -25 Set the pz coefficient to –25, notice the type is still “pz”.
27. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.
28. Set D to 25 Set the pz coefficient to 25.
29. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.
30. Set D to 80 Set the pz coefficient to 80.
31. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.

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 Create the PX surfaces for the cross.
32. In the surface window select “Surfaces- Set the surface type to “px”.
>plane->px”
33. Set D to -80 Set the px coefficient to –80 for the left side of the cross.
34. In the surface window, select Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.
“Register”.
35. Set D to -25 Set the px coefficient to –25, notice the type is still “px”.
36. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.
37. Set D to 25 Set the px coefficient to 25.
38. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.
39. Set D to 80 Set the px coefficient to 80.
40. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.

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 Create the sphere outside the cross.
41. In the surface window select “Surface->so” Set the surface type to “so”.
42. Set R to 99 Set the radius of the outer sphere to 99 cm.
43. In the surface window, select “Register”. Create the surface, only the left plot is updated.

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 Add the horizontal beam to the cell description.
44. In the “Surface” window, select “Close” Make the surface window go away, we will not need it
anymore.
45. Select “Cell” from the main menu Get ready to create cell 1 inside the small sphere.

46. Drag across surface 6 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
47. Drag across surface 9 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
48. Drag across surface 3 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
49. Drag across surface 4 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
50. Click the mouse at a point inside the four Set the sense for the surfaces of the horizontal beam.
surfaces such as near the center of the sphere
51. Select “Paste” Add the rectangular region to the cell description. Notice the
description now shows the four surfaces with the proper sense
set for each surface.

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 Add the vertical beam to the cell description.
52. Drag across surface 2 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
53. Drag across surface 5 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
54. Drag across surface 7 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
55. Drag across surface 8 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
56. Click the mouse inside the Set the sense for the surfaces of the vertical beam.
four surfaces such as near
the center of the sphere.
57. Select “Paste” Add the rectangular region to the cell description. Notice the description now
shows the four surfaces with the proper sense set for each surface. This has been
added on to the beam description using a union operator.

80
 Cut out the inner sphere.
58. Drag across surface 1 Cut out the inner sphere.
59. Click the mouse inside Set the sense for the sphere.
surface 1
60. Select “cut” Remove the inner sphere from the cell description.

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 Terminate the Cell at the Outer sphere.
61. Drag across surface 10 Select the outer sphere.
62. Click the mouse outside Set the sense for the outer sphere..
surface 10
63. Select “cut” Terminate the cross at the edge of the sphere in the y direction.

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 Create the Cross Cell.
64. In the cell window, select Create cell 2 consisting of the region inside the cross and sphere, but outside the
“Register”. small inner sphere. Notice the outer sphere disappeared because the current
view of the geometry does not cut through the outer sphere.

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 Create the Region Inside the Sphere, but Outside the Cross.
65. In the right plot, drag across Define the outer boundary of the cell.
surface 10.
66. In the right plot, click inside surface 10 to Set the sense for the outer sphere. We click inside to add the
set the sense. sphere to the cell description.
67. Select “Paste” Add the all inside the outer sphere to the cell description.

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 Cut out the Horizontal Beam
68. Drag across surface 6 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
69. Drag across surface 9 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
70. Drag across surface 3 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
71. Drag across surface 4 Define the four surfaces of the horizontal beam of the cross.
72. Click the mouse inside the Set the sense for the surfaces of the horizontal beam.
four surfaces.
73. Select “Cut” Remove the rectangular region from the cell description. Notice the description
now shows the four surfaces with the proper sense set for each surface.

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 Cut out the Vertical Beam
74. Drag across surface 2 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
75. Drag across surface 5 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
76. Drag across surface 7 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
77. Drag across surface 8 Define the four surfaces of the vertical beam of the cross.
78. Click the mouse inside the Set the sense for the surfaces of the vertical beam.
four surfaces.
79. Select “Cut” Remove the rectangular region from the cell description. Notice the description
now shows the four surfaces with the proper sense set for each surface. This has
been removed from the sphere using an intersection operator (a space).

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 Create the Cell Inside the Sphere, but Outside the Cross.
80. In the cell window, Create the cell inside the sphere, but outside the cross.
select “Register”

87

81. In the right plot, drag
across surface 10.
82. In the right plot, click
inside surface 10 to set the
sense.
Create the Outside World.
Define the outer boundary of the cell.
Set the sense for the outer sphere. We click inside to define the region to cut out
for the outside world.

83. Select “Cut” Remove the sphere from the cell description, which will define everything but
the sphere.

84. Select “Register” Create the outside world cell.

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 Save the File
85. Select “File->Save” from Get ready to save the file
the main menu.
86. Enter the file name Enter a name for the file.
“isimple”
87. Select “Save” Save the file.
88. Select “File->Exit” Exit out of the Visual Editor.

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 Appendix B
In this example you will create 4 cylinders inside a box in Turbo Cad and import the
geometry into the Visual Editor. For this example we go through the creation of a
perimeter model in CAD for converting to MCNP with the Visual Editor. With perimeter
modeling the inside bodies are not subtracted from the outer bodies. The geometry is
created from the outside in and only the outside perimeter of the body needs to be
modeled. The subtraction of the inner bodies to create the MCNP cells is done the by
Visual Editor Conversion code. In steps 3-6 the outer perimeter of the outer box is
created, but the inner box is not subtracted. In steps 10-12, the inner box is created as a
copy of the outer box. In creating the inner box, only the outside perimeter is modeled
and the inside cylinders are not subtracted.

The CAD package used for this Example is Turbocad Professional 9.2. Any CAD
package that can export SAT files can be used to create this geometry. Most of this
exercise describes how to generate a CAD geometry that can be imported into MCNP.

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 START TURBO CAD
STEP ACTION DESCRIPTION
1. Start Turbo Cad Bring up Turbo Cad
2. Select NEW FROM Get ready to create a new file.
SCRATCH

91
 CHOOSE TO CREATE A BOX
3. Change the body type to a box Set the mode to create a box.

92
 MAKE A CUBE 200 ON A SIDE
4. Set the first vertex to (-100, -100, You define a box using three vertices.
-100) PRESS RETURN.

93
 MAKE A CUBE 200 ON A SIDE
5. Set the second vertex to (100, You define a box using three vertices.
100, -100) PRESS RETURN.

94
 MAKE A CUBE 200 ON A SIDE
6. Set the second vertex to (100, You define a box using three vertices.
100, 100) PRESS RETURN.

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 CHANGE THE VIEW
7. Set the view to a 3D view. Show the box as a 3D object.

96
 MAKE A CUBE 14 ON A SIDE
8. Change the mode to SELECT. We want to select the cube just created and make a
smaller copy.
9. Select the cube with a mouse Select the cube so we can make a copy
click.

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 COPY THE CUBE
10. Select EDIT->COPY. Copy the cube.

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 PASTE THE CUBE
11. Select EDIT->PASTE. Make a copy of the box

99
 RESIZE THE CUBE
12. Change the size in X, Y, and Z Resize the new box. If the size buttons do not show
from 200 to 140. PRESS up, you need to set the 3D select properties.
RETURN.

100
 CREATE A CYLINDER
13. Set the mode to cylinder creation Get ready to make a cylinder.

101
 CREATE A CYLINDER
14. Set the bottom of the cylinder at Set the bottom center of the cylinder. To create a
(40,40,-70) PRESS RETURN. cylinder, you need a bottom base point, a radius point
and a height.

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 CREATE A CYLINDER
15. Set a point on the radius at: Set the bottom center of the cylinder. To create a
(65,40,-70) PRESS RETURN. cylinder, you need a bottom base point, a radius point
and a height.

103
 CREATE A CYLINDER
16. Set the height to 100. Set the bottom center of the cylinder. To create a
PRESS RETURN. cylinder, you need a bottom base point, a radius point
and a height.

104
 MAKE AN ARRAY OF CYLINDERS
17. Set the mode to SELECT Change to select mode, so we can copy the cylinder

105
 SELECT THE CYLINDER
18. With the mouse, SELECT the Select the cylinder
cylinder by clicking on it.
19. Select EDIT->COPY ENTITIES- Get set to make an array of cylinders
>ARRAY

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 CREATE AN ARRAY OF CYLINDERS
20. Set the XSTEP and YSTEP to - Separate the cylinders by 80.
80
21. Set the ZSTEP to 0. Make the other cylinders at the same elevation.

107
 CREATE A PLANE AT 30 CM
22. PRESS RETURN, to make the Create the array.
array

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 SAVE THE FILE
23. Select FILE->SAVE AS. Bring up the file save dialog
24. Set the SAVE AS TYPE: to SAT Export the file as a SAT file.
25. Set the file type to i4cyl.sat Save the file.

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 IMPORT THE FILE INTO THE VISUAL EDITOR
26. Start the Visual Editor Bring up the Visual Editor
27. Select CAD IMPORT->3D Bring up the panel used to import 2D CAD files
IMPORT
28. Select IMPORT. Get ready to read in the sat CAD file
29. Select the file i4cyl.sat and select Read in the 3D cad file
OPEN.

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 MAKE ALL OBJECTS TRANSPARENT
30. In the 3D PLOT window, select This will create the cell (cell 1) which will show up in
MAKE ALL TRANSPARENT the plot window.

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 CONVET THE FILE
31. In the CAD 3D IMPORT This will convert the CAD geometry.
window, select CONVERT
32. Select INPUT from the main Bring up a listing of the input file.
menu.
33. Select SAVE-UPDATE from the Reset memory and update the plots.
input window.
34. In the right plot, select the SURF Show surface labels.
toggle button.
35. In the right plot, select the CELL Show cell labels.
toggle button.
36. In the right plot, set the top and Expand the view to show the complete geometry.
bottom extents to 200
37. In the right plot, select UPDATE Update the display on the right.

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 SAVE THE FILE
38. Select FILE->SAVE AS Bring up the file save dialog.
39. Set the filename to i4cyl and Set the name and save the file.
select SAVE.
40. Select FILE-> EXIT Exit the visual editor.

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