Development of a forward Monte Carlo based weight-window generator using the history-counter function in PHITS

Sato, Tatsuhiko   ; Hashimoto, Shintaro  ; Mrquez Damin, J. I.*; Niita, Koji*

Appropriate use of the variance reduction techniques such as weight-windows are indispensable for effectively designing the radiation shielding based on the Monte Carlo simulation. In this study, we developed a new algorithm of weight-window generator (WWG) relying solely on forward Monte Carlo simulation and implemented it into the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS). Our new algorithm leverages a PHITS-specific function called the "history counter", which serves as an event logger that can be arbitrarily defined by users. The performance of the new WWG was investigated by conducting benchmark simulations for both idealized and practical shielding calculations. The results of the benchmark simulations suggested that our new algorithm can reduce the computational time by up to an order of magnitude, though it becomes less beneficial when no apparent pathway for particles arriving in the tally regions is observed in generating the weight window values. With this new feature, PHITS has become further suitable for the shielding calculations against high-energy radiations even when their evaluated cross-section data are unavailable.