openmc.Element¶
-
class
openmc.Element(name='')[source]¶ A natural element that auto-expands to add the isotopes of an element to a material in their natural abundance. Internally, the OpenMC Python API expands the natural element into isotopes only when the materials.xml file is created.
Parameters: name (str) – Chemical symbol of the element, e.g. Pu
Variables: - name (str) – Chemical symbol of the element, e.g. Pu
- scattering ({'data', 'iso-in-lab', None}) – The type of angular scattering distribution to use
-
expand(percent, percent_type, enrichment=None, cross_sections=None)[source]¶ Expand natural element into its naturally-occurring isotopes.
An optional cross_sections argument or the OPENMC_CROSS_SECTIONS environment variable is used to specify a cross_sections.xml file. If the cross_sections.xml file is found, the element is expanded only into the isotopes/nuclides present in cross_sections.xml. If no cross_sections.xml file is found, the element is expanded based on its naturally occurring isotopes.
Parameters: - percent (float) – Atom or weight percent
- percent_type ({'ao', 'wo'}) – ‘ao’ for atom percent and ‘wo’ for weight percent
- enrichment (float, optional) – Enrichment for U235 in weight percent. For example, input 4.95 for 4.95 weight percent enriched U. Default is None (natural composition).
- cross_sections (str, optional) – Location of cross_sections.xml file. Default is None.
Returns: isotopes – Naturally-occurring isotopes of the element. Each item of the list is a tuple consisting of an openmc.Nuclide instance and the natural abundance of the isotope.
Return type: