Solving Fatal Error in MCNP6 Particle Alpha Mode

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The discussion focuses on troubleshooting errors in a physics simulation involving particle types and geometry definitions in MCNP software. Users encounter fatal errors related to source particle types not being on the mode card and issues with tally volumes not being input or calculated. It is clarified that "par=4" refers to negative muons, while "par=34" is for alphas, suggesting a possible typo. Users are advised to refer to the MCNP6.3 manual for correct particle symbols and to ensure proper geometry definitions to resolve errors. The conversation emphasizes the importance of accurate input parameters for successful simulation runs.
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Hello everyone here,

I do need your help in this matter, please kindly help me solve this problem. I am new to this forum and now am seeking for help.

I'm new to MCNP code, and I ran the MCNP6 code with particle alpha mode a and it gave me a fatal error saying "source particle type not on mode card". This causes fatal errors for mesh tally and sdef.


please kindly help, and i couldn't find the problem at all.
the whole input are below
warning. Physics models enabled.
1- c Created on: Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 19:20
2- 1 1 -0.998207 -1 2 -3
3- 2 1 -0.998207 -1 3 -4
4- 3 1 -0.998207 -1 4 -5
5- 4 2 -0.001205 (-2 :1 :5 :(1 -3 ):(4 1 ))-6
6- 5 0 6
7-
8- 1 cx 1
9- 2 px -2
10- 3 px -1
11- 4 px 0
12- 5 px 1
13- 6 so 7
14-
15- mode n h a
16- m1 1000. -0.111894 $MAT1
17- 8000. -0.888106
18- m2 6000. -0.000124 $MAT2
19- 7000. -0.755268 8000. -0.231781 18000. -0.012827
20- imp:h 1 3r 0 $ 1, 5
21- imp:n 1 3r 0 $ 1, 5
22- imp:a 1 3r 0 $ 1, 5
23- vol 1408 3r 29.33 0 $ 1, 5
fatal error. too many entries: 6 were read, 5 are required.
24- sdef pos=-5 0 0 axs=1 0 0 ext=-8 rad=d1 par=4 erg=50 vec=1 0 0 dir=1
warning. ext is constant. in most problems it is a variable.
25- si1 1 5
26- sp1 -21 1
27- f6:a 1 2 3 4
28- nps 1000

comment. total nubar used if fissionable isotopes are present.

fatal error. source particle type not on mode card.
1source print table 10

values of defaulted or explicitly defined source variables

cel 0.0000E+00
sur 0.0000E+00
erg 5.0000E+01
tme 0.0000E+00
dir 1.0000E+00
pos -5.0000E+00 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00
x 0.0000E+00
y 0.0000E+00
z 0.0000E+00
ext -8.0000E+00
axs 1.0000E+00 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00
vec 1.0000E+00 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00
ccc 0.0000E+00
nrm 1.0000E+00
ara 0.0000E+00
wgt 1.0000E+00
eff 1.0000E-02
par 4.0000E+00
tr 0.0000E+00
bem 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00
bap 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00
loc 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00
dat 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00 0.0000E+00
probability distribution 1 for source variable rad
power law 21: f(x)=c*abs(x)**k k = 1.0000E+00 order of sampling source variables.
par axs rad ext pos vec dir erg tme

fatal error. sdef or si source particle type not on mode card.

1tally 6 print table 30
tally type 6 track length estimate of heating.
particle(s): alphas
cells 1 2 3 4

warning. use models for the following missing data tables:
1000. c
7000. c
8000. c
1000. h
6000. h
7000. h
8000. h
18000. h
1material composition
 
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Hi, welcome to physicsforums,

"mode n h a" is neutrons, protons, alphas.
"par=4" on your sdef card is negative muons. 34 is alphas, so maybe this is a typo.
 
Alex A said:
Hi, welcome to physicsforums,

"mode n h a" is neutrons, protons, alphas.
"par=4" on your sdef card is negative muons. 34 is alphas, so maybe this is a typo.
If I use particle alpha, is the symbol "mode a"? because the result is a fatal error source particle type not on mode card
 
When I change the sdef line to have par=a, and I remove an extra entry from the vol line those problems go away for me and the problem tries to run. I then get a geometry error, which is probably down to the definition of cell 4.
 
Alex A said:
Hi, welcome to physicsforums,

"mode n h a" is neutrons, protons, alphas.
"par=4" on your sdef card is negative muons. 34 is alphas, so maybe this is a typo.
why the alphas "par=34"?
 
The MCNP6.3 manual is public and good, so I will use that. Table 4.3 on page 255 (257 of 1082) lists the particles available, their symbols and their "ipt".

You do not have to use "par=34" you can use "par=a"

Why the number is so high I don't know but though it's very common in nuclear decay it probably isn't very important for most high energy particle transport.
 
Alex A said:
Hi, welcome to physicsforums,

"mode n h a" is neutrons, protons, alphas.
"par=4" on your sdef card is negative muons. 34 is alphas, so maybe this is a typo.
why the alphas par=34?
Alex A said:
The MCNP6.3 manual is public and good, so I will use that. Table 4.3 on page 255 (257 of 1082) lists the particles available, their symbols and their "ipt".

You do not have to use "par=34" you can use "par=a"

Why the number is so high I don't know but though it's very common in nuclear decay it probably isn't very important for most high energy particle transport.
may I ask again?
if there is a fatal error with the description "fatal error, 4 tally volumes or areas were not input nor caculated"
what do I have to do?
and what's symbol of areas in mcnpX
 
Last edited:
MCNP is not very clever and often needs the volumes of a shape in order to calculate answers. Try attaching the file output file by changing the name to add .txt and then click attach files. If you have used vol correctly I would expect this to work.

"why the alphas par=34?"

I don't seem to understand your question. Why is it not 02004?
 
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