NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: 150, 245256 ~2005!

Geometric Buckling of Elliptical Cylinder

Raymond L. Murray*
North Carolina State University
Department of Nuclear Engineering
Raleigh, North Carolina 27695
Received March 25, 2004
Accepted September 17, 2004

Abstract Research by Gast and Bournia on nuclear reactor cores in the form of elliptical cylinders is
revisited. Derivations are presented, and data are extended in scope and accuracy. Findings on asymptotic
series for constants needed in the evaluation of Mathieu functions are reported, along with accurate
alternative techniques. Geometric bucklings are expressed in terms of circular cylinders with equivalent
surface-to-volume ratios in a form that allows easy interpolation from tables. The estimation of extrapolation distances at boundaries of elliptical systems is addressed. Applications considered include a possible research reactor, the damage of fuel storage/shipping casks, and decommissioning of the damaged
Windscale reactor.

I. INTRODUCTION

Manhattan Project of World War II. These appear with

neutron flux distributions in all textbooks of reactor
physics.
A compilation of buckling formulas of various shapes
was given in the first edition of the Reactor Handbook
Physics,3 adapting data from a report by Weinberg and
Noderer.4 In 1955, several of the primary references cited
were still classified, including a report by Murray 5 on
the buckling of a spherical sector. The same table appeared in the second edition of the Reactor Handbook.6
All references were declassified, but because of the lapse
of time, some are unavailable today. An early compilation of the geometries for which solutions of the Helmholtz equation by separation of variables are possible
appears in the paper by Sjstrand.7
The present paper deals with the elliptical cylinder
of height H, semimajor axis a, and semiminor axis b.
The cross section of the cylinder is sketched in Fig. 1.
The parameter A is the distance from the origin to each
of the foci. The standard form for the equation of an
ellipse is

One of the earliest findings in reactor physics was

that neutron diffusion in simple multiplying media could
be described by the Helmholtz equation,1
2w B 2w 0 ,

~1!

also called the reactor equation. The buckling B 2 has

two forms: one depending on materials, and the other on
shape and size. For a homogeneous medium in the onegroup model, the materials buckling is
Bm2 ~S f n S a !0D ,

~2!

where the cross sections, neutrons per fission, and diffusion coefficient appear. For criticality,
Bm2 Bg2 ,

~3!

where Bg2 is the geometric buckling, so named because it

depends only on the geometrical form and dimensions of
a
the nuclear system.2 The bucklings of the principal assemblies of interestslab, sphere, circular cylinder, and
parallelepipedwere known from the early days of the

x 20a 2 y 20b 2 1 ,
with the shape characterized by the eccentricity,

~4!

~5!
e A0a @1 ~b0a! 2 # 102 .
Limiting cases are the circle, a b, e 0, and the
straight line of length 2A, b 0, e 1.

*E-mail: murray@eos.ncsu.edu
a
The word buckling is used in Ref. 2 but with a different symbol.
245

246

MURRAY

Fig. 1. The sum of distances from foci F1 and F2 to points on the ellipse is a constant equal to 2a.

Using separation of variables, one can write

Bg2 Br2 Bz2 ,

~6!

where the radial and axial bucklings appear. We let Bz2

~p0H ! 2 and concentrate on the evaluation of Br2 , which
occasionally will be merely denoted by B 2 or Bg2.
The pioneering study of the buckling of elliptical
cylinders was that in 1956 by Gast and Bournia.8 They
suggested that it might be necessary for space reasons in
a nuclear ship or a nuclear airplane to design a reactor
core with elliptical cross section. The nuclear aircraft
project was cancelled around 1959. A more modern
possibility is the need to estimate the effect on neutron
multiplication of a nuclear fuel shipping cask that is accidentally crushed from the side. Another application is
a research reactor core that is designed to achieve a
broader surface for irradiation purposes. Conceivably,
some chemical processing vessels or storage containers
containing enriched uranium or plutonium could be elliptical in shape.
This paper has several objectives. First is to expand
on the detail in the derivation of buckling for the elliptic
cylinder. From the standpoint of reactor theory, the analysis for an ellipse brings in some less familiar mathematics. Second is to check tabulated numbers and to increase
the accuracy of data. Third is to extend the range or
scope of the data beyond that of previous research. Fourth
is to illustrate the evolution of calculation methods over
the past 50 yr, starting with reliance on tables of func-

tions and ending with the use of commercial symbolic

mathematics and computation programs. Fifth is to report on findings related to the use of Mathieu functions.
Sixth is to determine convenient interpolation methods,
including the theory and application of elliptic integrals
and approximations to the perimeter of an ellipse. Seventh is to suggest practical examples of the use of the
methodology.

II. THEORY OF BUCKLING IN ELLIPSE

We undertook to understand and elaborate on the

theory of Gast and Bournia, and to check and extend the
results. Following is the development of the analysis.
The two-dimensional Helmholtz equation, Eq. ~1!, is
transformed by a change in independent variables, from
Cartesian ~ x, y! to confocal elliptical ~j, h!. The procedure for deriving the latter starts with the proposal that
x iy A cosh~j ih! .

~7!

The right side can be written as

~A02!@exp~j!exp~ih! exp~j!exp~ih!# ,
and letting
exp~6ih! cos~h! 6 i sin~h!
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GEOMETRIC BUCKLING OF ELLIPTICAL CYLINDER

] 2f ] 2f
2 A 2 B 2 @H~j, h!#f 0 ,
]j 2
]h

and equating real and imaginary parts of Eq. ~7!, we

obtain
x A cosh~j! cos~h!

~8!

y A sinh~j!sin~h! .

~9!

and

sinh 2 ~j! sin 2 ~h! ,

cosh 2 ~j! cos 2 ~h! ,

a A cosh~j0 ! ,

~10!

~ 21 !@cosh~2j! cos~2h!# .

~11!

We use the third form and propose separation of variables with

and the semiminor axis is

b A sinh~j0 ! ,

with j0 as a surface parameter.

The next step is to convert the Laplacian of the flux
from Cartesian to elliptical coordinates. Following
b
Ogren,9 introduce the function
Qi2 ~]x0]qi ! 2 ~]y0]qi ! 2 ~]z0]qi ! 2 ,

~12!

f~j, h! F~j!G~h! .

q3 z .

~13!

Forming the various derivatives using Eqs. ~8! and ~9!

and substituting in Eq. ~12! leads to

Substituting and dividing by FG,

1] 2 G
A2 B 2
1] 2 F
@cosh~2j! cos~2h!# 0 .

F]j 2
G]h 2
2

This gives two ordinary differential equations, one

involving only j, the other only h, each being identified
as Mathieu equations, discussed in the classic book by
c
McLachlan.10 Each equation is set equal to a constant:
A2 B 2
1 d 2F

cosh~2j! am
F dj 2
2

Q1 Q2 A@sinh 2 ~j! sin 2 ~h!# 102

and
~14!

A2 B 2
1 d 2G
cos~2h! am .

G dh 2
2

In the new coordinate system, the Laplacian of the flux

is given by
1
Q1 Q2 Q3

]
]q1

Q2 Q3 ]f
Q1 ]q1

]
]q3

Q1 Q2 ]f
Q3 ]q3

]
]q2

Q3 Q1 ]f
Q2 ]q2

1
A ~sinh j sin 2 h!
2

] 2f ] 2f
2
]j 2
]h

The notation am is used instead of the characteristic a as

in the Columbia Press book of tables,11 to avoid confusion with the ellipse dimension a. In that reference the
parameter s is introduced, defined by
s A2 B 2 .

~15!

] 2f
.
]z 2
~16!

The z-dependence of flux is evidently cos~z0H !, and we

concentrate on the radial Laplacian, writing the new Helmholtz equation as
b
The study in Ref. 9 is a thorough and clear exposition,
superior to material in books on vector analysis.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

~21!

~22!

Another constant be0 is defined as

Inserting the Qi into Eq. ~15! along with the derivatives

yields
2f

~20!

and

Q3 1 .

2f

~18!

~19!

with i 1, 2, and 3. Let

q2 h ,

~17!

where there are several equivalent forms for the function

H~j, h!, namely,

Thus, the semimajor axis of the ellipse is

q1 j ,

247

VOL. 150

JULY 2005

be0 am s02 .

~23!

Further details of the Mathieu equations and their solutions are found in the Appendix.
It is the solution of Eq. ~20! involving j that is to be
applied, with the flux set equal to zero over the perimeter of the ellipse. The solution is written as an infinite
series involving Bessel functions and set equal to zero.
The value of j0 is sought for a given choice of s, such
that
k`

t~j0 !

~1! k De2k ~s!J2k @M s cosh~j0 !# 0

(
k0

~24!

c The book in Ref. 10 is the classic reference on the subject.

248

MURRAY

The coefficients De2k ~s! are tabulated in Ref. 11, which

includes tables of Mathieu characteristics and functions.
Table I gives a sample list of coefficients for the case
s 100.
It appears that it was necessary for the authors of
Ref. 8 to transcribe from the book of tables more than 50
sets of numbers such as these, a laborious task involving
some thousands of numbers each with many digits. From
the value of the argument of the Bessel function X
M scosh~j0 ! that makes the sum in Eq. ~24! equal to zero,
one deduces the geometric buckling. A useful form in
terms of s, j0 , and b is as follows: From Eq. ~11! write
b 2 A 2 sinh 2 ~j0 ! .
Then from Eq. ~22!,
B 2 s @cosh 2 ~j0 ! 1!0b 2 ,

~25!

which can be abbreviated,

B 2 K~c 2 !0b 2 ,

~26!

where
K~c 2 ! s0~c 2 1!

~27!

c 2 ~a0b! 2 1 10~cosh 2 ~j0 ! 1! .

~28!

and

A table is provided by Gast and Bournia giving values of s, cosh~j0 !, c 2, c, and K~c 2 !. The range of s is
from 0 to 100, which latter value is the largest appearing
in Ref. 11. This s value corresponds to an ellipse with a
still rather large ratio b0a of around 0.16, and interpolation in the region of flatter ellipses is very uncertain.
One of our goals was to extend the data into the region
between s 100 and s ` and make interpolation prac-

TABLE II
Coefficients in Asymptotic Formula:
n02 h~n!
2
be0 2M q ( n`
n0 g~n!q
n

g~n!

h~n!

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

2
1
3
53
297
3961
30363
2095501
20057205
421644859
4828704237
239467534593
3197073455901
91501737715473
1397790928188603
363372562420411197
6258692522467212813
227867608383920243815
4372199488222446620121
352807992522448740907163

3
5
8
13
16
20
23
29
32
36
39
44
47
51
54
61
64
68
71
76

tical. To do this, it was necessary to determine the method

of generating the characteristic be0 . An asymptotic formula for am is found in McLachlan.10 For the special
case of p 0 with q s04, the polynomial is
am ; 2q 2q 102 2~23 ! 4q 102 27
48q 1 212 848q 302 217 4752q 2 220
126752q 502 225 .

TABLE I
Coefficients for Mathieu Function Series, s 100
2k

De2k

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26

1990.80436 5262
3205.73489 8108
1693.41137 6288
604.89992 0991
151.69742 0622
27.71946 0591
3.81627 0307
0.40748 6473
0.03458 7362
0.00238 3144
0.00013 5695
0.00000 6483
0.00000 0263
0.00000 0009

~29!

The author provides figures demonstrating accuracy.

However, at q 40, the approximate and accurate values
of a 0 should be 67.60615 rather than 67.64216 as quoted.
Reference 11 reports only six significant figure accuracy
in be0 at s 100. Application of Eq. ~29! for that value of
s yields be0 9.74322103, which is slightly different
from the figure cited in Ref. 11 of be0 9.74322045.
These numbers confirm the above statement about accuracy, but it would be expected that a series with more
terms would be more accurate.
d
Frenkel and Portugal 12 have extended the asymptotic formula with recursion formulas that allow any number of terms to be calculated. The case p 0 can be
represented by Table II.
Calculations for the test case of q 25, s 100
using Table II reveal that the ratio of successive terms
d
This study contains formulas for small-argument series
and asymptotic series.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

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GEOMETRIC BUCKLING OF ELLIPTICAL CYLINDER

increases very slowly, being about 0.3 at n 5, 0.5 at

n 10, 0.7 at n 15, with 1.0 reached at around n 18.
That is the point where an asymptotic series is generally
most accurate, but the value of be0 is still too large,
being 9.74322073, not 9.74322045. The fractional error
in be0 at this s is larger than that of am by a factor of
around 4. It thus must be concluded that the asymptotic
formula is inherently in error, although it does improve
as s increases. An alternative method is therefore needed.

TABLE III
Approach to the Root of F~a! 0 for s 100

III. CONTINUED FRACTION METHOD

249

Trial be0

A m 0Bm

9.74
9.74322
9.74322045
9.74322045343
9.74322045343332

8.72E3 a
1.23E6
9.30E9
8.71E12
3.38E16

Read as 8.72 103.

To evaluate am ~as a! and be0 more accurately, we

turn to a method described in Ref. 11, that of continued
fractions. This very simple mathematical theory states
that a is the root of an equation in the standard form
described in Ref. 13.e

Then constants g~2n! are calculated. Initial values are

g~2! v~0! and g~4! v~2! 20g~2!.
For n 3 to nm, we have

s 208
s 2016 s 2016
F~a! a
{{{ 0 .
a 2 2 a 4 2 a 62

Next, constants b~2n! are obtained, starting with

b~0! 1 and applying

~30!
The function F~a! can be calculated to any order desired
using the method given in Ref. 13. Thus let
f b0 a 1
b1 a 2
b2 a 3
b3 . . . .

~31!

If the sequence terminates with m terms, the function fm

is equal to the ratio A m 0Bm governed by recursion
relations:
A n bn A n1 a n A n2

~32!

Bn bn Bn1 a n Bn2 .

~33!

and
Here, A 1 1, A 0 b0 , B1 0, and B0 1.
The preceding can be readily programmed to search
for values of a that make F~a! as close as desired to
zero. Table III shows the results when applied to the case
s 100.

g~2n! v~2n 2! 10g~2n 2! .

b~2n 2! b~2n!@ g~2n 2!# ,

~35!

~36!

for n 0 to nm 1. The sum of the b~2n! over n is

taken, and its reciprocal is De0 ~s!. All other Dek ~s! can
be obtained from the b~2n! by multiplying them by
De0 ~s!. As a check, the sum of the Dek ~s! over k should
be very close to 1.
The Bessel functions appearing in Eq. ~24! can be
obtained from standard recursion relations, in particular
Jn1 ~ x! ~2n0x!Jn ~ x! Jn1 ~ x! .

~37!

Starting values are J0 and J1 .

All of the above are inserted in Eq. ~24!. By trial and
error its root X M s cosh~j0 ! is found, determining j0 .
Note that for the purpose of finding roots, the b~2n! can
be used instead of the Dek ~s!. One convenient method of
solving is to enter two trial values of X, calculate two
values of t~j0 ! from Eq. ~24!, and interpolate linearly to
obtain an improved X. Finally, application of Eqs. ~25!,
~26!, and ~27! yield the quantity K.
Because the calculations for one term depend on preceding terms, many significant figures must be retained.
The Table 1 of Ref. 8 was checked, and additional decimals were obtained and extended to s values beyond 100
as shown in Table IV.

IV. SOLUTION FOR BUCKLING

V. SURFACE-TO-VOLUME RATIO

The evaluation of Dek ~s! requires the characteristic

am be0 s02. A set of parameters v~2n! with n 0
to nm are found from
v~2n! ~40s!~am 4n 2 ! .
e Continued

~34!

fractions ~p. 19! appear in this reference.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

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JULY 2005

The format for display of calculated results in

Table IV is inconvenient, especially for larger values of
the parameter s. Over the years, various equivalences
have been employed for representation of bucklings of
unusual geometries. The equivalent surface-to-volume
ratio has been useful. For the elliptical cylinder, such a

250

MURRAY

TABLE IV
Extension of Data of Gast and Bournia Relating K to s
s

0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2.0
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
3.0
3.2
3.4
3.6
3.8
4.0
4.2
4.4
4.6
4.8
5.0
5.2
5.4
5.6
5.8
6.0
6.2
6.4
6.6
6.8
7.0
7.2
7.4
7.6
7.8
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
10.0
10.5
11.0
20
25
40
70
100
150
200
300
400
500
1000
2000
`

1
1.017439
1.035161
1.053150
1.071389
1.089860
1.108544
1.127423
1.146476
1.165686
1.185032
1.204496
1.224061
1.243709
1.263423
1.283188
1.302987
1.322808
1.342636
1.362459
1.382267
1.402048
1.421792
1.441492
1.461139
1.480725
1.500245
1.159693
1.539062
1.558350
1.577551
1.596663
1.615682
1.634606
1.653432
1.672159
1.690785
1.709309
1.727729
1.746046
1.764259
1.809332
1.853752
1.897523
1.940654
1.983157
2.025045
2.691597
3.008164
3.818289
5.089277
6.114974
7.532755
8.731354
10.745899
12.446502
13.945829
19.833618
28.166414
`

1
0.9828604
0.9660336
0.9495324
0.9333676
0.9175488
0.9020838
0.8869786
0.8722379
0.8578643
0.8438592
0.8302225
0.8169525
0.8040464
0.7915004
0.7793093
0.7674673
0.7559679
0.7448037
0.7339669
0.7234494
0.7132425
0.7033376
0.6937257
0.6843977
0.6753447
0.6665577
0.6580278
0.6497463
0.6417044
0.6338938
0.6263062
0.6189336
0.6117682
0.6048026
0.5980293
0.5914413
0.5850318
0.5787943
0.5727225
0.5668102
0.5526900
0.5394464
0.5270027
0.5152901
0.5042465
0.4938163
0.3715267
0.3324287
0.2618974
0.1964916
0.1635330
0.1327535
0.1145298
0.0930588
0.0803439
0.0717060
0.0504194
0.0355033
0

5.783186
5.684868
5.589907
5.498287
5.409979
5.324944
5.243131
5.164483
5.088933
5.016405
4.946818
4.880088
4.816122
4.754827
4.696107
4.639866
4.586003
4.534423
4.485028
4.437722
4.392413
4.349008
4.307419
4.267560
4.229349
4.192706
4.157554
4.123820
4.091435
4.060332
4.030447
4.001721
3.974096
3.947518
3.921935
3.897299
3.873564
3.850685
3.828621
3.807334
3.786786
3.738426
3.693978
3.653010
3.615147
3.580061
3.547465
3.202720
3.105957
2.945654
2.811161
2.747788
2.690950
2.658283
2.620675
2.598830
2.584164
2.548599
2.524147
2.467401

criterion requires knowledge of the area and perimeter

of an ellipse. The area is well known to be simply
A pab ,

~38!

but the perimeter cannot be expressed in algebraic terms.

Instead, it is given by
P 4aE~e! ,

~39!

where E~e! is the complete elliptical integral defined

and tabulated in Ref. 13, and the eccentricity e is given
by Eq. ~5!. Literally over centuries, mathematicians have
sought to find accurate approximate formulas for the
f
perimeter. As noted by Michon,14 Kepler in 1609 proposed P 2p~ab! 102, and Euler in 1773 gave P
p@2~a 2 b 2 !# 102. These were simple formulas but not
very accurate. The mathematical genius Ramanujan developed a formula with maximum error of 0.04% at the
limit b 0. Cantrell 14 recently devised an approximation that is exact at the limits b a and b 0. We use it
to form the ratio P0A as a function of f b0a. Cantrells
expression is
P 4~a b! 2~4 p!ab0Hp ,

~40!

Hp @~a p b p !02# 10p ,

~41!

where

with the value of p chosen as 0.82507 to minimize the

error to 0.083% over the whole range of eccentricities.
Note that when b a, Hp a, and P 2pa. When b 0,
Hp a0~2!10p but that is irrelevant since the second term
in P is zero.
Data on the quantity K as a function of f were converted into values of a new parameter k appearing in the
basic working relation
B k0R ,

~42!

where R is the radius of a circle with the same perimeter0

area ratio as the ellipse. To find k, note that
B M K0b ,

~43!

k M K~R0b! .

~44!

so that

It remains to find R0b. For a circle, the P0A ratio is

2pR0pR 2 20R, which we equate to Cantrells P divided by A. The result is
k 2M K0~P0A! .

~45!

The results in terms of k and R as a function of f are

given in Table V.
f This

site contains comprehensive historical and mathematical treatment. There are links to Robert L. Wards Circumference of an Ellipse and to David W. Cantrells New
Approximation for the Perimeter of an Ellipse.
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GEOMETRIC BUCKLING OF ELLIPTICAL CYLINDER

TABLE V

with R the Radius

Geometric Buckling is
of Equivalent Circle
B2

~k0R! 2

R0b

1.00
0.95
0.90
0.85
0.80
0.75
0.70
0.65
0.60
0.55
0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00

2.404826
2.405136
2.406129
2.407904
2.410560
2.414201
2.418921
2.424801
2.431897
2.440219
2.449711
2.460219
2.471448
2.482922
2.493930
2.503483
2.510279
2.512661
2.508519
2.495012
2.467401

1.000000
1.025473
1.051905
1.079311
1.107698
1.137063
1.167387
1.198632
1.230738
1.263612
1.297120
1.331077
1.365235
1.399257
1.432702
1.464990
1.495361
1.522816
1.546017
1.563079
1.570796

VII. APPLICATION TO DAMAGED

FUEL CASK

TABLE VI
Test of Accuracy of Interpolation in Table V

0.225
0.525
0.825
a Read

Bba
1.693638
1.909583
2.203221

Bbe
1.693596
1.909568
2.203361

The foregoing methods allow estimates of the change

in neutron multiplication if a circular cylinder is distorted into an elliptical cylinder. Visualize the fall of a
spent fuel storage0shipping cask from a considerable
height such as a bridge over a roadway. A blow to the
side of the cask may be assumed to change the shape at
constant volume. It is certain that the damage will cause
k eff to be reduced, but its extent is of interest.
A rudimentary reactor physics relationship between
k eff and Bg2 is applied:
k eff k ` @exp~Bg2 t!#0~1 Bg2 L 2 ! ,

2.48E5 a
7.9E6
6.35E5

A pab pR c2 .
The ratio f b0a appears in expressions
a R c M f ,

VOL. 150

JULY 2005

~46!

where the infinite multiplication factor k `, neutron age t,

and the thermal diffusion length L appear. Consider a
case with k ` 1.082, t 28.84 cm 2, L2 1.46, and cask
radius R c 37 cm, with length effectively infinite. For
the undamaged cylinder, Bg2 ~ j0 0R c ! 2 ~2.40480
37! 2 0.004224 cm2. Inserting numbers in Eq. ~46!,
k eff 0.9520.
Assume the area of cross section of the cylinder is
constant:

FE

as 2.48 105.

NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

VI. USE OF ANALYTIC COMPUTATION

SYSTEM MAPLE 9

A new ~2003! version of the symbolic and computational engine, Maple 9 ~Ref. 15!, includes material on
Mathieu functions generated with the aid of the Moscow
group of Maplesoft. Included is the calculation of am
and the Mathieu function represented in series form by
Eq. ~24!. The foregoing analysis and computation can be
confirmed by application of Maple 9. Following the sequence of calculations, the command MathieuA~0,q! with
q s04 yields the parameter am. Let j0 be represented
by x. Then the sum in Eq.~24! is obtained by the command MathieuC~am, q, z!, where z is the imaginary argument ix. Trial values of x with interpolation on the
sum lead to the zero. Alternatively, one can use the command that solves for a root of a function y~ x!, in the
form fsolve~$ y~ x! 0%, $x%, x1 . . . x2!, where x1 and x2
are estimated limits on the range of the solution. Care
must be taken to recognize spurious roots, and for some
values of s, interpolation between input values is required instead of the use of fsolve.

The amount of variation in each quantity is sufficiently small that accurate interpolation is possible. Note
that although the entries for k and R0b in Table V are
based on an approximation, namely, Cantrells formula,
when used in conjunction, the resulting values of B are
very accurate at each tabulated point. As an example, let
f 0.4. From Table V, k 2.471448 and R0b 1.365235.
Then B k0R k0@b~R0b!# 1.8102730b, to be compared with B M K0b ~3.277090!1020b 1.8102730b.
Tests of accuracy of linear interpolation at the midpoint between tabulated values were carried out between
f values 0.20 and 0.25, 0.50 and 0.55, and 0.80 and 0.85.
The quantities evaluated were Bb k0~R0b!. Approximate values Bba and exact Bbe are compared in Table VI
along with the fractional error FE.

251

b R cM f .

252

MURRAY

Apply the relationship for the infinite elliptical cylinder,

Eq. ~42!,
Bg2

~k0R! ,
2

for a variety of values of f, using Table V for values of k

and R0b. Resulting data are listed in Table VII.
The value of k eff changes surprisingly little for values of f even as low as 0.5. The reduction in one dimension is largely compensated by the increase in the other
dimension.

VIII. APPLICATION TO RESEARCH REACTOR

The observation that k eff is not greatly reduced by

distortion of an elliptical cylinder suggests that a research reactor could be constructed in such a shape. The
benefit could be a more uniform flux along the broad
side of the system. Accordingly, calculations were made
on a hypothetical unreflected core with the following
data: a 50 cm, b 25 cm, H 150 cm, t 30 cm 2,
L2 1.5 cm 2, and k ` 1.25. The axial buckling is
thus Bz2 ~p0H ! 2 0.0004386 cm2. From Table V for
f b0a 0.5, we have R0b 1.297120 and thus
R 32.428 cm, Br k0R 2.449711032.428
0.075543 cm1, Br2 0.0057068 cm2, and B 2
0.0061454 cm2. The fast nonleakage factor L f is
exp~B 2 t! 0.83163; the thermal nonleakage factor L t
is 10~1 B 2 L2 ! 0.99087. Then the effective multiplication factor is k eff k ` L f L t 1.0300.
Only the radial buckling and the core dimensions
are needed for flux calculations. The value of A is a@1
~b0a! 2 # 102 43.3013 cm. Since a A cosh~j0 ! 50 cm
and b A sinh~j0 ! 25 cm, we have cosh~j0 ! 1.154700
and sinh~j0 ! 0.577350. The zero flux points on the
ellipse are readily plotted using
x A cosh~j0 !cos~h! 50 cos~h!

TABLE VII
Effect of Damage to Fuel Cask
f

b
~cm!

Bg2

k eff

1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4

2.40483
2.40613
2.41056
2.41892
2.43190
2.44921
2.47145

37.0
35.10
33.09
30.96
28.66
26.16
23.40

0.004224
0.004247
0.004324
0.004480
0.004753
0.005211
0.005984

0.9520
0.9514
0.9491
0.9447
0.9369
0.9240
0.9026

and
y A sinh~j0 !sin~h! 25 sin~h! ,
with h varying from 0 to 2p.
For the case of f b0a 0.5, s A 2 Br2 10.70025.
Then q 2.67506. The value of am 2.38753 is calculated by the Maple 9 command MathieuA~0,q!. Contour graphs of the neutron flux distribution within the
elliptical boundary are obtained by forming several
choices of the flux product FG of Eq. ~18!. To calculate
one space point, a value of F is selected, e.g., 0.9, which
fixes G. Commands MathieuC~a, q, x! for ce and
MathieuC~a, q, z ix! for Ce are employed. The equation Ce F 0 is solved for x1 and the equation ce
G 0 is solved for x2. Finally, the coordinates of the
particular point are found from
x A cosh~ x1!cos~ x2!
and
y A sinh~ x1!sin~ x2! .
The process is repeated for other choices of FG and
sets of F values. The resulting data, consisting of over
250 points, are plotted as shown in Fig. 2. With the normalization of the Mathieu functions, the central flux was
8.85, and FG values 8, 6, 4, 2, and 0 were selected for
illustrative contour plotting.

IX. APPLICATION TO WINDSCALE

DECOMMISSIONING

In 1957, the Windscale Pile No. 1 at Sellafield, United

Kingdom, experienced a fire caused by release of Wigner
energy in the graphite moderator. For nearly half a century, the reactor has been mothballed awaiting decommissioning. The status of the recovery program is
described in a United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authorg
ity Web site.16 Of concern is safety from recriticality
resulting from potential distortion of the original core.
As an illustration of the application of the methods of
this paper, calculations were performed using reactor
physics techniques of the era when the reactor was designed and built.
A precedent for such studies of damaged facilities is
the Three Mile Island recovery program, where a lenticular ~double convex lens! model was applied to fuel in
the bottom of the pressure vessel by Westfall et al.17 and
Williams, Rommel, and Murray.18 The Windscale reactor has a face as sketched in Fig. 3 approximating an
octagon of width and height 15.32 m and depth 7.43 m.
There are 929 carbon blocks, each containing four fuel
tubes. The total of 3444 fuel rods of radius 1.25 cm was
g
This site contains links to photographs, diagrams, and
status of decommissioning of Pile 1.

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GEOMETRIC BUCKLING OF ELLIPTICAL CYLINDER

253

Fig. 2. The relative neutron flux is the product of two Mathieu functions F~j! and G~h!.

assumed to be uniformly distributed throughout, such

that the cylindrical unit cell for each rod was of radius
13.60335 cm. Voids for coolant were ignored, yielding a

ratio of moderator to fuel of 117.4328. The reactor face

was treated as a true octagon with side 643.9467 cm and
inscribed circle radius 777.3624 cm. To evaluate the initial radial buckling, data from the paper on polygons by
Murray et al.19 were used, where B 2 is expressed in terms
of an equivalent inscribed circle. The result is
Br2 ~BR0R i ! 2 ~2.3527090777.3124! 2
0.9161050 105 cm2 ,
and with axial buckling
Bz2 ~p0H ! 2 ~p0743! 2 1.787813 105 cm2 .
The total geometric buckling is
Bg2 2.703918 105 cm2 .

Fig. 3. Loading face of Windscale Pile No. 1. A total of

929 graphite stringers containing 3444 natural uranium fuel
rods.
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JULY 2005

To determine the initial value of parameters for Pile

No. 1, the treatment in the text by Murray 20 of a natural
U, graphite reactor was adapted and programmed into
Maple 9. The constants obtained are shown in Table VIII.
The excess multiplication would have been controlled
by structural materials, temperature effects, and absorbing safety and control rods.
If the octagonal cylinder is distorted into a circular
cylinder without change of volume, it is evident that
there will be a decrease in buckling and an increase in
neutron multiplication. A measure of the effect of shape
change at constant volume is the change in geometric
buckling dB 2. For reactors described by age-diffusion

254

MURRAY

TABLE VIII
Initial Calculated Parameters of Windscale Pile No. 1
1.02765
p 0.93848
f 0.82769
h 1.32672
k ` 1.05905
L2 421.33 cm 2
t 356.11 cm 2
L f 0.99042
L t 0.99874
k eff 1.03708

Fast fission factor

Resonance escape probability
Thermal utilization
Neutrons per absorption in U
k-infinity
Square of diffusion length
Neutron age to thermal
Fast nonleakage probability
Thermal nonleakage probability
k-effective

theory, the reactivity resulting from distortion is

approximately
r M 2 dB 2 ,
where the migration area is
M 2 L2 t .
Table IX shows the trend in the related parameter
dB 20B 2 as a function of f b0a for the elliptical face of
the reactor. Negative values of dB 20B 2 imply an increase
in k eff , and positive values imply a decrease in k eff . The
enhancement of multiplication is seen to occur for distortions into a circular cylinder and then into elliptical
cylinders down to b0a of 0.87, after which multiplication
decreases rapidly.
The conclusion reached from the foregoing calculations is that special caution should be exercised in the
decommissioning process. It must not be presumed that
the damage by fire in 1957 resulted in a safety margin. In
fact, it is possible that the pile was distorted into a more
favorable multiplying geometry.

ficiently accurate. For smaller reactors, the plane extrapolation distance d0 0.7104l t is appropriate, while for
very small assemblies like Godiva a rigorous extrapolated end point is used.
A heuristic approach is adopted for the extrapolation
distance in the case of elliptical cylinders. Davison 21
proposed a boundary condition for an unreflected cylindrical surface of radius R:
d0

d
@M rf~r!# rR M Rf~R!
dr

from which an effective extrapolation distance deff can

be deduced.
d0
f~R!

deff .
f ' ~R!
1 d0 02R
For an ellipse with variable radius of curvature, we
postulate that the preceding formula applies on a local
basis. Points on the curve can be expressed in terms of
an angular parameter t:
x ac
and
y bs ,
where c cos~t ! and s sin~t !. The radial distance of
the origin at the center to a point ~ x, y! is
r ~a 2 c 2 b 2 s 2 ! 102 .
The radius of curvature in general is given by Weisstein 22 as
rc @~ x ' ! 2 ~ y ' ! 2 # 3020~ x ' y '' y ' x '' ! .
Substituting x ' as, y ' bc, x '' ac, y '' bs, we
obtain for the ellipse
rc ~a 2 s 2 b 2 c 2 ! 3020ab .

X. EXTRAPOLATION DISTANCES

In this study, a zero flux boundary condition has

been assumed. For large unreflected reactors, this is suf-

TABLE IX
Effect of Distortion of Octagonal Pile
f b0a

dB 20B 2

1.00
0.95
0.90
0.87
0.85
0.80
0.75

0.003209
0.002791
0.001446
0.000174
0.000989
0.004716
0.009987

Note that for t 0, rc b 2 and for t p02, rc 10b. We

can select a 1 and calculate rc as a function of b,
scaling as needed for other a values.
Numerical values of the average radius of curvature
are readily calculated as
rave ~20p!

p02

rc ~t ! dt .

Table X shows the results of the integration. Over the

range of f from 0 to 0.5, rave remains close to 1. A constant extrapolation distance can be applied to the ellipse,
given by
dave d0 0~1 d0 02rave ! .
For example, consider an infinite elliptical cylinder
of initial radius 37 cm as in Sec. VII, distorted to
f b0a 0.8. New dimensions are a 41.37 cm and
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GEOMETRIC BUCKLING OF ELLIPTICAL CYLINDER

TABLE X
Average Radius of Curvature of Ellipse as a Function
of f b0a with a 1
f b0a

rave

1.00
0.95
0.90
0.85
0.80
0.75
0.70
0.65
0.60
0.55
0.50

1.00000
0.97709
0.95858
0.94490
0.93658
0.93430
0.93891
0.95157
0.97380
1.00769
1.05616

255

An appreciation for the nature of solutions comes

from setting q equal to zero and writing a m 2 in Eqs.
~A.1! and ~A.2!. Then,
d2y
m2 y 0
dz 2

~A.3!

d2y
m2 y 0 .
dz 2

~A.4!

and

b 33.09 cm. Assuming a transport mean free path l t

0.48 cm as for water, d0 ~0.7104!~0.48! 0.3410 cm.
The maximum and minimum values of deff are 0.3399 cm
and 0.3388 cm. From Table X the value of rave is 0.93658,
which scales to 38.74 cm and gives dave 0.3395 cm.
For all practical purposes, all of these numbers are indistinguishable from the plane extrapolation distance.

Solutions of Eq. ~A.3! are cos~mz! and sin~mz!, while

solutions of Eq. ~A.4! are cosh~mz! and sinh~mz!. Thus
for small q, series solutions of Eqs. ~A.1! and ~A.2! start
as cosines or hyperbolic cosines. The Mathieu functions
are periodic, more generally with periods p and 2p. Thus,
there are four types of solutions. For a given s or q, there
is an infinite set of a values. Fortunately for our purposes only the fundamental mode is needed, involving
a 0 , which is our am. There is a variety of notations in the
literature, making reading among them difficult. The key
references consulted are the Columbia Press tables,11
McLachlan,10 and Maple 9 from Maplesoft, Inc.15
The relevant solution of Eq. ~A.1! is ce~a, q, z!, called
cosine-elliptic, and that of Eq. ~A.2! is Ce~a, q, z!, called
hyperbolic cosine-elliptic. The latter can be expressed as
a series of ordinary Bessel functions, as a zero-order
adaption of the expression in Ref. 11:
Ce~q, z! Je0 ~s, z!0Je0 ~s,0! ,

APPENDIX

~A.5!

where

MATHIEU EQUATIONS AND FUNCTIONS

k`

We are familiar with the solutions of the reactor equation in two dimensions. For a rectangular prism with x, y
dependence, the neutron flux is the product of two cosine functions; for a circular cylinder with r, u dependence, as if an absorber were inserted off center, the flux
is the product of Bessel functions and sinusoidal functions. For an elliptical cylinder, the flux is dependent on
two variables, j, h; and the flux is the product of two
different types of Mathieu functions that are solutions of
the Mathieu differential equations. The ordinary type is
d2y
~a 2q cos 2z!y 0 ,
dz 2

~A.1!

~A.2!

Note that Eq. ~A.2! can be obtained from Eq. ~A.1! by

replacing z by iz. We use am ~a-Mathieu! in place of a
to avoid confusion with the semimajor axis of the ellipse. Also, we use s04 in place of q.
NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

VOL. 150

( ~1! k De2k ~s!J2k @M s cosh~z!#

JULY 2005

k0

~A.6!
The parameter a has been omitted in the functional dependence since a is a function of s. This is a rapidly
converging series for small values of s. For purposes of
finding the geometric buckling from the root z j0 of
the equation Ce~s, z! 0, the denominator of Eq. ~A.5!
can be ignored. However, for calculation of flux distributions, the complete expression is required. Also, for
that purpose the ordinary function ce~s, z! is needed,
noting that
Ce~s, z! ce~s, iz! .

and the modified type is

d2y
~a 2q cosh 2z!y 0 .
dz 2

Je0 ~s, z! M p02

~A.7!

The two Mathieu functions are available in Maple 9

~Ref. 15! with commands MathieuC~a, q, x! for ce and
MathieuC~a, q, z ix! for Ce.
Series expansions of the functions in terms of x are
as follows:
1 6 ~q a02!x 2 ~8q 4q 2 4qa a 2 !x 4024 6 . . .
~A.8!

256

MURRAY

where refers to ce and to Ce. Note the trend toward

series in cos~M ax! and cosh~M ax! as q approaches zero.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Appreciation is extended to M. M. R. Williams for encouragement, information, and advice; to R. Portugal for data on
asymptotic series; to D. Hare of Maplesoft, Inc., for assistance
with the use of Maple 9; to D. W. Cantrell for information on
the perimeter of an ellipse; to L. M. Petrie, Jr., of Oak Ridge
National Laboratory for reactor physics data; and especially to
R. Garcia for valuable comments.

REFERENCES
1. P. M. MORSE and H. FESHBACH, Methods of Theoretical Physics, p. 125, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York
~1953!.
2. H. SOODAK and E. C. CAMPBELL, Elementary Pile
Theory, p. 43, John Wiley & Sons, New York ~1950!.
3. Reactor Handbook Physics, pp. 444 and 614, J. F. HOGERTON and R. C. GROSS, Eds., McGraw-Hill Book Company,
New York ~1955!.
4. A. M. WEINBERG and L. C. NODERER, Theory of
Neutron Chain Reactions, CF-52-5-98, Vol. I, Chap. V, Oak
Ridge National Laboratory ~1951!.
5. R. MURRAY, Critical Dimensions of Untamped Conical
Vessels, AECD-3874 ~Aug. 15, 1947!; see also AECD-3874Rev., Carbide and Carbon Chemicals Corp., Y-12 Plant, Oak
Ridge, Tennessee ~Sep. 10, 1984!.
6. Reactor Handbook, 2nd ed., Vol. III, Part A, p. 163, H.
SOODAK, Ed., Interscience Publishers, New York ~1962!.
7. N. G. SJSTRAND, How to Solve the Reactor Equation
in Eleven Coordinate Systems, Nucleonik, band 1, heft 3 ~Aug.
1958!.

10. N. W. MC LACHLAN, Theory and Application of Mathieu

Functions, p. 232 ~reprint of Oxford University Press ed., 1947!,
Dover Publications, New York ~1964!.
11. Tables Relating to Mathieu Functions: Characteristic
Values, Coefficients, and Joining Factors, National Bureau of
Standards, Columbia University Press, New York ~1951!.
12. D. FRENKEL and R. PORTUGAL, Algebraic Methods
to Compute Mathieu Functions, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen., 34,
3541 ~2001!.
13. M. ABRAMOWITZ and I. A. STEGUN, Handbook of
Mathematical Functions: Characteristic Values, Coefficients,
and Joining Factors, National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. ~1964!.
14. G. P. MICHON, Final Answers, Perimeter of an Ellipse,
available on the Internet at ^http:00home.att.net0;numericana0
answer0ellipse.htm& ~20002005!.
15. Maple 9, 2003 ed., Maplesoft, Inc. Waterloo Maple, Inc.
~2003!.
16. Windscale reactors, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority; available on the Internet at http:00www.ukaea.org.uk 0
windscale0index.htm.
17. R. M. WESTFALL, J. R. KNIGHT, P. B. FOX, O. W.
HERMANN, and J. C. TURNER, TMI Criticality Studies:
Lower Vessel Rubble and Analytical Benchmarking, GEND
071, Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc. ~May 1986!.
18. D. S. WILLIAMS, J. C. ROMMEL, and R. L. MURRAY,
An Overview of Nuclear Criticality Safety Analyses Performed to Support Three Mile Island Unit 2 Defueling, Nucl.
Technol., 87, 1134 ~1989!.
19. R. L. MURRAY, T. J. HIRONS, R. J. REITH, and O. J.
SMITH, Geometric Buckling of Polygonal Reactors, Nucl.
Sci. Eng., 34, 86 ~1968!.
20. R. L. MURRAY, The Heterogeneous Reactor, Nuclear
Reactor Physics, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
~1957!.

8. P. F. GAST and A. BOURNIA, Finding the Buckling of

an Elliptic Cylinder, Nucleonics, 14, 4, 109 ~Apr. 1956!.

21. B. DAVISON, Transport Theory of Neutrons, lecture

notes, Chalk River, LT-18, National Research Council of Canada ~1947!.

9. P. OGREN, The Laplacian Operator 2 for Curvilinear

Coordinates; available on the Internet at ^http:00www.
earlham.edu0;chem0chem4410overviews04a_laplacian.pdf&.

22. E. W. WEISSTEIN, Radius of Curvature, MathworldA

Wolfram Web Resource; available on the Internet at http:00
mathworld.wolfram.com0RadiusofCurvature.html ~1999!.

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