Process and Tool Innovation for CAD Integration with OLTARIS

NASA uses computer aided design (CAD) capabilities to produce space vehicle designs. One aspect of the vehicle design is utilizing enough shielding to minimize dose on personnel. Currently, there is no set process for using NASA CAD models in NASA?s transport code, HZETRN. XL Scientific will develop a ray tracing tool that converts STEP files to an XML input for OLTARIS, which contains HZETRN. This tool will carry geometric, material and density information and automate the process. By doing so, less human intervention will be necessary to run radiation transport problems and NASA personnel can produce results at a much faster rate. This effort will analyze the properties of a poorly defined and well defined CAD model to create the foundations of a process for automating the entire CAD to transport process. Success in this task will mitigate months of human effort per spacecraft design. XL Scientific has produced CAD/radiation transport capabilities in the past and have identified additional uses for CAD integration in radiation transport codes. This innovation is not limited to calculating dose on personnel; one major additional function is to calculate dose on electronics for other potential NASA applications.