Computation of radiative heat transfer in participating media using Backward Monte Carlo method

The Monte Carlo (MC) method has been widely used to solve radiative transfer problems due to its flexibility and simplicity in simulating the energy transport process in arbitrary geometries with complex boundary conditions. However, the major drawback of the conventional (or forward) Monte Carlo method is the long computational time for converged solution. Backward Monte Carlo was considered as an alternative approach when solutions were needed at certain locations and directions. The backward algorithm was similar to the conventional method, except that the energy bundle was tracked in a direction-reversal manner. Its migration was recorded from the detection location into the participating medium, rather than from the source to the detection location as in the conventional MC. ID and 2D radiative heat transfer problems were calculated by backward MC method. The calculation results agreed well with the relative documents.