MRADSIM-Converter: A new software for STEP to GDML conversion

• Published in: Computer physics communications Vol. 286; p. 108688
• Main Authors: Alpat, Ali Behcet, Coban, Abdullah, Kaya, Hakan, Bartolini, Giovanni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-05-2023
• Subjects: CAD; Conversion; GDML; Geant4; Radiation; STEP; STEP; GDML; Conversion; Geant4; CAD; Radiation
• ISSN: 0010-4655; 1879-2944
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cpc.2023.108688

Radiation effects analysis of instruments operative in harsh radiation environment is crucial for performance and functionality of electronic devices and components. Engineering design of instruments is usually carried out in Computer Aided Design (CAD) engineering software. Geant4-based Monte Carlo codes are extensively used for particle transport simulation and analysis. However, Geant4 is not prepared to accept CAD Standard for The Exchange of Product data (STEP) format. MRADSIM-Converter is a new software for STEP to Geometry Description Markup Language (GDML) format conversion, readable by Geant4-based Monte Carlo codes. Its validation with two different converters confirms its higher speed for importing CAD geometries with arbitrary size and complexity having a user-friendly interface for modifying volumes properties.
Program title: MRADSIM-Converter
CPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/8kzsyn79gh.1
Licensing provisions: LGPL
Programming language: C++
Supplementary material: CMake, Qt5, OpenCascade
Nature of problem: Geant4 toolkit simulation code developed at CERN is widely used for high energy physics community as well as health physics and radioprotections communities. However, Geant4 is not prepared to receive the CAD formats file, and the geometry implementation in Geant4 is a time-consuming task as it requires the creation of each volume using specific classes.
Solution method: MRADSIM-Converter is a software designed to perform a conversion between the files written in STEP format, prepared by CAD software, into the GDML format, accepted as input in Geant4. All existent volumes in the input STEP file are visualized in the Graphical User Interface (GUI), where it is possible to interactively assign the material to the components and modify each volume's properties, such as material, color, and name.
Additional comments including restrictions and unusual features: MRADSIM-Converter is tested under Ubuntu, versions 18 and 20. All the libraries necessary to run the program are provided in the package hence no additional library or software is required to be installed. Under MacOS and Windows, MRADSIM-Converter is running through virtual machine (VM) with above-mentioned Ubuntu versions.