Modelling of PFC response under transient thermal loads and runaway electron impacts

A seminar by Svetlana Ratynskaia

The interdisciplinary field of plasma material interactions encompasses all physical processes that lead to the exchange of particles, momentum and energy between plasmas and condensed matter bodies. Modelling of the interface between the plasma and the fusion reactor wall is highly challenging as the problem involves various aspects of disparate physics disciplines. Different modelling approaches have been proposed to incorporate plasma effects, while describing the thermal response of plasma facing components along with the hydrodynamic behavior of formed melt pools and the mechanical response of the solid phase. Vast experimental evidence in present day machines reveals that the PFC response induced by transient (e.g. ELMs, thermal or current quenches) plasma loads differs significantly from that induced by runaway electron (RE) impacts. The former often exhibits displaced and re-solidified melt pools while the latter is of the explosive type accompanied with the ejection of fast solid debris or droplets. The reason behind this lies in the depth ranges of the incoming energetic particles, leading to surface heating by ELMy or disrupting plasmas and to deep volumetric heating when REs strike PFCs. In this talk, we briefly discuss the modelling of the PFC thermo-hydrodynamic response under transient plasma loads and focus on the modelling of the PFC thermo-mechanical response to RE bombardment. Results of the thermomechanical modelling of the first controlled RE-induced damage experiment in DIII-D along with predictive thermal modelling results for ITER and SPARC will be shown.

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