29th Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT 2016)

P4.119 Virtual prototyping tools for the JET divertor

8 Sep 2016, 14:20

1h 40m

Foyer 2A (2nd floor), 3A (3rd floor) (Prague Congress Centre)

Board: 119

Poster F. Plasma Facing Components P4 Poster session

Speaker

Daniel Iglesias (UKAEA-CCFE)

Description

Virtual prototyping enhances traditional engineering analysis workflow when a quick evaluation of complex load cases is required. During design, commissioning or operating phases, components can be virtually tested in realistic conditions by using previously validated numerical models and experimental databases. Three complementary applications have been developed under this approach for the JET divertor. Their aim is increasing its operational range, reliability, and understanding. At the same time, they are designed to be extensible to any plasma facing component. ALICIA is a novel inverse code suitable for use with complex geometries and noisy input temperature signals (1D IR maps). It calculates power profiles—including ELMs—with unprecedented accuracy, defining a realistic input for the recreation of the plasma load for each pulse. This reliable data is extremely important for the development, validation and application of the other two forward codes. VITA simulates the temperature evolution of divertor tiles using experimental conditions stored in the JET database. It can produce synthetic tile surface temperatures—accurate with respect to measurements—, which could play a critical role for operating the tokamak if divertor IR measurements were not available. It can also be used during the preparation phase to check more accurately (hence with a reduced margin) a planned pulse will remain within the temperature limits. WHAM is the first nonlinear thermal finite element solver designed to work in a tokamak real time machine protection system. It is included as a module for the Wall Load Limitation System (WALLS), simulating the transient 2D thermal response of plasma facing components to produce synthetic tile surface temperatures within a strict cycle time limit of 8 ms. This communication summarizes the motivation, requirements, design, and important advances to the operational and experimental understanding provided by these new tools.