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Volume 31, Issue 1
A Coupled FEM-BEM Approach for the Solution of the Free-Boundary Axi-Symmetric Plasma Equilibrium Problem

M. Bonotto, D. Abate, P. Bettini & F. Villone

Commun. Comput. Phys., 31 (2022), pp. 27-59.

Published online: 2021-12

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  • Abstract

In this paper we present a coupled Finite Element Method – Boundary Element Method (FEM-BEM) approach for the solution of the free-boundary axi-symmetric plasma equilibrium problem. The proposed method, obtained from an improvement of the Hagenow-Lackner coupling method, allows to efficiently model the equilibrium problem in unbounded domains by discretizing only the plasma region; the external conductors can be modelled either as 2D or 3D models, according to the problem of interest. The paper explores different iterative methods for the solution of the nonlinear Grad-Shafranov equation, such as Picard, Newton-Raphson and Newton-Krylov, in order to provide a robust and reliable tool, able to handle large-scale problems (e.g. high resolution equilibria). This method has been implemented in the FRIDA code (FRee-boundary Integro-Differential Axisimmetric – https://github. om/matteobonotto/ FRIDA), together with a suitable Adaptive Integration Technique (AIT) for the computation of the source term. FRIDA has been successfully tested and validated against experimental data from RFX-mod device, and numerical equilibria of an ITER-like device.

  • AMS Subject Headings

52.65.Kj, 52.55.Fa, 52.55.Hc, 41.20.Gz

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COPYRIGHT: © Global Science Press

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@Article{CiCP-31-27, author = {M. Bonotto , D. Abate , P. Bettini , and Villone , F.}, title = {A Coupled FEM-BEM Approach for the Solution of the Free-Boundary Axi-Symmetric Plasma Equilibrium Problem}, journal = {Communications in Computational Physics}, year = {2021}, volume = {31}, number = {1}, pages = {27--59}, abstract = {

In this paper we present a coupled Finite Element Method – Boundary Element Method (FEM-BEM) approach for the solution of the free-boundary axi-symmetric plasma equilibrium problem. The proposed method, obtained from an improvement of the Hagenow-Lackner coupling method, allows to efficiently model the equilibrium problem in unbounded domains by discretizing only the plasma region; the external conductors can be modelled either as 2D or 3D models, according to the problem of interest. The paper explores different iterative methods for the solution of the nonlinear Grad-Shafranov equation, such as Picard, Newton-Raphson and Newton-Krylov, in order to provide a robust and reliable tool, able to handle large-scale problems (e.g. high resolution equilibria). This method has been implemented in the FRIDA code (FRee-boundary Integro-Differential Axisimmetric – https://github. om/matteobonotto/ FRIDA), together with a suitable Adaptive Integration Technique (AIT) for the computation of the source term. FRIDA has been successfully tested and validated against experimental data from RFX-mod device, and numerical equilibria of an ITER-like device.

}, issn = {1991-7120}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.4208/cicp.OA-2021-0062}, url = {http://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/cicp/20017.html} }
TY - JOUR T1 - A Coupled FEM-BEM Approach for the Solution of the Free-Boundary Axi-Symmetric Plasma Equilibrium Problem AU - M. Bonotto , AU - D. Abate , AU - P. Bettini , AU - Villone , F. JO - Communications in Computational Physics VL - 1 SP - 27 EP - 59 PY - 2021 DA - 2021/12 SN - 31 DO - http://doi.org/10.4208/cicp.OA-2021-0062 UR - https://global-sci.org/intro/article_detail/cicp/20017.html KW - FEM-BEM, MHD, plasma equilibrium, Grad-Shafranov equation. AB -

In this paper we present a coupled Finite Element Method – Boundary Element Method (FEM-BEM) approach for the solution of the free-boundary axi-symmetric plasma equilibrium problem. The proposed method, obtained from an improvement of the Hagenow-Lackner coupling method, allows to efficiently model the equilibrium problem in unbounded domains by discretizing only the plasma region; the external conductors can be modelled either as 2D or 3D models, according to the problem of interest. The paper explores different iterative methods for the solution of the nonlinear Grad-Shafranov equation, such as Picard, Newton-Raphson and Newton-Krylov, in order to provide a robust and reliable tool, able to handle large-scale problems (e.g. high resolution equilibria). This method has been implemented in the FRIDA code (FRee-boundary Integro-Differential Axisimmetric – https://github. om/matteobonotto/ FRIDA), together with a suitable Adaptive Integration Technique (AIT) for the computation of the source term. FRIDA has been successfully tested and validated against experimental data from RFX-mod device, and numerical equilibria of an ITER-like device.

M. Bonotto, D. Abate, P. Bettini & F. Villone. (2021). A Coupled FEM-BEM Approach for the Solution of the Free-Boundary Axi-Symmetric Plasma Equilibrium Problem. Communications in Computational Physics. 31 (1). 27-59. doi:10.4208/cicp.OA-2021-0062
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