Electromagnetic-mechanical coupling method and stress evaluation of the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor helium cooled solid breeder under a vertical displacement event scenario

Abstract

The helium cooled solid breeder (HCSB) blanket is one of the candidate blanket schemes proposed for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). Plasma vertical displacement events (VDE) are considered to be important for evaluating the structural integrity of the blanket. The change of the magnetic field caused by the movement of the plasma and the rapid loss of current induces extra electromagnetic loads, which will cause significant structural damage to the blanket. This study aims to investigate the electromagnetic-mechanical coupling method and the coupling effects on the HCSB under plasma VDE. Based on the design of the HCSB for the CFETR, a finite element model is established by using the MAXWELL software, in which 69 current filaments are used to describe the plasma. The distribution of the induced current and magnetic field inside the HCSB under the plasma VDE, as well as the electromagnetic force are obtained by the ANSYS finite element software. Meanwhile, the distributions of stress inside each component of the blanket are obtained under electromagnetic-structure load and an evaluation of the stress is carried out. The results show that the existing design meets the requirements when plasma VDE occurs.