Transient Electromagnetic Analysis of Blanket Modules 14 and 15 in Different Sectors of the ITER Blanket System due to Plasma Disruption

Abstract

The ITER blanket system provides shielding of the plasma controlling field coils and vacuum vessel from the plasma heat flux as well as nuclear heating from the plasma. In addition to the thermal requirements the blanket module attachment scheme must withstand the electromagnetic forces that occur during possible plasma disruption events. During a plasma disruption event eddy currents are induced in the blanket module (first wall and shield block) and interact with the large magnetic fields to produce forces which could potentially cause mechanical failure. For this reason the design and qualification of the ITER blanket system requires appropriate high-fidelity electromagnetic simulations that capture the physics of these disruption scenarios.The key features of the analysis procedure will be described including the modeling of the geometry of the blanket modules and the plasma current during disruption.The electromagnetic calculations are performed using the Opera-3d software. This software solves the transient 3D finite element problem from which the eddy currents are calculated. The electromagnetic loads due to these eddy currents are then calculated and translated to the local coordinate system of the blanket module of interest.