A software package for plasma facing component analysis and design: the Heat flux Engineering Analysis Toolkit (HEAT)

Looby, Tom; Reinke, Matthew; Wingen, Andreas; Menard, Jonathan; Gerhardt, Stefan; Gray, Travis; Donovan, David; Unterberg, Ezekial; Klabacha, Jonathan; Messineo, Mike
Issue date: March 2021
Cite as:
Looby, Tom, Reinke, Matthew, Wingen, Andreas, Menard, Jonathan, Gerhardt, Stefan, Gray, Travis, Donovan, David, Unterberg, Ezekial, Klabacha, Jonathan, & Messineo, Mike. (2021). A software package for plasma facing component analysis and design: the Heat flux Engineering Analysis Toolkit (HEAT) [Data set]. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University.
@electronic{looby_tom_2021,
  author      = {Looby, Tom and
                Reinke, Matthew and
                Wingen, Andreas and
                Menard, Jonathan and
                Gerhardt, Stefan and
                Gray, Travis and
                Donovan, David and
                Unterberg, Ezekial and
                Klabacha, Jonathan and
                Messineo, Mike},
  title       = {{A software package for plasma facing com
                ponent analysis and design: the Heat flu
                x Engineering Analysis Toolkit (HEAT)}},
  publisher   = {{Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Pri
                nceton University}},
  year        = 2021
}
Abstract:

The engineering limits of plasma facing components (PFCs) constrain the allowable operational space of tokamaks. Poorly managed heat fluxes that push the PFCs beyond their limits not only degrade core plasma performance via elevated impurities, but can also result in PFC failure due to thermal stresses or melting. Simple axisymmetric assumptions fail to capture the complex interaction between 3D PFC geometry and 2D or 3D plasmas. This results in fusion systems that must either operate with increased risk or reduce PFC loads, potentially through lower core plasma performance, to maintain a nominal safety factor. High precision 3D heat flux predictions are necessary to accurately ascertain the state of a PFC given the evolution of the magnetic equilibrium. A new code, the Heat flux Engineering Analysis Toolkit (HEAT), has been developed to provide high precision 3D predictions and analysis for PFCs. HEAT couples many otherwise disparate computational tools together into a single open source python package. Magnetic equilibrium, engineering CAD, finite volume solvers, scrape off layer plasma physics, visualization, high performace computing, and more, are connected in a single web-based user interface. Linux users may use HEAT without any software prerequisites via an appImage. This manuscript introduces HEAT, discusses the software architecture, presents first HEAT results, and outlines physics modules in development.

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