A Finite Element Versus Analytical Approach to the Solution of the Current Diffusion Equation in Tokamaks

0489526 - ÚFP 2019 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Šesnic, S. - Dorić, V. - Poljak, D. - Šušnjara, A. - Artaud, J.F. - Urban, Jakub
A Finite Element Versus Analytical Approach to the Solution of the Current Diffusion Equation in Tokamaks.
IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science. Roč. 46, č. 4 (2018), s. 1027-1034. ISSN 0093-3813. E-ISSN 1939-9375
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) 8D15001
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 633053 - EUROfusion
Institutional support: RVO:61389021
Keywords : Finite element analysis * Tokamaks * current diffusion equation (CDE) * finite-element method (FEM)
OECD category: Fluids and plasma physics (including surface physics)
Impact factor: 1.325, year: 2018

This paper deals with two efficient approaches for solving the current diffusion equation (CDE), which governs current diffusion through the conductive plasma inside a tokamak and compares them to CRONOS tokamak simulation suite, as well. Namely, CDE is solved via the finite-element method (FEM) and an analytical technique, respectively, and the obtained results are subsequently compared with the solution obtained from the state-of-the-art CRONOS suite with finite-difference calculations. The tradeoff between different approaches has been undertaken. The results obtained via the FEM approach (with Hermite basis function, in particular) show very good agreement with the CRONOS results, while also providing the stability of the solution. On the other hand, the results obtained via the analytical solution clearly demonstrate a good agreement with the numerical results in the edge region, which makes it very useful for various applications.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0284002