A Full-Induction Magnetohydrodynamics Solver for Liquid Metal Fusion Blankets in Vertex-CFD

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Hauptverfasser: Endeve, Eirik, Stefanski, Doug, Delchini, Marc-Olivier G., Slattery, Stuart, Hauck, Cory D., Turcksin, Bruno, Smolentsev, Sergey
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Endeve, Eirik
Stefanski, Doug
Delchini, Marc-Olivier G.
Slattery, Stuart
Hauck, Cory D.
Turcksin, Bruno
Smolentsev, Sergey
author_facet Endeve, Eirik
Stefanski, Doug
Delchini, Marc-Olivier G.
Slattery, Stuart
Hauck, Cory D.
Turcksin, Bruno
Smolentsev, Sergey
contents Multiphysics modeling of liquid metal fusion blankets, which produce tritium and convert energy of neutrons created via fusion reactions into heat, is crucial for predicting performance, ensuring structural integrity, and optimizing energy production. While traditional blanket modeling of liquid metal flows during normal steady operating conditions commonly employs the inductionless approximation of the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations, transient scenarios, when the plasma-confining magnetic field varies on millisecond time scales, require a full-induction MHD approach that dynamically evolves the magnetic field via the time-dependent induction equation. This paper presents the formulation, implementation, and initial verification of a full-induction MHD solver integrated within the open-source Vertex-CFD framework, which aims to achieve tight multiphysics coupling, a flexible software design enabling easy extension and addition of physics models, and performance portability across computing platforms. The solver utilizes finite element spatial discretization, implicit Runge--Kutta time integration, and an inexact Newton method to solve the resulting discrete nonlinear system, leveraging Trilinos packages for efficient computation. Verification against selected benchmark problems demonstrates accuracy and robustness of the solver. Furthermore, when the solver is applied to an idealized blanket model in 2.5D and full 3D, results obtained with Vertex-CFD are in good agreement with recently published quasi-2D simulations. These findings establish a computational foundation for future simulations of transient MHD phenomena in liquid metal blankets with Vertex-CFD, and open avenues for future extensions and performance optimizations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_15549
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A Full-Induction Magnetohydrodynamics Solver for Liquid Metal Fusion Blankets in Vertex-CFD
Endeve, Eirik
Stefanski, Doug
Delchini, Marc-Olivier G.
Slattery, Stuart
Hauck, Cory D.
Turcksin, Bruno
Smolentsev, Sergey
Computational Physics
Multiphysics modeling of liquid metal fusion blankets, which produce tritium and convert energy of neutrons created via fusion reactions into heat, is crucial for predicting performance, ensuring structural integrity, and optimizing energy production. While traditional blanket modeling of liquid metal flows during normal steady operating conditions commonly employs the inductionless approximation of the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations, transient scenarios, when the plasma-confining magnetic field varies on millisecond time scales, require a full-induction MHD approach that dynamically evolves the magnetic field via the time-dependent induction equation. This paper presents the formulation, implementation, and initial verification of a full-induction MHD solver integrated within the open-source Vertex-CFD framework, which aims to achieve tight multiphysics coupling, a flexible software design enabling easy extension and addition of physics models, and performance portability across computing platforms. The solver utilizes finite element spatial discretization, implicit Runge--Kutta time integration, and an inexact Newton method to solve the resulting discrete nonlinear system, leveraging Trilinos packages for efficient computation. Verification against selected benchmark problems demonstrates accuracy and robustness of the solver. Furthermore, when the solver is applied to an idealized blanket model in 2.5D and full 3D, results obtained with Vertex-CFD are in good agreement with recently published quasi-2D simulations. These findings establish a computational foundation for future simulations of transient MHD phenomena in liquid metal blankets with Vertex-CFD, and open avenues for future extensions and performance optimizations.
title A Full-Induction Magnetohydrodynamics Solver for Liquid Metal Fusion Blankets in Vertex-CFD
topic Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.15549