Investigation of Electromagnetic Sub-Modeling Procedure for the Breeding Blanket System

Abstract

The outcome of the electromagnetic (EM) analyses carried out during the DEMO pre-conceptual phase demonstrated that EM loads are relevant for the structural assessment of the breeding blanket (BB) and, in particular, for the definition of the boundary conditions at the attachment system with the vacuum vessel. However, within the scope of the previous campaign, the results obtained using simplified models only give a rough estimation of the EM loads inside the BB structure. This kind of data has been considered suitable for a preliminary assessment of the BB segments, but it is not considered representative as input for structural analysis in which a detailed BB internal structure (that considers cooling channels, thin plates, etc.) is analyzed. Indeed, mesh dimensions and computational time usually limit EM models that simulate a whole DEMO sector. In many cases, these constraints lead to a strong homogenization of the BB structure, not allowing the calculation of the EM loads on the internal structure with high precision. To overcome such limitations, an EM sub-modeling procedure was investigated using ANSYS EMAG. The sub-modeling feasibility is studied using the rigid boundary condition method. This method consists of running a global “coarse” mesh, including all the conducting structures that can have some impact on the component under investigation and inputting the obtained results on the detailed sub-model of the structure of interest as time-varying boundary conditions. The procedure was tested on the BB internal structure, taking as reference a DEMO 2017 baseline sector and the helium cooled pebble bed (HCPB) concept with its complex internal structure made by pins. The obtained results show that the method is also reliable in the presence of non-linear magnetic behaviour. The methodology is proposed for application in future BB system assessments.