Guillaume Chiavassa

Penalization modeling of a limiter in the Tokamak edge plasma

An original penalization method is applied to model the interaction of magnetically confined plasma with limiter in the frame of a minimal transport model for ionic density and parallel momentum. The limiter is considered as a pure particle sink for the plasma and consequently the density and the momentum are enforced to be zero inside. Comparisons of the numerical results with one-dimensional analytical solutions show a very good agreement. In particular, the penalization scheme followed in this paper tends to ensure an almost sonic plasma condition at the plasma-obstacle interface, Bohm-like criterion, with relatively weak dependence on the target Mach number profile within the obstacle. The new system being solved in a periodic obstacle free domain, an efficient pseudo-spectral algorithm based on a Fast Fourier transform is also proposed, and associated with an exponential filtering of the unphysical oscillations due to Gibbs phenomenon. Finally, the efficiency of the method is illustrated by investigating the flow spreading from the plasma core to the Scrape-Off Layer at the wall in a two-dimensional system with one, then two neighboring limiters.

Wave simulation in 2D heterogeneous transversely isotropic porous media with fractional attenuation: A Cartesian grid approach

A time-domain numerical modeling of transversely isotropic Biot poroelastic waves is proposed in two dimensions. The viscous dissipation occurring in the pores is described using the dynamic permeability model developed by Johnson-Koplik-Dashen (JKD). Some of the coefficients in the Biot-JKD model are proportional to the square root of the frequency. In the time-domain, these coefficients introduce shifted fractional derivatives of order 1/2, involving a convolution product. Based on a diffusive representation, the convolution kernel is replaced by a finite number of memory variables that satisfy local-in-time ordinary differential equations, resulting in the Biot-DA (diffusive approximation) model. The properties of both the Biot-JKD and the Biot-DA models are analyzed: hyperbolicity, decrease of energy, dispersion. To determine the coefficients of the diffusive approximation, two approaches are analyzed: Gaussian quadratures and optimization methods in the frequency range of interest. The nonlinear optimization is shown to be the better way of determination. A splitting strategy is then applied to approximate numerically the Biot-DA equations. The propagative part is discretized using a fourth-order ADER scheme on a Cartesian grid, whereas the diffusive part is solved exactly. An immersed interface method is implemented to take into account heterogeneous media on a Cartesian grid and to discretize the jump conditions at interfaces. Numerical experiments are presented. Comparisons with analytical solutions show the efficiency and the accuracy of the approach, and some numerical experiments are performed to investigate wave phenomena in complex media, such as multiple scattering across a set of random scatterers.

Nonlinear waves in solids with slow dynamics: an internal-variable model

In heterogeneous solids such as rocks and concrete, the speed of sound diminishes with the strain amplitude of a dynamic loading (softening). This decrease, known as ‘slow dynamics’, occurs at time scales larger than the period of the forcing. Also, hysteresis is observed in the steady-state response. The phenomenological model by Vakhnenko et al. (2004 Phys. Rev. E 70, 015602. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevE.70.015602)) is based on a variable that describes the softening of the material. However, this model is one dimensional and it is not thermodynamically admissible. In the present article, a three-dimensional model is derived in the framework of the finite-strain theory. An internal variable that describes the softening of the material is introduced, as well as an expression of the specific internal energy. A mechanical constitutive law is deduced from the Clausius–Duhem inequality. Moreover, a family of evolution equations for the internal variable is proposed. Here, an evolution equation with one relaxation time is chosen. By construction, this new model of the continuum is thermodynamically admissible and dissipative (inelastic). In the case of small uniaxial deformations, it is shown analytically that the model reproduces qualitatively the main features of real experiments.