SBIR-STTR Award

Research in fusion energy is becoming increasing reliant on large-scale plasma simulations for both scientific understanding and hardware design. In particular, the edge physics simulation projects, currently being undertaken in the US and international communities, could benefit greatly from standardized benchmarks. One of the few quantitative ways to rigorously benchmark turbulence codes, with each other and with a universal standard, involves the measurement of the linear growth rate of unstable modes that emerge from a known, established equilibrium configuration. This project will develop such a standard, namely, an axisymmetric, toroidal geometry, linear-edge physics code suite. This suite, which will consist of a new eigenvalue code plus the recently revised BOUT code, will be a community wide benchmarking/verification tool for nonlinear edge plasma simulation codes. The suite also will have stand-alone uses for the analysis of experiments and for the theoretical study of edge plasma regimes. Phase I will demonstrate feasibility with respect to: (1) numerical implementation of the 2D eigenvalue problem in mixed magnetic topology, (2) the development of methods to incorporate kinetic physics, and (3) benchmarking tests with the BOUT code.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
Limited funding available for edge-turbulence simulation projects in the US has resulted in even more limited resources being available for verification and benchmarking. The linear code suite should fill a unique niche in the fusion energy program

Research in fusion energy is becoming increasing reliant on large-scale plasma simulation for both scientific understanding and hardware design. The accuracy and reliability of software codes must be insured through rigorous verification and validation. The edge physics simulation projects currently being undertaken in the US and international communities could benefit greatly from standardized benchmarks. Measurement of the linear growth rate of unstable modes emerging from a known, established equilibrium configuration provides one of the few quantitative ways of rigorously benchmarking turbulence codes with each other and with a universal standard. This project will develop a suit of such standards. The proposed suite, will be a community wide benchmarking/verification tool for nonlinear edge plasma simulation codes, and will have stand-alone uses for the analysis of experiments and for the theoretical study of edge plasmas. The phase I project: (i) developed a new prototype code, (ii) carried out extensive benchmarking tests of the code, and (iii) demonstrated methods for the incorporation of kinetic physics extensions to the fluid model. The Phase II project will complete the development of the code, document standardized test suites, and perform physics applications and dedicated benchmarking with the two community nonlinear kinetic edge codes.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
Limited funding available to the development teams for the edge turbulence simulation projects in the US has resulted in even less resources being available for verification and benchmarking studies. The proposed linear code suite is applicable to verification work as well as to experimental modeling and theoretical studies