Volumetric coupling of OpenFOAM for multi‐physics simulations of fusion reactor blankets (A. Sircar)
Channel: preCICE Coupling
Date: 2022-10-26

Pre-recorded talk for the 3rd preCICE Workshop, February 21-24, 2022, organized by the University of Stuttgart (online). https://precice.org/precice-workshop-2022.html

Authors: Arpan Sircar
Affiliation: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA

preCICE was mainly developed for surface coupling of multiple codes. In the present work, the capability of volumetric coupling using preCICE’s OpenFOAM adapter is tested. This is performed using cell‐level interpolations and operator‐splitting of OpenFOAM solvers. The sensitivity to different mapping schemes, time interpolation windows and acceleration techniques are studied. This is primarily a work in progress to ascertain whether preCICE’s capabilities can be used out of the box to perform volumetric coupling. While current tests are only limited to OpenFOAM solver, coupling with other home‐grown and commercial codes such as Diablo for structural simulations and MCNP/Shift for neutronic simulations are underway.

The broader goal of the current project is to develop an integrated simulation environment for the coupled neutronic, thermal‐hydraulic, and plasma‐physics simulation of plasma, vacuum vessel, and blanket of conceptual fusion reactors.