Influence of shielding plates on dynamical response of HL-2M vacuum vessel due to electromagnetic force during a plasma disruption

Purpose - In this paper, numerical modelling and dynamical response analysis were performed for the HL-2M vacuum vessel (VV) and shielding plates (SPs) during a plasma disruption by using an updated ANSYS parametric design language (APDL) code developed by the authors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the SPs on the dynamical response of VV owing to a transient electromagnetic (EM) force and to optimize the design of SPs in view of the minimization of the structural dynamic response. Design/methodology/approach - The Lagrangian approach, i.e. the moving coordinate scheme developed by the authors, was updated to tackle the EM-mechanical coupling effect in the dynamic response analysis of the VV-SPs system due to the transient EM force during plasma disruptions. To optimize the structural design of HL-2M SPs, the influence of the key parameters of SPs, i.e., the side length, thickness and material properties, was clarified on the basis of the numerical results and an optimized design of SPs was obtained. Findings - The updated APDL code of the Lagrangian approach is efficient for the transient dynamical response analysis of the VV-SPs system owing to the EM force. The SP of a smaller side length, larger thickness tungsten material better mitigates the dynamical response of the VV-SPs system. Originality/value - The Lagrangian approach was updated for the EM-mechanical coupling dynamical response analysis of the VV-SPs system, and the influence of the SP parameters on the dynamical response of the VV-SPs systemof HL-2M Tokamak was clarified.