Research Highlights in the SciDAC-5 Partnership for Advanced Simulation of RF - Plasma - Material Interactions

The primary challenge associated with the use of radio-frequency (RF) actuators in fusion pilot plants, in all frequency regimes, is their interaction with the scrape-off layer (SOL) plasma and plasma-facing components (PFC's). Collaborating with researchers from the ASCR community, we have achieved significant advances in the development of a hierarchy of predictive models for the interaction of ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) power with PFC's and we have extended our models for wave propagation and absorption to both mirror (WHAM) and stellarator (W7-X) devices. We are developing a model that combines a fluid transport solver and an electromagnetic field solver in order to investigate how ICRF power interacts with and modifies the far SOL. These physics models are being implemented in computational frameworks in both high-fidelity form and as machine learning based surrogates, in anticipation of their use in a Whole Facility Model. We shall report on highlights from these areas.