Work

The CIRCE Code: Cast3M Investigation and Research for Coils Mechanical Evaluation

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The recent success of demonstration coils using HTS confirms the promising application of these materials for toroidal field (TF) coils in high-field fusion machines. Potential magnetic fields at around 20 T on the conductor claim to achieve the required performance for commercial reactors with fusion power scaling as${{P}_f} \propto B_t^4$under several assumptions. However, this usually involves increased engineering challenges to withstand much higher mechanical loads scaling quadratically with the magnetic field. This paper presents a new mechanical toolbox, named CIRCE: a highly configurable code featuring plane stress analysis and 3D beam analysis, with a case study of tokamak TF coils under in-plane and out-of-plane loads.

Source: IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

DOI: 10.1109/tasc.2025.3549395

Authors: B. Boudes, A. Torre, F. Nunio, C. Nguyen Thanh Dao

Institutions: Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, CEA Cadarache, Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers

Language: English

Topic: Superconducting Materials and Applications

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche

Award: Compact fusion power plant based on high temperature superconductors