Numerical analysis of the pressure gradient driven MHD flow in magnetically confined plasma using OpenFOAM

Abstract

Numerical simulations of magnetohydrodinamical (MHD) flow of a magnetically confined plasma in a cylindrical geometry have been performed. The externally imposed magnetic field is formed in a helical configuration which is composed of axial and poloidal magnetic fields. The parametric scan of the magnetic fields shows that the intensity of the MHD instability is positively correlated with the intensity of the poloidal magnetic field. Furthermore, a preliminary study of the effects of a time-independent pressure profile in the velocity equation has been performed. The presence of the pressure-gradient term may make the plasma instability more complex