A wall-aligned grid generator for 3D non-linear simulations of MHD instabilities in tokamak plasmas
Typically applied to non-linear simulations of MHD instabilities relevant to magnetically confined fusion, the JOREK code was originally developed with a 2D grid composed of isoparametric bi-cubic Bezier finite elements, that are aligned to the magnetic equilibrium of tokamak plasmas. To improve the applicability of these simulations, the grid-generator has been generalised to provide a robust extension method, which allows the simulations of arbitrary domains of tokamak vacuum vessels. This technique also requires the adaptation of boundary conditions along the edge of the new domain. Demonstrative non-linear simulations of plasma edge instabilities are presented to validate the robustness of the new grid, and future potential physics applications for tokamak plasmas are discussed.