Structural Analysis of the NCSX Vacuum Vessel
Authors: Fred Dahlgren, Art Brooks, Paul Goranson, Mike Cole, and Peter Titus
Date of PPPL Report: September 2004
Presented at: the Sixteenth ANS Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy, 14 - 16 September 2004, Madison, Wisconson. To be published in Fusion Science Technology.
The NCSX (National Compact Stellarator Experiment) vacuum vessel has a rather unique shape being very closely coupled topologically to the three-fold stellerator symmetry of the plasma it contains. This shape does not permit the use of the common forms of pressure vessel analysis and necessitates the reliance on finite element analysis. The current paper describes the NCSX vacuum vessel stress analysis including external pressure, thermal, and electro-magnetic loading from internal plasma disruptions and bakeout temperatures of up to 400 degrees centigrade. Buckling and dynamic loading conditions are also considered.