An electromagnetic finite element particle code on an unstructured grid

Conference · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

OSTI ID:5689511

Ambrosiano, J; Lohner, R

The need to perform plasma simulations in bounded regions of possibly complicated shape has generated a great deal of interest in nontraditional formulations of particle codes. Well-established methods based on rectangular Cartesian grids are too inflexible to fit complex geometries well. Some of the unconventional approaches taken thus far include curvilinear coordinates, finite volume formulations and finite element methods. One of the most promising new strategies, in terms of geometrical flexibility, is to use unstructured grids. A structured grid connects each node to a fixed number of neighboring nodes. This makes it easy to specify the relationship between a node and its neighbors, but also makes it difficult to map such a grid into complicated geometries without patching several grids together into a composite. In contrast, one may form an unstructured grid by placing nodes anywhere in the domain as required by the shape of the boundary or the demands of the calculation. There are two obvious difficulties that occur when one abandons structured grids: solving the field equations, and locating the particles. In this paper we describe work in progress at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to develop a two-dimensional electromagnetic particle code on an unstructured grid. We discuss methods for obtaining the fields and for tracing the particles. 9 refs., 1 fig.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5689511
• Report Number(s): UCRL-101322; CONF-890931-8; ON: DE89017532
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700108* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Wave Phenomena
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990220 -- Computers
Computerized Models
& Computer Programs-- (1987-1989)
COORDINATES
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
EQUATIONS
FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
MAXWELL EQUATIONS
MESH GENERATION
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
PLASMA SIMULATION
SIMULATION
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS