Numerical Analysis of Fracture Behavior of HL-2M Vacuum Vessel Subjected to Electromagnetic Force During Plasma Disruption

If an initial crack exists in the vacuum vessel (VV) of HL-2M Tokamak system, the flow of the eddy current induced by the plasma disruption (PD) would be disturbed, and the current density would increase at the crack tip. Therefore, serious stress concentration would happen at the crack tip and may lead to crack propagation. To confirm the structural integrity of HL-2M VV is assured against serious PD, the fracture behavior of the VV of HL-2M Tokamak system with an initial crack under PD is studied. A numerical model based on finite-element method and linear fracture mechanics is developed to calculate the stress near the crack due to electromagnetic force in the VV. Stress intensity factor at the crack tips of different cases is evaluated to analyze the trend of crack propagation.