Fluid dynamics simulations of melting and crater formation at the surface of a copper cathode exposed to high plasma heat fluxes and pressure gradients are presented. The predicted deformations of the free surface and the temperature evolution inside the metal are benchmarked against previously published simulations. Despite the physical model being entirely hydrodynamic and ignoring a variety of plasma–surface interaction processes, the results are also shown to be remarkably consistent with the predictions of more advanced models, as well as experimental data. This provides a sound basis for future applications of similar models to studies of transient surface melting and droplet ejection from metallic plasma-facing components after disruptions.

提出了暴露于高等离子热通量和压力梯度的铜阴极表面熔化和火山口形成的流体动力学模拟。自由表面的预测变形和金属内部的温度演变与先前发布的模拟进行了比较。尽管物理模型完全是流体动力学的，并且忽略了各种等离子体-表面相互作用的过程，但结果也显示出与更高级模型的预测以及实验数据非常一致。这为类似模型的未来应用研究提供了可靠的基础，该模型可用于研究破坏后金属等离子表面组件的瞬时表面熔化和液滴喷射。