BOUT++: Recent and current developments

Abstract

BOUT++ is a 3D nonlinear finite-difference plasma simulation code, capable of solving quite general systems of PDEs, but targeted particularly on studies of the edge region of tokamak plasmas. BOUT++ is publicly available, and has been adopted by a growing number of researchers worldwide. Here we present improvements which have been made to the code since its original release, both in terms of structure and its capabilities. Some recent applications of these methods are reviewed, and areas of active development are discussed. We also present algorithms and tools which have been developed to enable creation of inputs from analytic expressions and experimental data, and for processing and visualisation of output results. This includes a new tool Hypnotoad for the creation of meshes from experimental equilibria. Algorithms have been implemented in BOUT++ to solve a range of linear algebraic problems encountered in the simulation of reduced MHD and gyro-fluid models: A preconditioning scheme is presented which enables the plasma potential to be calculated efficiently using iterative methods supplied by the PETSc library, without invoking the Boussinesq approximation. Scaling studies are also performed of a linear solver used as part of physics-based preconditioning to accelerate the convergence of implicit time-integration schemes.

16 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Journal of Plasma Physics

References in corpus (4)

• BOUT++: a framework for parallel plasma fluid simulations
• Characterization of 3D filament dynamics in a MAST SOL fluxtube geometry
• Non-local approach to kinetic effects on parallel transport in fluid models of the scrape-off layer
• Energy dynamics in a simulation of LAPD turbulence

Cited by in corpus (22)

• Hermes: Global plasma edge fluid turbulence simulations
• The GBS code for the self-consistent simulation of plasma turbulence and kinetic neutral dynamics in the tokamak boundary
• Gyrokinetic continuum simulation of turbulence in a straight open-field-line plasma
• Investigation of the Effect of Resistivity on Scrape Off Layer Filaments using Three Dimensional Simulations
• Verification of BOUT++ by the Method of Manufactured Solutions
• Investigation of turbulent transport regimes in the tokamak edge by using two-fluid simulations
• Reproducibility, accuracy and performance of the Feltor code and library on parallel computer architectures
• The role of particle, energy and momentum losses in 1D simulations of divertor detachment
• Theory-based scaling laws of near and far scrape-off layer widths in single-null L-mode discharges
• Drift reduced Landau fluid model for magnetized plasma turbulence simulations in BOUT++ framework
• Fluid simulations of plasma filaments in stellarator geometries with BSTING
• The effects of shape and amplitude on the velocity of scrape-off layer filaments
• Numerical investigation of isolated filament motion in a realistic tokamak geometry
• The role of noise in PIC and Vlasov simulations of the Buneman instability
• Efficient kinetic Lattice Boltzmann simulation of three-dimensional Hall-MHD Turbulence
• Influence of plasma background on 3D scrape-off layer filaments
• Streamline integration as a method for structured grid generation in X-point geometry
• Effect of In-Plane Shear Flow on the Magnetic Island Coalescence Instability
• Comparing Two- and Three-Dimensional Models of Scrape-Off-Layer Turbulent Transport
• Dynamics of scrape-off layer filaments in detached conditions
• Conservative formulation of the drift-reduced fluid plasma model
• Scaling of reconnection parameters in magnetic island coalescence: Role of in-plane shear flow