Modeling and Simulation of Fusion Reactor Engineering

Fusion reactor engineering stands at the forefront of seeking renewable, sustainable, and efficient energy. Fusion energy, in contrast to fission, produces minimal radioactive waste and uses abundant fuel sources, such as deuterium from seawater. Despite decades of research, achieving controllable fusion presents significant technical difficulties, particularly the need to sustain extremely high temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius. Advancements in modeling and simulation allow scientists and engineers to predict plasma behavior accurately, optimize confinement techniques such as magnetic confinement geometries, develop models for efficient tritium breeding in deuterium-tritium fuel scenarios, and develop materials resilient to the extreme conditions of fusion environments. As experimental reactors like ITER move toward net energy production and commercial designs aim to generate electricity from fusion, sophisticated modeling tools are indispensable for addressing the inherent multiphysics challenges within fusion reactors. This Research Topic is focused on state-of-the-art advances in the modeling and simulation of fusion reactor engineering. This Research Topic will highlight the unique computational challenges present in fusion environments and covers a range of reactor designs, including tokamaks, stellarators, and inertial confinement systems. It will also explore the importance of coupling multiple physics for the accurate representation of fusion systems.Researchers are invited to share breakthroughs in the field, such as in plasma-material interactions, neutronics, magnetohydrodynamics, thermal hydraulics, structural mechanics, tritium transport, and molecular dynamics. By bringing together these advancements, this Research Topic will provide invaluable insights into the future of the advanced computational tools needed for fusion reactor engineering, thus paving the way for practical and economically viable fusion energy deployment.We welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Development of novel modeling and simulation methods for multiphysics coupling and advancement for fusion systems, e.g., machine learning acceleration techniques• Validation of modeling and simulation of fusion systems against experimental data• Concurrent development of modeling and simulation frameworks along with physical fusion system design workflow• Optimization and improvement of existing tools, methods, and/or physical devices to address current challenges and limitations. Topic editors: Iole Palermo, Federico Cipolletta Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/77710/modeling-and-simulation-of-fusion-reactor-engineering