Particle-in-Cell simulations of intra-ELM and inter-ELM ion impact energy-angle distributions using the hPIC2 code and coupling to SOLPS, F-TRIDYN, and Xolotl

In this work, we discuss simulations from the hPIC2 Particle-in-Cell code [Meredith, Comput. Phys. Commun. 283, 2023] which are integrated into a larger workflow with the SOLPS, F-TRIDYN, and Xolotl codes for modeling plasma-surface interactions in tokamaks during ELMs. This integration replaces the previous method of estimating ion impact energies and angles with analytical formulas with a more rigorous PIC-based calculation, subsequently improving the sputtering yield and reflection coefficient calculations. Two scenarios are simulated, one with intra-ELM conditions and one with inter-ELM conditions, with species parameters given by SOLPS. In both cases, it is found that the most probable impact energies and angles calculated by hPIC2 are smaller than predicted by the previous analytical estimate formulas. This corresponds with different sputtering yield and reflection coefficient estimates. Additionally, explanations for the expected discrepancies between the hPIC2 results and the analytical estimates are discussed.