Dynamic structural analysis of a fast shutter with a pneumatic actuator

Highlights: ► The dynamical simulations of cCXRS shutter with the use of the LS-DYNA explicit solver are presented and discussed. ► The results of the implicit and explicit solvers are compared; their pros and cons are pointed out. ► The simplified LS-DYNA shutter model for parametric studies has been built up and benchmarked against the full model. ► Oscillations of the shutter arms for different actuator flood times were studied. -- Abstract: Fast shutters can play important role for the ITER diagnostics. They protect diagnostic mirrors, especially the first ones closest to the plasma, between measurements, during dwell time and baking. In a nominal mode, as it is assumed, for example, for the ITER upper port plug no. 3 diagnostics, its shutter stays open ∼1 s and closed ∼21 s. The principal idea of the shutter concept is its ability to make fast transitions between the open and closed positions within fractions of second. A pneumatic actuator produces a pressure force to open or close the shutter. Due to the fast transient nature of the shutter operation, complicated by the parts' impact interaction, the FE codes using the explicit time integration scheme have an advantage over the implicit ones. The shutter operation is modeled using the explicit solver. Since the shutter dynamic behavior strongly depends on the actuator flood time, different time profiles of the actuator pressure rise (drop) has been verified, including a fast transient with duration of ∼0.1 s. The results of the implicit and explicit solvers are compared. Their pros and cons are pointed out. The system damping, estimations of energy loss and ways to specify damping in FE models are discussed in the paper