Mathematical modeling of thermoelectric current suppression outside the melt region of a fusion reactor divertor material

A mathematical model of thermoelectric currents in a heated material taking into account a magnetic field is presented. More specifically, we consider a model of current distribution in a tungsten sample and a vapor layer produced when the sample surface is heated by an electron beam. The model is based on solving electrodynamic equations in cylindrical coordinates. By solving a model problem, it is shown that a magnetic field introduced into the model suppresses thermoelectric currents outside the melt region. The model parameters are taken from experiments at the Beam of Electrons for materials Test Applications (BETA) facility created at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.