Vapor Shielding of Solid Targets Exposed to High Heat Flux

The thickness of Tungsten monoblocks composing the future ITER divertor is supposed to be 8 mm only. Therefore, severe erosion caused by high heat fluxes during transients, such as Type I ELMs and disruptions, is a limiting factor to PFCs lifespan. Under the influence of extreme heat fluxes expected during ITER transients serious surface modification of the Tungsten monoblocks is anticipated. Moreover, melting of a thin surface layer is likely to happen. Melt motion contributes seriously to the material erosion. The other sources of erosion are melt splashing, in the form of droplet ejection, and evaporation. These mechanics lead to a cold dense secondary plasma region formation near the irradiated surface. Intense re-radiation of the incoming plasma flow energy in the secondary plasma layer results in a significant reduction of the heat flux reaching the target surface. Accounting for this vapor shielding effect is essential to estimate the surface erosion under influence of intense plasma flow properly. In this paper a simple model capable of reproducing one of the key features of vapor shielding, namely the saturation of the energy absorbed by the target, is proposed. This model allows for an approximate analytical solution that indicates parameters the saturation energy depends on. The model is validated against the experimental data obtained at MK-200 pulse plasma accelerator.