Thermo-mechanical design of the extraction grids for RF negative ion source at HUST

•An extraction system with cooling channels has been designed for HUST negative ion source.•Corresponding heat loads onto three grids has been used in thermo-mechanical analysis.•The analysis results could be very useful for driving the engineering design.

Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) is developing a small radio frequency negative ion source experimental setup to promote research on neutral beam injection ion sources. The extraction system for the negative ion source is the key component to obtain the negative ions. The extraction system is composed of three grids: the plasma grid, the extraction grid and the grounded grid. Each grid is impacted by different heat loads. As the grids have to fulfil specific requirements regarding ion extraction, beam optics, and thermo-mechanical issues, grid cooling systems have been included for ensuring reliable operation. This paper focuses on the thermo-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical design of the grids. Finite element calculations have been carried out to analyse the temperature and deformation of the grids under heat loads using the fluid dynamics code CFX. Based on these results, the cooling circuit design and cooling parameters are optimised to satisfy the grid requirements.