Two-dimensional numerical simulation of tungsten melting in exposure to pulsed electron beam

Melting of the surface of tungsten exposed to a pulsed electron beam has been simulated numerically. Comparison of the experimentally measured at BETA facility time dependence of the radius of the molten region with the calculated data has shown that the surface cooling caused by evaporation has a significant effect on the temperature distribution and melting of the material at sufficiently high densities of the surface heating power. This result validates the created theoretical model of the tungsten melting and evaporation in exposure to a pulsed electron beam. The studied mechanism of the limitation of the surface temperature is different from the well-studied vapor shielding. The presented model is a step to correct interpretation of the erosion caused by the melt motion and splashing in exposure to the ITER-relevant pulsed heating by electron beam.