Finite element models for superconductors: challenges for large-scale systems

Given the recent improvements of their physical properties, high-temperature superconductors are increasingly used in many applications ranging from particle accelerators and fusion magnets, to electrical machines and power cables. Accurate numerical models of their electric, magnetic, and thermal responses is therefore essential for the design of efficient systems. Specific issues are the strongly nonlinear electric response of superconductors and the multiscale component of superconducting systems. As a result, detailed models of these systems are computationally challenging. In this talk, recent developments in finite element models for strongly pinned superconductors will be described in the context of the open-source toolkit Life-HTS. More specifically, the choice of a formulation to tackle the strongly nonlinear electric response of the superconducting materials will be discussed, together with different strategies to reduce the size of the numerical problem, either when symmetries can be exploited or for addressing the multiscale characteristics of large-scale systems.