STELLOPT

State-of-the-art stellarator optimization code

COILOPT++

This code optimizes a finite set of coils given b-normal on a plasma surface. <<toc>>


Theory

The COILOPT++ utilizes Levenberg-Marquardt, Genetic, Simulated Annealing, and Particle Swarm type optimizers to minimize the residual normal field on a plasma surface. It's most widely used mode of operation is one in which the normal field on an equilibrium boundary is minimized through variation of coil shapes and surfaces. The plasma normal field is calculated by the BNORM code. COILOPT++ then utilizes a B-spline representation of coil traces on a winding surface to calculate the vacuum field. In it's most general form the coil geometry, winding surface, coil currents, and auxiliary vacuum coil currents may be varied to minimize the normal field on a plasma boundary. The code is currently interfaced to the VMEC code.


Compilation

This is a C++ code which requires the netCDF, the GSL and SILO libraries. Compilation is straightforward and handled by the include makefile.


Input Data Format

The code takes as input a text file which defines the location of other files and how the code will operate.

#!C++
cwsfilename[0] = cws  // Coil winding surface file (multiple may be specified)
modsplinename[0] = fd.spline  // Modular coil spline file (number matches surface)
Bmatch.woutname = wout.vmec_test // Text VMEC file name
Bmatch.cdfname = wout_vmec_test.nc // netCDF VMEC file name
Bmatch.bnormname = bnorm.vmec_test // Normal field file (as calculated by BNORM code)
Bmatch.bgridname = bgrid.dat // Normal field file (B on grid?)
Bmatch.beqoutname = b_norm_eq.dat // Equilibrium normal field grid file (produced by COILOPT++)
Bmatch.bcoiloutprefix = b_norm_final // Prefix for final coil normal field (produced by COILOPT++)
tvinname = tv.in
tvoutprefix = tv
xyzname = coilxyz.dat
uvroot = uv
xyzfized[0] = coils.machine_aux // Auxilliary coils file (one for each auxilliary current group)
Bmatch.normalize = 1; // On by default.
Bmatch.nu = 16; // Number of pts in u direction at which to compare
                           // B_normal_plasma with B_normal_coils
                           // Note: if this is left at zero, it will be reset to
                           // 4 times the maximum poloidal mode number in the
                           // Fourier expansion of the plasma field.
Bmatch.nv = 32; // Number of pts in v direction at which to compare
                            // B_normal_plasma with B_normal_coils
                           // Note: if this is left at zero, it will be reset to
                           // 4 times the maximum toroidal mode number in the
                           // Fourier expansion of the plasma field.

ncwss = 1;      // Just one winding surface by default.

Ip_targ = 0.0;  // Use plasma equilibrium value by default.
curscale[0] = 1.0 // Rescale current by specified amount (number matches surface)
targlenfactor[0] = 0.0; // coil length to target
lmodcur[0] = 1 // Vary coil current
lmodgeom = 1 // Vary coil geometry
lconstrainIp = 1
curscal[iws] = 1.0;   // Rescale currents by specified amount
targlenfactor[iws] = 0.0; // Make coils as short as possible
lmodcur[iws] = 1;
lmodgeom = 1;
lconstrainIp[iws] = 0;
lsamecur[iws] = 0;
sadcircvurat[iws] = 0.0;
curvar = 0.04;
curautoscal = 1; // Rescale currents to match target R BT at plasma surface
bgtfR0B0 = 0.0;  // Note: I_TF = 5e+06 * bgtfR0B0
nfixedgeom = 0;  // By default, don't read in fixed unsplined coilsets.
lccfixed[0] = 0;    // By default, fixed geom. coil current can vary.
lverbose = 0;


nseg_curv = 400;
nseg_coil = 100;
dphiguess = 0.1;
maxcurv = -0.105; // Set negative to use constant coil spacing (faster)
smartcc = 0;
minccsep = 0.0; // No penalty for touching coils
powccsep = 2.0;
ssexcfracw = 0.1;
  for (int icoil=0; icoil<MAXSC; icoil++) { // No bounds on saddle pos. by default
  sadmodl[icoil] = settings.sadmodr[icoil] = -1;
  sadrectumin[icoil] = settings.sadrectvmin[icoil] = 0.0;
  sadrectumax[icoil] = settings.sadrectvmax[icoil] = 1.0;
  }
sadmodws = 0;
sadmodwf = 0.04;
sadrectpfw = 0.02;

  // chi_sq weights for cost function
weights.bnorm = 0.0;
weights.bmax = 1.0;
weights.Ipol = 0.0;
weights.curvature = 0.0;
weights.length = 0.0;
weights.torsion = 0.0;
weights.modtorvar = 0.0;
weights.coilcoil = 0.0;
weights.selfint = 0.0;
weights.ssexclusion = 0.0;
weights.sadmod = 0.0;
weights.sadrect = 0.0;
weights.sadcirc = 0.0;

  // DE Optimizer settings (see comments in diffEvol.C for further explanation)
DE.xtype = rnd; // Use "rnd" to choose random population vectors to breed new
                           // ones to try; use "bst" to use the best current population
                           // vector as the source.
DE.ndifvecs = 1;  // Number of vectors pairs to subtract to produce new guess
DE.F  = 0.4;  // Amplification factor for differential variation
DE.CR = 0.95; // Likelihood of using new vs old source in constructing trial
DE.atol = 1.0e-6; // Absolute convergence tolerance
DE.A = 1;DE.B = 4; // Population size = A*(search vector length) + B
DE.NPmax = 40; // Population upper limit. Use -1 for no upper limit on pop. size
DE.maxgen = 0;
DE.savefreq = 100;
DE.ngenconv = settings.DE.savefreq; // Quit if neither the best nor the worst
                                // population vector has improved in ngenconv generations.

  // SA Optimizer settings
SA.llog = 1;  // Turn on logging of annealing progress
SA.noTmin = 1;  // Turn off minimum temperature convergence criterion
SA.nvfrac = 0.5;  // Size of subset relative to total vector
SA.n_uphill_ini = 50; // Number of uphill steps to use in estimating T_0
SA.rostep = 0.25; // Initial step size as a fraction of total range
SA.probok = 0.5; // Initial probability of accepting an uphill move
SA.N1 = 12;  // num_accept < N1*len in temp stage end test
SA.N2 = 100; // num_try < N2*len in temp stage end test
SA.rmxtmp = 0.9; // Maximum temperature reduction factor between stages
SA.rmitmp = 0.1; // Minimum temperature reduction factor between stages
SA.ratmax = 0.2; // Threshold acceptance ratio for expanding step size
SA.extstp = 2.0; // Step size expansion factor
SA.ratmin = 0.05; // Threshold acceptance ratio for shrinking step size
SA.shrstp = 0.5; // Step size shrinking factor
SA.nodocr = 0;   // Stopping crit. for successive temp stages w/o downhill mv
SA.nfmax = 5000; // Maximum fcn evals per vector element
SA.epsrel = 1.0e-6; // smallest allowed shrink fraction for step vector
SA.epsabs = 1.0e-8; // smallest allowed value of step vector component

  // PS Optimizer settings
PS.poprat = 2.75; // Ratio of particle number to degrees of freedom
PS.omega = 0.5;   // Inertia factor
PS.phip = 1.0;    // Weight for vector toward personal best
PS.phig = 1.0;    // Weight for vector toward global best
PS.convtol = 2.0e-7;   // Mean speed rel to min bounds indicating convergence
PS.maxiter = 0;        // Max number of iterations to try
PS.updatefreq = 65536; // How often to generate checkpoint files

  // LM Optimizer settings (library defaults)
  // See lmmin.h for explanation of what these settings control.
LM.ftol = lm_control_double.ftol;
LM.xtol = lm_control_double.xtol;
LM.gtol = lm_control_double.gtol;
LM.epsilon = lm_control_double.epsilon;
LM.stepbound = lm_control_double.stepbound;
LM.maxit = lm_control_double.maxcall;
LM.printflags = lm_control_double.printflags;
LM.savefreq = lm_control_double.savefreq;

  // mgrid file settings
mgrid.lmgrid = 0; // Generate mgrid file?
mgrid.ir = 51;    // Number of major radius zones in mgrid mesh
mgrid.jz = 51;    // Number of vertical zones in mgrid mesh
mgrid.kp = 12;    // Number of toroidal planes in mgrid mesh

  // saddle insertion settings
saddleinsert.laddsaddle = 0;  // Add a pair of saddle coils? 1 for yes
saddleinsert.surfid = 0;      // Index of winding surface to add them to
saddleinsert.ncoefs = 32;     // Number of spline coefficients in coil
saddleinsert.u0 = 0.2;        // Center u value of coil
saddleinsert.v0 = 0.2;        // Center v value of coil
saddleinsert.r_u = 0.05;      // u radius of coil
saddleinsert.r_v = 0.05;      // v radius of coil
saddleinsert.current = 0.0;   // counterclockwise coil current in amps
saddleinsert.lmodgeom = 1;    // Allow new saddle geometry to vary

Execution

The code is executed by passing the input parameters file to the code as such:

>> mpirun -np 64 ~/bin/xcoilopt++ -f coilopt_params

Output Data Format

The code outputs various files based on the type of optimization preformed, while certain specific files are output no matter the optimization type.

The equilibrium normal field for the equilibrium, initial configuration, and final configuration will be output in the b_norm_eq.dat, b_norm_init.dat, and b_norm_final.dat files. The have similar formats with the first line specifying the number of toroidal and poloidal data points, and a series of datapoints. The datapoints are listed as u, v, b_normal (where u and v run from 0 to 1)

76    34
0.000000e+00    0.000000e+00    0.000000e+00
1.315789e-02    0.000000e+00    5.538695e-03
2.631579e-02    0.000000e+00    1.121997e-02
3.947368e-02    0.000000e+00    1.728472e-02
5.263158e-02    0.000000e+00    2.369976e-02
6.578947e-02    0.000000e+00    2.987731e-02
7.894737e-02    0.000000e+00    3.568746e-02
       .              .              .
       .              .              .
       .              .              .

The final coil spline file is named the same as the initial coil spline file with '.out' appened to the name. The first line contains the number of field periods, number of coils and number of XXX. Then the coil data is listed. Each coil is specified by a line beginning with the number of spline knots, DUU, DUL, the current in the coil, and symmetry. The next line contains the spline knots (plus 4 additional points). The U and V values at the spline knot locations are then listed line by line (number of lines equal to number of knots). The file then contains the information for the next coil till the end is reached.

3    4    0
24    0.000000e+00    0.000000e+00    5.029498e+05    0
0.0000000e+00 0.0000000e+00 0.0000000e+00 0.0000000e+00 4.7619048e-02 9.5238095e-02 1.4285714e-01 1.9047619e-01 2.3809524e-01 2.8571429e-01 3.3333333e-01 3.8095238e-01 4.2857143e-01 4.7619048e-01 5.2380952e-01 5.7142857e-01 6.1904762e-01 6.6666667e-01 7.1428571e-01 7.6190476e-01 8.0952381e-01 8.5714286e-01 9.0476190e-01 9.5238095e-01 1.0000000e+00 1.0000000e+00 1.0000000e+00 1.0000000e+00
0.000000e+00    6.275407e-02
1.587302e-02    6.210337e-02
2.237615e-02    4.478223e-02
6.971025e-02    4.783675e-02
9.728082e-02    2.815039e-02

If requested an mgrid file will be generated (mgrid.lmgrid).


Visualization

Explain how to visualize the data.


Tutorials

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