QIN-1 / LOCAL SIMULATION STUDY

Watch the plasma approach the magnetic obstacle

Compare the same prescribed aluminium inflow across the computed device fields. These are slices of actual 3D simulation output on the 0.5 mm reference grid.

Exploratory · 24 October 2026
Move the pointer over a panel to inspect a sampled value.

What this shows: compression and deflection in a conditional, held-field plasma model. The density front keeps moving; a bright layer or a reduced flux at one instant is not a verified bow shock or steady shielding efficiency. The reference transmitted-flux estimate fails at least one declared numerical-sensitivity check. Treat it as exploratory; consult the report before comparing quantitative shielding performance.

How to read it: x follows the imposed flow, y points opposite lab vertical. The displayed slab is |z| ≤ 1 mm along the coil axis. The dashed line is the x = −7.25 mm readout plane; its numerical readout uses a central 6 × 6 mm footprint. White contours are |mean B| = 1, 2, 4 and 8 T. Velocity is hidden where slab density is below 2% of inflow. An asterisk marks a bulk-flux readout whose mean plane density is also below that threshold. Color scales clip at their displayed endpoints.

Model boundary: the imposed field contains the retained coil, array and feed/return network at the 500 ns FEM state. It is held constant. The plasma-test clock is separate from the Qin-1 discharge clock. No wire ablation, radiation, evolving ionization, absorbing metal surface or plasma-to-circuit feedback is included. The original-device run reached its wall-time limit before the requested 220 ns; all displayed cases have the common 200 ns output shown here.

Paired-feed case at 200 ns: mean density on the fixed readout plane is 1.29% of inflow, below the 2% threshold used for nearly empty cells. Its tiny residual flux is not a qualified shielding efficiency. About 4.89% of ion energy lies in the unqualified region near the hardware, mostly near the feed assembly. These are instantaneous cell-overlap diagnostics; no absorbing or responding conductor boundary was modeled.

Inputs and data provenance

The viewer contains its data and drawing code; it makes no network requests. Fields shown here are derived slabs, not the complete 3D datasets. Time comes from the openPMD iteration time, not its default dt attribute. The t = 0 field diagnostic precedes external-source addition; the source is established before plasma injection. Full raw files, inputs and checks remain in the local campaign.