Effects of some parameters on the divertor plasma sheath characteristics and fuel retention in castellated tungsten tile gaps

Castellation of plasma facing components is foreseen as the best solution for ensuring the lifetime of future fusion devices. However, the gaps between the resulting surface elements can increase fuel retention and complicate fuel removal issues. To know how the fuel is retained inside the gaps, the plasma sheath around the gaps needs to be understood first. In this work, a kinetic model is used to study plasma characteristics around the divertor gaps with the focus on the H+ penetration depth inside the poloidal gaps, and a rate-theory model is coupled to simulate the hydrogen retention inside the tungsten gaps. By varying the magnetic field strength and plasma temperature, we find that the H+ cyclotron radius has a significant effect on the penetration depth. Besides, the increase of magnetic field inclination angle can also increase the penetration depth. It is found in this work that parameters as well as the penetration depth strongly affect fuel retention in tungsten gaps.