Cross-machine comparison of resonant field amplification and resistive wall mode stabilization by plasma rotation

Journal Article · Mon May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2006 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2177134· OSTI ID:20783132

Reimerdes, H; Sabbagh, S A; Bialek, J M; Garofalo, A M; Navratil, G A; Sontag, A C; Zhu, W ^[1]; Hender, T C; Gryaznevich, M P; Howell, D F; Bigi, M; Vries, P de ^[2]; Chu, M S; Jackson, G L; La Haye, R J; Strait, E J; Gohil, P; Groebner, R J; Scoville, J T ^[3]; Liu, Y Q ^[4]

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1. Columbia University, New York, New York 10027 (United States)
2. EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, OX14 3DB (United Kingdom)
3. General Atomics, San Diego, California 92186-5608 (United States)
4. Chalmers University of Technology, S-412 96 Goeteborg (Sweden)

Dedicated experiments in the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon, Nucl. Fusion, 42, 614 (2002)], the Joint European Torus (JET) [P. H. Rebut, R. J. Bickerton, and B. E. Keen, Nucl. Fusion 25, 1011 (1985)], and the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) [M. Ono, S. M. Kaye, Y.-K. M. Peng et al., Nucl. Fusion 40, 557 (2000)] reveal the commonalities of resistive wall mode (RWM) stabilization by sufficiently fast toroidal plasma rotation in devices of different size and aspect ratio. In each device the weakly damped n=1 RWM manifests itself by resonant field amplification (RFA) of externally applied n=1 magnetic fields, which increases with the plasma pressure. Probing DIII-D and JET plasmas with similar ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability properties with externally applied magnetic n=1 fields, shows that the resulting RFA is independent of the machine size. In each device the drag resulting from RFA slows the toroidal plasma rotation and can lead to the onset of an unstable RWM. The critical plasma rotation required for stable operation in the plasma center decreases with increasing q{sub 95}, which is explained by the inward shift of q surfaces where the critical rotation remains constant. The quantitative agreement of the critical rotation normalized to the inverse Alfven time at the q=2 surface in similar DIII-D and JET plasmas supports the independence of the RWM stabilization mechanism of machine size and indicates the importance of the q=2 surface. At low aspect ratio the required fraction of the Alfven velocity increases significantly. The ratio of the critical rotation in similar NSTX and DIII-D plasmas can be explained by trapped particles not contributing to the RWM stabilization, which is consistent with stabilization mechanisms that are based on ion Landau damping. Alternatively, the ratio of the required rotation to the sound wave velocity remains independent of aspect ratio.

• OSTI ID: 20783132
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 13, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2177134; (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ALFVEN WAVES
AMPLIFICATION
ASPECT RATIO
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DOUBLET-3 DEVICE
ION ACOUSTIC WAVES
IONS
JET TOKAMAK
LANDAU DAMPING
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
NSTX DEVICE
PLASMA
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA PRESSURE
ROTATION
SOUND WAVES
STABILIZATION
TRAPPING
WALL EFFECTS