Three dimensional equilibrium solutions for a current-carrying reversed-field pinch plasma with a close-fitting conducting shell

Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4944670· OSTI ID:22599047

Koliner, J. J.; Anderson, J. K.; Chapman, B. E.; Den Hartog, D. J.; Duff, J. R.; Goetz, J. A.; McGarry, M.; Morton, L. A.; Parke, E. ^[1]; Cianciosa, M. R. ^[2]; Hanson, J. D. ^[3]; Brower, D. L.; Ding, W. X. ^[4]

---

1. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)
2. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 (United States)
3. Department of Physics, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849 (United States)
4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)

In order to characterize the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) reversed-field pinch (RFP) plasmas that bifurcate to a helical equilibrium, the V3FIT equilibrium reconstruction code was modified to include a conducting boundary. RFP plasmas become helical at a high plasma current, which induces large eddy currents in MST's thick aluminum shell. The V3FIT conducting boundary accounts for the contribution from these eddy currents to external magnetic diagnostic coil signals. This implementation of V3FIT was benchmarked against MSTFit, a 2D Grad-Shafranov solver, for axisymmetric plasmas. The two codes both fit B{sub θ} measurement loops around the plasma minor diameter with qualitative agreement between each other and the measured field. Fits in the 3D case converge well, with q-profile and plasma shape agreement between two distinct toroidal locking phases. Greater than 60% of the measured n = 5 component of B{sub θ} at r = a is due to eddy currents in the shell, as calculated by the conducting boundary model.

• OSTI ID: 22599047
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 23, Issue 3; Other Information: (c) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC; 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
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALUMINIUM
AXIAL SYMMETRY
BENCHMARKS
EDDY CURRENTS
EQUILIBRIUM
MATHEMATICAL SOLUTIONS
PLASMA
REVERSED-FIELD PINCH DEVICES
REVERSE-FIELD PINCH
SHELLS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS