Stabilization of sawtooty oscillation by island heating

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7056099· OSTI ID:7056099

Park, W; Monticello, D A; Chu, T K

Using the compressible resistive MHD equations in a finite aspect ratio cylinder, it is found that the m = 1 mode (the sawtooth oscillation) can saturate when the pressure inside the magnetic island is higher than that of the original core plasma. The saturation condition is of the form ..delta beta../sub p/ greater than or equal to 8 epsilon/sup -1//sub q = 1/ (1 - q/sub 0/)/sup 2/. This saturation effect can be used to actively stabilize sawteeth by heating the island and/or by cooling the core plasma. This mechanism together with a stabilizing toroidal effect may also explain recent lower-hybrid-wave-driven tokamak experiments where the saturation of sawteeth has been observed.

• Research Organization: Princeton Univ., NJ (USA). Plasma Physics Lab.
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH03073
• OSTI ID: 7056099
• Report Number(s): PPPL-2385; ON: DE87003075
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700107* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Instabilities
ASPECT RATIO
CLOSED PLASMA DEVICES
HEATING
HIGH-FREQUENCY HEATING
LOWER HYBRID HEATING
MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS
MAGNETIC ISLANDS
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA PRESSURE
STABILIZATION
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
TOKAMAK DEVICES