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Title: The external kink mode in diverted tokamaks

Abstract

Here, an explanation is provided for the disruptive instability in diverted tokamaks when the safety factor at the 95% poloidal flux surface, q95, is driven below 2.0. The instability is a resistive kink counterpart to the current-driven ideal mode that traditionally explained the corresponding disruption in limited cross-sections when qedge, the safety factor at the outermost closed flux surface, lies just below a rational value. Experimentally, external kink modes are observed in limiter configurations as the current in a tokamak is ramped up and qedge decreases through successive rational surfaces. For qedge < 2, the instability is always encountered and is highly disruptive. However, diverted plasmas, in which qedge is formally infinite in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model, have presented a longstanding difficulty since the theory would predict stability, yet, the disruptive limit occurs in practice when q95, reaches 2. It is shown from numerical calculations that a resistive kink mode is linearly destabilized by the rapidly increasing resistivity at the plasma edge when q95 < 2, but qedge >> 2. The resistive kink behaves much like the ideal kink with predominantly kink or interchange parity and no real sign of a tearing component. However, the growth rates scale with amore » fractional power of the resistivity near the q = 2 surface. The results have a direct bearing on the conventional edge cutoff procedures used in most ideal MHD codes, as well as implications for ITER and for future reactor options.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [4]
  1. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
  2. Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
  3. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
  4. Consorzio RFX, Padova (Italy)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1354788
Grant/Contract Number:  
FC02-04ER54698
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Plasma Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 82; Journal Issue: 03; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3778
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Turnbull, Alan D., Hanson, Jeremy M., Turco, Francesca, Ferraro, Nathaniel M., Lanctot, Matthew J., Lao, Lang L., Strait, Edward J., Piovesan, Paolo, and Martin, Piero. The external kink mode in diverted tokamaks. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1017/S0022377816000568.
Turnbull, Alan D., Hanson, Jeremy M., Turco, Francesca, Ferraro, Nathaniel M., Lanctot, Matthew J., Lao, Lang L., Strait, Edward J., Piovesan, Paolo, & Martin, Piero. The external kink mode in diverted tokamaks. United States. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377816000568
Turnbull, Alan D., Hanson, Jeremy M., Turco, Francesca, Ferraro, Nathaniel M., Lanctot, Matthew J., Lao, Lang L., Strait, Edward J., Piovesan, Paolo, and Martin, Piero. Thu . "The external kink mode in diverted tokamaks". United States. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377816000568. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1354788.
@article{osti_1354788,
title = {The external kink mode in diverted tokamaks},
author = {Turnbull, Alan D. and Hanson, Jeremy M. and Turco, Francesca and Ferraro, Nathaniel M. and Lanctot, Matthew J. and Lao, Lang L. and Strait, Edward J. and Piovesan, Paolo and Martin, Piero},
abstractNote = {Here, an explanation is provided for the disruptive instability in diverted tokamaks when the safety factor at the 95% poloidal flux surface, q95, is driven below 2.0. The instability is a resistive kink counterpart to the current-driven ideal mode that traditionally explained the corresponding disruption in limited cross-sections when qedge, the safety factor at the outermost closed flux surface, lies just below a rational value. Experimentally, external kink modes are observed in limiter configurations as the current in a tokamak is ramped up and qedge decreases through successive rational surfaces. For qedge < 2, the instability is always encountered and is highly disruptive. However, diverted plasmas, in which qedge is formally infinite in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model, have presented a longstanding difficulty since the theory would predict stability, yet, the disruptive limit occurs in practice when q95, reaches 2. It is shown from numerical calculations that a resistive kink mode is linearly destabilized by the rapidly increasing resistivity at the plasma edge when q95 < 2, but qedge >> 2. The resistive kink behaves much like the ideal kink with predominantly kink or interchange parity and no real sign of a tearing component. However, the growth rates scale with a fractional power of the resistivity near the q = 2 surface. The results have a direct bearing on the conventional edge cutoff procedures used in most ideal MHD codes, as well as implications for ITER and for future reactor options.},
doi = {10.1017/S0022377816000568},
journal = {Journal of Plasma Physics},
number = 03,
volume = 82,
place = {United States},
year = {2016},
month = {6}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Kink instabilities of the post-disruption runaway electron beam at low safety factor
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