Effects of a weakly 3-D equilibrium on ideal magnetohydrodynamic instabilities

Journal Article · Tue Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4887008· OSTI ID:22304086

Hegna, C. C. ^[1]

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1. Departments of Engineering Physics and Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

The effect of a small three-dimensional equilibrium distortion on an otherwise axisymmetric configuration is shown to be destabilizing to ideal magnetohydrodynamic modes. The calculations assume that the 3-D fields are weak and that shielding physics is present so that no islands appear in the resulting equilibrium. An eigenfunction that has coupled harmonics of different toroidal mode number is constructed using a perturbation approach. The theory is applied to the case of tokamak H-modes with shielded resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) present indicating RMPs can be destabilizing to intermediate-n peeling-ballooning modes.

• OSTI ID: 22304086
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 21, Issue 7; Other Information: (c) 2014 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
AXIAL SYMMETRY
BALLOONING INSTABILITY
EQUILIBRIUM
H-MODE PLASMA CONFINEMENT
PERTURBATION THEORY
SHIELDING
TOKAMAK DEVICES