The root cause of disruptive NTMs and paths to stable operation in DIII-D ITER baseline scenario plasmas

Autor: L. Bardoczi, N.J. Richner, N.C. Logan, E.J. Strait, C.T. Holcomb, J. Zhu, C. Rea
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nuclear Fusion, Vol 64, Iss 12, p 126005 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1741-4326
0029-5515
DOI: 10.1088/1741-4326/ad7787
Popis: Analyses of the DIII-D ITER Baseline Scenario database support that the disruptive m,n =2,1 magnetic islands are pressure gradient driven, non-linear instabilities seeded in a sequence of stochastic transient magnetic perturbations, and that the current profile relaxation does not affect the m,n =2,1 island onset rate. At low torque, these Neoclassical Tearing Modes are most commonly seeded by non-linear 3-wave coupling when the differential rotation between the q =1 & q =2 rational surfaces approaches zero. Lack of statistically significant difference between the current profiles of stable and unstable states, as well as lack of correlation between the tearing mode onset rate and the current profile relaxation both reject causality between the current profile evolution and the 2,1 magnetic island onsets in these plasmas. These support that preserving the differential rotation between the q =1 and q =2 rational surfaces is key to long pulse stable operation in the plasma scenario planned for ITER, while optimization of the current profile within the explored parameter space may lead to much weaker improvements than sustaining the differential rotation.
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