PPPL-3848 is available in pdf format (792 KB).

Shape Optimization for DIII-D Advanced Tokamak Plasmas

Authors: C.E. Kessel, J.R. Ferron, C.M. Greenfield, J.E. Menard, and T.S. Taylor

Date of PPPL Report: July 2003

Presented at: the 30th European Physical Society Conference on Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, 7-11 July 2003, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, Russia.

The advanced tokamak program on DIII-D is targeting the full integration of high-beta and high-bootstrap/noninductive current fraction for long-pulse lengths and the high confinement consistent with these features. Central to achieving these simultaneously is access to the highest ideal beta limits possible to maximize the headroom for experimental operation with RWM control. A study of the ideal-MHD stability is done for plasmas modeled after DIII-D advanced tokamak plasmas, varying the plasma elongation, triangularity, and outboard squareness. The highest bN limits reach 6-7 for the n=1 kink mode for all elongation, outer squareness values, and plasma triangularity equals 0.8.