Evolution of the bonding defect reported on the tiles of the toroidal pumped limiter of the Tore Supra tokamak with infrared analysis

Abstract

The bonding of plasma-facing component (PFC) tiles and their possible defects need to be monitored to evaluate the safety during long pulse plasma operations and prevent critical failure, which is very important for ITER and next-step fusion devices. The defect evolutions of two toroidal pumped limiter (TPL) tiles are investigated by analysing the infrared images obtained during Tore Supra experiments from 2006 to 2010 (about 10 000 plasma discharges). The evolution of the defect is characterized by the surface temperature reached in stationary discharge conditions. The comparison of the defect tiles with neighbouring tiles (with no defect) and the evolutions are carried out through the thermal time constants of the tiles. The results show that the two tiles are slowly deteriorating during plasma operation and no plateau of the deterioration is observed in the considered period. By comparing the defect evolutions with the modelling results calculated by CAST3M, the current state of the defect tiles is identified. The defects are significant (about 30% of the tile length or area) and need to be followed and monitored further in the next experimental campaigns of Tore Supra.