MHD simulation of RF current drive in MST

Abstract

Auxiliary heating and current drive using RF waves such as the electron Bernstein wave (EBW) promises to advance the performance of the reversed field pinch (RFP). In previous computational work [1], a hypothetical edge-localized current drive is shown to suppress the tearing activity which governs the macroscopic transport properties of the RFP. The ideal conditions for tearing stabilization include a reduced toroidal induction, and precise width and radial position of the Gaussian-shaped external current drive. In support of the EBW experiment on the Madison Symmetric Torus, an integrated modeling scheme now incorporates ray tracing and Fokker-Plank predictions of auxiliary current into single fluid MHD. Simulations at low Lundquist number (S ∼ 104) generally agree with the previous work; significantly more burdensome simulations at MST-like Lundquist number (S ∼ 3×106) show unexpected results. The effect on nonlinearly saturated current profile by a particular RF-driven external force decreases in magnitude and widens considerably as the Lundquist number increases toward experimental values. Simulations reproduce the periodic current profile relaxation events observed in experiment (sawteeth) in the absence of current profile control. Reduction of the tearing mode amplitudes is still observable; however, reduction is limited to periods between the large bursts of magnetic activity at each sawtooth. The sawtoothing pattern persists with up to 10 MW of externally applied RF power. Periods with prolonged low tearing amplitude are predicted with a combination of external current drive and a reduced toroidal loop voltage, consistent with previous conclusions. Finally, the resistivity profile is observed to have a strong effect on the optimal externally driven current profile for mode stabilization.