Provisional study on the 3-D Cauchy condition surface method for fusion plasma shape identification

Abstract

The 2-dimensional (2-D) Cauchy condition surface (CCS) method to identify the plasma boundary shape has been expanded to deal with 3-D nuclear fusion plasma. This 3-D CCS method solves a set of boundary integral equations in terms of 3-D vector potential with the aid of measured magnetic sensor signals and coil current data. Results obtained in a trial calculation for axisymmetric plasma indicate that this new 3-D method can also determine the plasma boundary shape accurately in the same way as the 2-D CCS method. The authors’ research group has a plan to improve this 3-D CCS method to analyse fusion plasma that has a helical geometry.