Dependence of edge stability on plasma shape and local pressure gradients in the DIII-D and JT-60U tokamaks

L. L. Lao, Y. Kamada, T. Oikawa, L. R. Baylor, K. H. Burrell, V. S. Chan, M. S. Chance, M. S. Chu, J. R. Ferron, T. Fukuda, T. Hatae, A. Isayama, G. J. Jackson, A. W. Leonard, M. A. Makowski, J. Manickam, M. Murakami, M. Okabayashi, T. H. Osborne, P. B. SnyderE. J. Strait, S. Takeji, T. Takizuka, T. S. Taylor, A. D. Turnbull, K. Tsuchiya, M. R. Wade

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

72 Scopus citations

Abstract

The dependence of edge stability on plasma shape and local pressure gradients P′ in the DIII-D and JT-60U tokamaks is studied. The stronger plasma shaping in DIII-D allows the edge region of DIII-D discharges with type I (giant) ELMs to have access to the second region of stability for ideal ballooning modes and a larger edge pedestal pressure gradient P′ than JT-60U type I ELM discharges. These JT-60U discharges are near the ballooning mode first regime stability limit. The DIII-D results support an ideal stability based working model of type I ELMs as low to intermediate toroidal mode number, n, MHD modes. The results from a stability analysis of JT-60U type I ELM discharges indicate that the predictions of this model are also consistent with JT-60U edge stability observations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)295-300
Number of pages6
JournalNuclear Fusion
Volume41
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2001

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dependence of edge stability on plasma shape and local pressure gradients in the DIII-D and JT-60U tokamaks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this