Misalignment of magnetic field in DIII-D assessed by post-mortem analysis of divertor targets

R. Masline, I. Bykov, R. A. Moyer, A. Wingen, J. Guterl, D. Rudakov, W. R. Wampler, H. Q. Wang, J. G. Watkins, D. M. Orlov

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Abstract

We assess the toroidal magnetic field B t asymmetry in DIII-D due to a misalignment of the toroidal field coils with respect to the poloidal magnetic field coils and vacuum vessel. The peak-to-peak variation of the divertor strike point (SP) radius is measured to be 1 cm, with an n = 1 toroidal pattern. We use the centre of a narrow carbon deposition band on tungsten-coated divertor tiles just inside the outer strike point (OSP) as a proxy for the divertor SP location. The band occurred in a series of reverse B t discharges with the OSP positioned on the divertor inserts due to strong E × B drift transport of C from the inner to the outer SP through the private flux region. The variation in band radius (and hence the magnetic SP) is a (4.89 ± 0.31) mm shift toward (310 ± 4)° toroidal direction. These measurements agree well with previous measurements of the 3D magnetic field distribution (Luxon 2003 Nucl. Fusion 43 1813), simulations performed by the mafot field line integration code, and recent Langmuir probe measurements in the small-angle-slot (SAS) divertor (Watkins et al 2019 Nucl. Mater. Energy 18 46). Comparison of these measurements in the SAS divertor also indicates that there is the possibility of a tilt (in conjunction with the shift) of the B t coil field of (0.04 ± 0.07)° towards the toroidal angle of (215 ± 25)°. Previous measurements suggested a field misalignment of (4.6 ± 0.3) mm in the 270° toroidal direction, and a tilt of (0.06 ± 0.02)° toward the 114° toroidal direction, which is similar to the results reported here. These studies will be important for better understanding the radial variation of the toroidal strike line in DIII-D, for designing the new generation of SAS divertor, and for developing an understanding of the impact of error fields on tokamaks with tightly baffled slot divertors.

Original languageEnglish
Article number016012
JournalNuclear Fusion
Volume63
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2023

Funding

We would like to thank Dr Lang Lao and Dr Edward Strait for the informative discussions. One of us, Dr T.E. Evans (General Atomics), passed away during preparation of this manuscript. His guidance is acknowledged, and he will be deeply missed. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under DE-FG02-07ER54917, DE-FG02-05ER54809, DE-SC0018030, DE-NA0003525, DE-FC02-04ER54698, DE-AC05-00OR22725. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, using the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility, under Awards DE-FC02-04ER54698. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-NA0003525.

Keywords

  • DIII-D
  • divertor
  • magnetic field
  • misalignment
  • tokamak

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