Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 15, 1403052 (2020)

Regular Articles

Simulation of Co-Existence of Ballooning and Kink Instabilities in PLATO Tokamak Plasma

Shuhei TOMIMATSU¹⁾, Naohiro KASUYA^1,2), Masahiko SATO³⁾, Atsushi FUKUYAMA⁴⁾, Masatoshi YAGI⁵⁾, Yoshihiko NAGASHIMA^1,2) and Akihide FUJISAWA^1,2)

1): Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
2): Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan
3): National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu 509-5292, Japan
4): Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyoto University, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8540, Japan
5): National Institute for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, Obuchi, Rokkasho-mura, Aomori 039-3212, Japan

(Received 13 February 2020 / Accepted 2 June 2020 / Published 15 July 2020)

Abstract

Magneto-hydro-dynamics (MHD) simulations are carried out for the first time with PLATO tokamak parameters to represent competition of plasma instabilities. The plasma equilibrium is evaluated with the vertical coil configuration in PLATO by using free boundary equilibrium code. The equilibrium is introduced from TASK/EQ to MHD simulations by MIPS code to calculate nonlinear saturation dynamics. In the simulation, a ballooning mode and kink mode both become unstable. We present the dependencies on plasma parameters to identify the instabilities. The ballooning and kink modes become unstable in the steep gradient region and at the safety factor q = 1 surface near the center of the plasma, respectively, so the nonlinear flattening of the pressure profile near the center is stronger in the kink case. The interaction between the modes affects the evolution of instabilities.

Keywords

ballooning mode, kink mode, PLATO tokamak, nonlinear dynamics, flattening process

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.15.1403052

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