[Table of Contents]

Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 7, 2403117 (2012)

Regular Articles

Modeling of Formation of Helical Structures in Reversed-Field Pinch
Naoki MIZUGUCHI1,2), Akio SANPEI3), Shinichi FUJITA3), Kensuke OKI3), Haruhiko HIMURA3), Sadao MASAMUNE3) and Katsuji ICHIGUCHI1,2)
1)
National Institute for Fusion Science, Toki 509-5292, Japan
2)
The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (Sokendai), Toki 509-5292, Japan
3)
Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan
(Received 9 December 2011 / Accepted 13 April 2012 / Published 13 September 2012)

Abstract

Nonlinear three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) simulations were applied to a reversed-field pinch(RFP) plasma to reveal the physical mechanism of the formation of helical structures such as the so-called quasi-single helicity and single helical axis states. The simulations were executed using the MHD Infrastructure for Plasma Simulation (MIPS) code in a realistic experimental geometry of the REversed field pinch of Low-Aspect ratio eXperiment (RELAX) device with reconstructed initial equilibria calculated by the RELAXFit code. Long-term evolutions showed remarkable formation of n = 4 structures as a result of the dominant growth of resistive modes. The resultant relaxed helical state consists of a bean-shaped, hollow pressure profile in the poloidal cross section for both the cases of resonant and non-resonant triggering instabilities.

Keywords

reversed-field pinch, MHD, simulation, QSH, SHAx

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.7.2403117

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This paper may be cited as follows:

Naoki MIZUGUCHI, Akio SANPEI, Shinichi FUJITA, Kensuke OKI, Haruhiko HIMURA, Sadao MASAMUNE and Katsuji ICHIGUCHI, Plasma Fusion Res. 7, 2403117 (2012).