Boundary element analysis of free boundary field-reversed configurations

Author

Sawai, Shinichi ; Tsuchimoto, Masanori ; Igarashi, Hajime ; Honma, Toshihisa

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo, Japan

Volume

26

Issue

2

fYear

1990

fDate

3/1/1990 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

571

Lastpage

574

Abstract

Field-reversed configuration (FRC) plasmas are governed by the nonlinear Grad-Shafranov equation and it is difficult to analyze this equation for FRC devices by using domain-type methods because the plasma boundary is a free boundary. In the present work, the authors solve the Grad-Shafranov equation using the boundary element method (BEM) in order to study equilibrium configurations for the FRC with a free boundary. In the numerical analysis, the simple iterative method is used to obtain nonlinear solutions of the equation. As a result it is found that a stable solution can only exist for parameter K, which denotes the ratio of the electromagnetic force to the plasma pressure. In addition, the equilibrium configuration is calculated by using BEM for the rigid drift model and the slitted model

Keywords

boundary-elements methods; iterative methods; pinch effect; plasma simulation; plasma toroidal confinement; Grad-Shafranov equation; boundary element method; electromagnetic force; equilibrium configurations; field reversed configuration plasmas; free boundary field-reversed configurations; iterative method; nonlinear solutions; plasma pressure; rigid drift model; slitted model; Boundary element methods; Coils; Electromagnetic forces; Integral equations; Laboratories; Nonlinear equations; Plasma confinement; Plasma density; Plasma devices; Plasma stability;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.106381

Filename

106381