Characterization of 3D filament dynamics in a MAST SOL fluxtube geometry

TL;DR

This study uses non-linear simulations to analyze 3D filament dynamics in a realistic MAST SOL flux tube, revealing how magnetic geometry influences filament behavior and the transition to Boltzmann response with changing plasma collisionality.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of magnetic geometry on filament dynamics and the natural emergence of the Boltzmann response in realistic conditions, advancing understanding of filament behavior in tokamaks.

Findings

Filaments balloon at the midplane or X-points depending on magnetic effects.

Transition to Boltzmann response occurs with decreasing collisionality.

Filaments are identified as resistive ballooning, inertially limited.

Abstract

Non-linear simulations of filament propagation in a realistic MAST SOL flux tube geometry using the BOUT++ fluid modelling framework show an isolation of the dynamics of the filament in the divertor region from the midplane region due to three features of the magnetic geometry; the variation of magnetic curvature along the field line, the expansion of the flux tube and strong magnetic shear. Of the three effects, the latter two lead to a midplane ballooning feature of the filament, whilst the former leads to a ballooning around the X-points. In simulations containing all three effects the filament is observed to balloon at the midplane, suggesting that the role of curvature variation is sub-dominant to the flux expansion and magnetic shear. The magnitudes of these effects are all strongest near the X-point which leads to the formation of parallel density gradients. The filaments simulated, which represent filaments in MAST, are identified as resistive ballooning, meaning that their motion is inertially limited, not sheath limited. Parallel density gradients can drive the filament towards a Boltzmann response when the collisionalityof the plasma is low. The results here show that the formation of parallel density gradients is a natural and inevitable consequence of a realistic magnetic geometry and therefore the transition to the Boltzmann response is a consequence of the use of realistic magnetic geometry. The Boltzmann response causes the filament to self-organise and spin on an axis. The transition from interchange motion to the Boltzmann response occurs with increasing temperature through a decrease in collisionality. This is confirmed by measuring the correlation between density and potential perturbations within the filament, which is low in the anti-symmetric state associated with the interchange mechanism, but high in the Boltzmann regime.