FIRST EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND RECENT MHD STUDIES FOR THE H-1 HELIAC

摘要

Detailed e-beam measurements of the H-l heliac field geometry using both fluorescent targets and multi-wire-tomographic techniques have confirmed accurately formed magnetic surfaces for a very wide range of configurations. These measurements have enabled the only significant error in coil position to be identified and agree with each other and the computed geometry to ～ 2 mm. Preliminary experiments on low <β> quasi-steady-state plasma formation confirm that the column is well defined by the vacuum surfaces with peak densities coinciding with the helical magnetic axes. Computational studies of Mercier and ballooning stability limits show that the effect of the removal of the vacuum magnetic well should be clearly observable. Studies of nonlinear stability with the NSTAB code confirm the reactor relevance of the heliac concept.