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Y. Yagi, Y. Maejima, G. Zollino1,
G. Serianni1, H. Ji2, T. J. Baig*,
H. Sakakita, S. Sekine, Y. Hirano, T. Shimada,
H. Koguchi and I. Hirota
Electrotechnical Laboratory, AIST, MITI,
1-1-4 Umezono Tsukuba-shi, 305-8568, Japan
1 Consorzio RFX, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127, Padua, Italy
2 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA
* On leave from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract. Confinement characteristics of the TPE series
reversed field pinch (RFP) machines, TPE-1RM15, TPE-1RM20 and
TPE-1RM20mod, at Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL) are summarized. Especially
data are synthesized in respect to the effects of the different boundary
structures of the machines, where shell proximity and overlapped poloidal
shell gaps by the multi-layered shell structure are featured. Comparison of
the experimental results is shown in terms of the characteristics of magnetic
fluctuations, global confinement properties in general, operation capability
of the improved confinement in high pinch parameter (Q) discharges and
locked mode events. Linear growth rate of the unstable modes as a function of
the shell distance is numerically simulated. Understandings of RFP plasma
physics have also made progress by the most recent intensive experiments on
correlation studies between fast electrons and dynamo activities and
measurement of the plasma and mode rotation. TPE-1RM20mod was shutdown in
December 1996 and new RFP experiment has started in TPE-RX from March
1998. The new machine also succeeds the concept of the shell configuration
of the TPE-1RM20.
IAEA 2001
