Analyses of Visible Images of the Plasma Periphery Observed with Tangentially Viewing CCD Cameras in the Large Helical Device

Abstract

Magnetic field produced by helical and poloidal coils in LHD forms a complicated structure of the magnetic field lines in the plasma periphery (ergodic layer and divertor legs), which can change the radial position of the magnetic axis, the shape and size of magnetic surfaces and the location of the strike points, etc. CCD cameras have observed complicated structure of the visible emission depending on the magnetic configurations. The dependence of the images of visible emission on three magnetic parameters which specify magnetic configurations (the position of the magnetic axis, coil pitch parameter, quadruple magnetic components) is investigated by tracing magnetic field lines. The images of the three-dimensional plots of the magnetic field lines quite agree with the observations in various magnetic configurations. Safe operational range of the three magnetic parameters from the viewpoint of minimizing the direct heat load onto the vacuum vessel is found by calculating the distributions of strike points.