Gross and net erosion balance of plasma-facing materials in full-W tokamaks

(ASDEX Upgrade Team, EUROfusion Mst1 Team, EUROfusion WP PFC Contributors) Hakola, A.; Likonen, J.; Lahtinen, A.; Vuoriheimo, T.; Groth, M.; Kumpulainen, H.; Balden, M.; Krieger, K.; Mayer, M.; Schwarz-Selinger, T.; Brezinsek, S.; Kelemen, M.; Markelj, S.; Barac, Marko; Gouasmia, Sabrina; Radović Bogdanović, Ivančica; Uccello, A.; Vassallo, E.; Dellasega, D.; Passoni, M.; Sala, M.; Bernard, E.; Diez, M.; Guillemaut, C.; Tsitrone, E. (2021) Gross and net erosion balance of plasma-facing materials in full-W tokamaks. Nuclear fusion, 61 . ISSN 0029-5515

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Abstract

Gross and net erosion of tungsten (W) and other plasma-facing materials in the divertor region have been investigated in deuterium (D) and helium (He) plasmas during dedicated experiments in L- and H-mode on ASDEX Upgrade and after full- length experimental campaigns on the WEST tokamak. Net erosion was determined via post-exposure analyses of plasma-exposed samples and full-size wall components, and we conclude that the same approach is applicable to gross erosion if marker structures with sub-millimeter dimensions are used to eliminate the contribution of prompt re-deposition. In H-mode plasmas, gross erosion during ELMs may exceed the situation in inter-ELM conditions by 1–2 orders of magnitude while net erosion is typically higher by a factor of 2–3. The largest impact on net erosion is attributed to the electron temperature while the role of the impurity mixtures is weaker, even though both on ASDEX Upgrade and WEST significant amounts of impurities are present in the edge plasmas. Impurities, on the other hand, will lead to the formation of thick co-deposited layers. We have also noted that with increasing surface roughness, net erosion is strongly suppressed and the growth of co-deposited layers is enhanced. In He plasmas, gross erosion is increased compared to D due to the higher mass and charge states of the plasma particles, resulting from larger energies due to sheath acceleration, but strong impurity fluxes can result in apparent net deposition in the divertor. Our results from ASDEX Upgrade and WEST are comparable and indicate typical net-erosion rates of 0.1–0.4 nm s−1, excluding the immediate vicinity of the strike-point regions.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	erosion ; tungsten ; plasma-facing materia ; ASDEX Upgrade ; WEST
Subjects:	NATURAL SCIENCES > Physics
Divisions:	Division of Experimental Physics
Projects:	Project title Project leader Project code Project type Implementation of activities described in the Roadmap to Fusion during Horizon 2020 through a Joint programme of the members of the EUROfusion consortium Tadić, Tonči 633053 EK
Depositing User:	Marko Barac
Date Deposited:	09 Feb 2022 09:38
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/6975
DOI:	10.1088/1741-4326/ac22d2

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