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Waves in the Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies (ICRF) enhance local Plasma-Surface Interactions (PSI) near the wave launchers and magnetically-connected objects via Radio-Frequency (RF) sheath rectification. ITER will use 20MW of ICRF power over long pulses, questioning the long-term impact of RF-enhanced localized erosion on the lifetime of its Beryllium (Be) wall. Recent dedicated ICRF-heated L-mode discharges documented this process on JET for different types of ICRF antennas. Using visible spectroscopy in JET ICRF-heated L-mode discharges, poloidally-localized regions of enhanced (by ∼2–4x) Be I and Be II light emission were observed on two outboard limiters magnetically connected to the bottom of the active ITER-Like Antenna (ILA). The observed RF-PSI induced by the ILA was qualitatively comparable to that induced by the JET standard, type-A2 antennas, for similar strap toroidal phasing and connection geometries. The Be II line emission was found more intense when powering the bottom half of the ILA rather than its top half. Conversely, more pronounced SOL density modifications were observed with only top array operation, on field lines connected to the top half of the ILA. So far the near-field modeling of the ILA with antenna code TOPICA (Torino Polytechnic Ion Cyclotron Antenna), using curved antenna model, was partially able to reproduce qualitatively the observed phenomena. A quantitative discrepancy persisted between the observed Be source amplification and the calculated, corresponding increases in E// field at the magnetically connected locations to the ILA when changing from only top to only bottom half antenna operation. This paper revisits these current drive phased and half-ILA powered cases using for the new simulations flat model of the ILA and more realistic antenna feeding to calculate the E// field maps with TOPICA code. Further, the Self-consistent Sheaths and Waves for Ion Cyclotron Heating Slow Wave (SSWICH-SW) code, which couples slow wave evanescence with DC Scrape-Off Layer (SOL) biasing, is used to estimate the poloidal distribution of rectified RF-sheath Direct Current (DC) potential VDC in the private SOL between the ILA poloidal limiters. The approach so far was limited to correlating the observed, enhanced emission regions at the remote limiters to the antenna near-electric fields, as calculated by TOPICA. The present approach includes also a model for the rectification of these near-fields in the private SOL of the ILA. With the improved approach, when comparing only top and only bottom half antenna feeding, we obtained good qualitative correlation between all experimental measurements and the calculated local variations in the E// field and VDC potential.

Aluminium steel clad materials have high potential for industrial applications. Their mechanical properties are governed by an intermetallic layer, which forms upon heat treatment at the Al-Fe interface. Transmission electron microscopy was employed to identify the phases present at the interface by selective area electron diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Three phases were identified: orthorhombic Al5Fe2, monoclinic Al13Fe4 and cubic Al19Fe4MnSi2. An effective interdiffusion coefficient dependent on concentration was determined according to the Boltzmann–Matano method. The highest value of the interdiffusion coefficient was reached at the composition of the intermetallic phases. Afterwards, the process of diffusion considering the evaluated interdiffusion coefficient was simulated using the finite element method. Results of the simulations revealed that growth of the intermetallic phases proceeds preferentially in the direction of aluminium.

Al-Li based alloys are attractive materials for the aerospace industry. The twin-roll casting of such materials could provide properties not achievable by conventional direct-chill casting and downstream processing methods due to significantly higher solidification rates. An Al-Li-Cu-Mg-Zr alloy was twin-roll cast with the same alloy containing a small addition of Sc. The microstructure of as-cast materials and the influence of Sc on the behavior of the alloy at elevated temperatures were studied by means of light and electron microscopy and by resistivity measurements. A fine-grained structure was formed during twin-roll casting, but several surface and internal defects were found on the strips, which should be suppressed by a further adjustment of the casting conditions. The addition of Sc had a positive effect on grain size uniformity and microstructure stabilization at elevated temperatures, as shown by the precipitation of a fine dispersion of coherent Sc- and Zr-containing precipitates.

A European project was undertaken to improve the available SOL ICRF physics simulation tools and confront them with measurements. This paper first reviews code upgrades within the project. Using the multi-physics finite element solver COMSOL, the SSWICH code couples RF full-wave propagation with DC plasma biasing over “antenna-scale” 2D (toroidal/radial) domains, via non-linear RF and DC sheath boundary conditions (SBCs) applied at shaped plasma-facing boundaries. For the different modules and associated SBCs, more elaborate basic research in RF-sheath physics, SOL turbulent transport and applied mathematics, generally over smaller spatial scales, guides code improvement. The available simulation tools were applied to interpret experimental observations on various tokamaks. We focus on robust qualitative results common to several devices: the spatial distribution of RF-induced DC bias; left-right asymmetries over strap power unbalance; parametric dependence and antenna electrical tuning; DC SOL biasing far from the antennas, and RF-induced density modifications. From these results we try to identify the relevant physical ingredients necessary to reproduce the measurements, e.g. accurate radiated field maps from 3D antenna codes, spatial proximity effects from wave evanescence in the near RF field, or DC current transport. Pending issues towards quantitative predictions are also outlined.

A dedicated study on JET-ILW, deploying two types of ICRH antennas and spectroscopic observation spots at two outboard, beryllium limiters, has provided insight on long-range (up to 6m) RFenhanced plasma-surface interactions (RF-PSI) due to near-antenna electric fields. To aid in the interpretation of optical emission measurements of these effects, the antenna near-fields are computed using the TOPICA code, specifically run for the ITER-like antenna (ILA); similar modelling already existed for the standard JET antennas (A2). In the experiment, both antennas were operated in current drive mode, as RF-PSI tends to be higher in this phasing and at similar power (∼0.5 MW). When sweeping the edge magnetic field pitch angle, peaked RF-PSI effects, in the form of 2-4 fold increase in the local Be source,are consistently measured with the observation spots magnetically connect to regions of TOPICAL-calculated high near-fields, particularly at the near-antenna limiters. It is also found that similar RF-PSI effects are produced by the two types of antenna on similarly distant limiters. Although this mapping of calculated near-fields to enhanced RF-PSI gives only qualitative interpretion of the data, the present dataset is expected to provide a sound experimental basis for emerging RF sheath simulation model validation.

Detailed designs of ICRF antennas were made possible by the development of sophisticated commercial 3D codes like CST Microwave Studio® (MWS). This program allows for very detailed geometries of the radiating structures, but was only considering simple materials like equivalent isotropic dielectrics to simulate the reflection and the refraction of RF waves at the vacuum/plasma interface. The code was nevertheless used intensively, notably for computing the coupling properties of the ITER ICRF antenna. Until recently it was not possible to simulate gyrotropic medias like magnetized plasmas, but recent improvements have allowed programming any material described by a general dielectric or/and diamagnetic tensor. A Visual Basic macro was developed to exploit this feature and was tested for the specific case of a monochromatic plane wave propagating longitudinally with respect to the magnetic field direction. For specific cases the exact solution can be expressed in 1D as the sum of two circularly polarized waves connected by a reflection coefficient that can be analytically computed. Solutions for stratified media can also be derived. This allows for a direct comparison with MWS results. The agreement is excellent but accurate simulations for realistic geometries require large memory resources that could significantly restrict the possibility of simulating cold plasmas to small-scale machines.

Multi-megawatt Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies (ICRF) heating is routinely used in the JET tokamak. To increase the ICRF heating power available from the A2 antennas, the ICRF ITER-Like Antenna (ILA) was reinstalled for the 2015 JET ITER-like wall experimental campaign. The application of high levels of ICRF power typically results in increased plasma wall interaction which leads to the observation of enhanced influx of metallic impurities in the plasma edge. It is assumed that the impurity production is mainly driven by the parallel component of the Radio-Frequency (RF) antenna electric near-field, E// (parallel to the confinement magnetic field of the tokamak), that is rectified in a thin boundary layer (RF sheath). Torino Polytechnic Ion Cyclotron Antenna (TOPICA) code was used to compute E// field maps in front of the ILA and between its poloidal limiters in the presence of plasma using measured density profiles and various antenna feedings. E// field maps calculated between the poloidal limiters were used to estimate the poloidal distribution of RF-sheath Direct Current (DC) potential in this private region of the ILA and make relative comparison of various antenna electrical settings. For this purpose we used the asymptotic version of the Self-consistent Sheaths and Waves for Ion Cyclotron Heating Slow-Wave (SSWICH-SW) code. These estimations can help to study the formation of RF sheaths around the antenna and even at distant locations (∼3m away).