2D analysis of tokamak divertor-plasma detachment-bifurcation with operational parameters and geometries

UEDGE simulations with density scans for various input power, transport coefficients and outer poloidal leg length are performed to study the conditions for the existence of a bifurcation-like drop of Te at the outer strike point, commonly referred to as a detachment cliff, when transitioning to a detached plasma from an attached plasma in the outer divertor as the upstream density increases (McLean et al., 2015). The simulation results show that a detachment cliff tends to occur with a higher power input regardless of diffusivities and leg length. Further analysis of change of plasma profiles at a cliff indicate that, in addition to the sharp reduction of the E×B drift fluxes in the outer divertor studied in Jaervinen et al., (2018), the substantial change of the Mach number in the outer divertor and the decrease of the outer mid-plane Te due to the radiation front moving across the separatrix into the confinement region above the X-point consistently occur for all UEDGE density scans that have a detachment cliff. UEDGE time-dependent simulation of the evolution of a detachment cliff shows that the rapid increase of radiation above the X-point occurs in a time scale of ∼0.3–0.5ms, which could possibly be the trigger for the formation of a detachment cliff, quicker than the Mach number change in a time scale of ∼1ms and the drop of Te in a time scale of ∼2–3ms in the outer divertor.