New empirical and theoretical transport models for helical confinement systems are developed on the basis of the neoclassical transport theory, including the effect of the radial electric field and of multi-helicity magnetic components as well as the drift wave turbulence transport for electrostatic and electromagnetic modes or the anomalous semi-empirical transport. These electron thermal diffusivities are compared with experimental data from the Compact Helical System which indicate that the central transport coefficient of a plasma with electron cyclotron heating agrees with the neoclassical axisymmetric value and the transport outside the half-radius is anomalous. On the other hand, the transport of plasmas with neutral beam injection heating is anomalous in the whole plasma region. This anomaly is not explained by the electrostatic drift wave turbulence models in these discharges with flat density profiles. For a detailed prediction of the plasma parameters in the Large Helical Device (LHD), 3-D equilibriumll-D transport simulations including empirical or drift wave turbulence models are performed which suggest that the global confinement time of the LHD is determined mainly by the electron anomalous transport in the plasma edge region rather than by the helical ripple transport in the core region. Even if the ripple loss can be eliminated, the increase in global confinement is 10%. However, the rise in the central ion temperature is more than 20%. If the anomalous loss can be reduced to half of the value used in the present scaling, as is the case in the H-mode of tokamak discharges, the neoclassical ripple loss through the ion channel becomes important even in the plasma core. The 5 % radial inward shift of the plasma column with respect to the major radius improves the plasma confinement and increases the fusion product by more than 50% by reducing the neoclassical asymmetric ion transport loss and increasing the plasma radius (10%).

Numerical studies of the beta limit in the first region of stability for n = °° ballooning modes in advanced-shaped tokamaks are presented. A higher beta value than corresponds to the present conventional beta scaling is expected for advanced-shaped tokamaks with sufficient triangularity/indentation. Extremely elongated configurations without appropriate triangularity do not lead to an increase in critical beta. Dee or bean shapes with sharply tipped cross-sections are more favourable for achieving high beta values than those with round-tip cross-sections having nearly the same safety factor profile. A new beta scaling for elongated ellipse, Dee-and bean-shaped tokamaks is derived.

The spatial structure and Z dependence of transport coefficient were studied by injecting impurity pellets (C, Al, and Ti) and measuring high-spatial resolution bremsstrahlung in steady-state neutral beam heated plasmas on the Large Helical Device [A. Iiyoshi et al., Fusion Techol. 17, 169 (1990)]. The D and V were evaluated from a diffusive/convective model with minimizing the residual error between the experimental and computational bremsstrahlung intensities taking the recycling rate into account. As a result, the existence of an inward convection was observed at ρ>0.6, and no convection was required at ρ<0.6. Furthermore, it is found that the dependence of D on the electron density, the species and charge state of impurity is weak [typically D=0.15–0.25 (m2/s) in the range of ne=1.4–5.2×1019 (m−3)], but the inward convection has a strong dependence not only on the electron density but also the charge state. The spatial structure and Z dependence of the convective velocity for carbon and titanium ions were evaluated.

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The coupling of ICRF power from a slow-wave antenna to a plasma with finite temperature is examined. A heuristic model, allowing explicit representations of ion Bernstein waves, fast waves and slow waves, is used to clarify how the antenna power is partitioned into the various wave energy fluxes. This model is complemented quantitatively by a more elaborate and realistic computer model. It is shown that such antennas can be highly efficient in transferring most of the antenna power directly to ion Bernstein waves, with only a very small fraction going into fast waves. The potentiality of this coupling scheme for plasma heating in ICRF is briefly discussed.

Impurity transport of carbon has been studied using a new method combined carbon pellet injection with high-spatial resolution bremsstrahlung measurement on the Large Helical Device [A. Iiyoshi et al., Fusion Technol. 17, 169 (1990)]. The carbon pellets are injected into a steady phase in neutral beam heated discharges with a standard configuration of Rax=3.6m. The particle transport coefficients (diffusion coefficient D and convective velocity V) are inferred using a diffusive/convective model. The results are compared between hydrogen and helium plasmas. As a result, it is found that the analyzed D has a constant radial profile with almost closed values of 0.2m2∕s in both plasmas. On the other hand, the inward V is required only at the plasma outer region (ρ>0.6) where the electron density gradient exits, and the inward V in helium plasmas (−0.4m∕s at ρ=0.8 and ne∼4.0×1019m−3) is nearly half as much as that in hydrogen plasmas (−0.7m∕s). This difference of the inward V between hydrogen and helium plasmas suggests a dependence on the charge state of fuel ions predicted from neoclassical theory.

Neutral-beam power of up to 1.2 MW injected into the plasma has produced a volume-averaged ⟨β⟩ of up to 2.6% and a central beta β0 of up to 7%, due to the thermal components in the JFT-2 tokamak. In these beam-dominated discharges, the magnetohydrodynamic behaviour was studied. Four types of internal oscillations were observed: i) enhanced sawtooth oscillations with long repetition time and large sawtooth amplitude; ii) round sawtooth oscillations and/or reduced sawtooth oscillations with short repetition time and small sawtooth amplitude; iii) high-frequency oscillations without sawtooth oscillations, and iv) high-frequency oscillations with sawtooth oscillations. The measured beta values are compared with the critical ones as found from high-n ballooning-mode analysis, and the relationship between MHD behaviour and beta values is also investigated.