Quantitative magnetohydrodynamic modelling of flux pumping in ASDEX Upgrade

The sawtooth-free hybrid scenario has been achieved recently in ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) with applied non-inductive current sources and auxiliary heating (Burckhart et al 2023 Nucl. Fusion 63 126056). Control experiments in AUG suggest that the self-regulating magnetic flux pumping mechanism, characterized by anomalous current redistribution, is responsible for clamping the central safety factor (q0) close to unity, thereby preventing the sawtooth onset. This work presents a numerical and theoretical investigation of flux pumping in the AUG hybrid scenario based on the two-temperature, visco-resistive, full magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model with the JOREK code. To quantitatively model the flux pumping, we choose realistic parameters, plasma configurations, and source terms based on AUG experiments. During the initial saturation stage of the unstable 1/1 quasi-interchange mode (on millisecond timescales, i.e. thousands of Alfvén times), q0 exhibits fast under-damped oscillation and reaches a value closer to unity, which is attributed to the self-regulation of core plasma and the fast dynamo effect on the order of V m−1. On the longer resistive diffusion timescale of seconds (millions of Alfvén times), the slow negative dynamo effect on the order of mV m−1 induced by the 1/1 MHD instability plays an effective role in flux pumping, which provides quantitative agreement with experimental observations for the first time. The final saturated 1/1 MHD instability exhibits features of the quasi-interchange mode and tearing mode, and the associated convective plasma flow velocity is a few m s−1. The toroidal negative electric field from the slow dynamo dominantly offsets the positive current drive and continuously redistributes the current density and pressure. As a result, q0 is maintained close to unity due to the low-shear profiles of current density and pressure in the plasma core, and the system enters into a sawtooth-free and quasi-stationary helical state.