Computational study of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equilibria in toroidal helical systems (Q1114555)

Computational methods based on the time-dependent relaxation technique for obtaining finite beta stellarator equilibria with no net current are described. The computation grid is Eulerian corresponding to space-fixed non-orthogonal helical coordinates. The poloidal cross section, which is composed of rectangular grids, rotates with the same pitch as that of external helical conductors along the toroidal direction. By this choice, it is possible to handle complicated field topologies and to economize the computer memory. Also, numerical convergence is greatly improved compared with that in cylindrical coordinates. The developed code is applied to a typical low shear \(l=2\) stellarator (Wendelstein VII-A). Furthermore, breaking up of magnetic surfaces due to finite \(\beta\) effect in a low aspect ration \(l=2\) torsatron is shown.