Coupled core, edge pedestal and SOL modeling for DIII-D

A theory-based integrated modeling of Core, Edge pedestal, and Scrape-Off-Layer (CESOL) has been tested against existing DIII-D discharges with various divertor closure geometries to study effects of divertor closure on detachment and core performance. Detached divertor operation is necessary to exhaust large particle and energy heat fluxes to the Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) for the future fusion reactors. Combining the detached divertor with the Advanced Tokamak (AT) core is a well-recognized challenge, where edge pedestal plays a crucial role in the tradeoff. In certain conditions and in line with what observed in other tokamaks worldwide, DIII-D experiments showed that higher plasma density required for detachment can degrade confinement in the core plasma due to the lower pedestal pressure and profile stiffness. CESOL can reproduce the experimental measured profiles reasonably well across the regions from the magnetic axis to the divertor by integrating three independent, compound IPS workflows of IPS-FASTRAN, IPS-EPED1, and IPS-C2. The response of the pedestal pressure to increasing density is reproduced by the EPED model and the core transport and confinement depending significantly on this pedestal condition are reproduced by the CESOL simulation.