3D plasma response investigation of SVR-enabled operational space expansion using a self-consistent integrated modeling framework

Several tokamaks have undergone major upgrades this year, including KSTAR with the installation of its tungsten divertor and DIII-D with its shape and volume rise (SVR), which EPED [1] predicts admits FPP-relevant plasmas endowed with enhanced pedestal pressure. ITER and FPPs will not tolerate type-I ELMs, and thus significant experimental time is devoted to developing ELM-free scenarios, the current prevailing technique for which is RMP-ELM suppression. The high sensitivity of a 3D-field-induced plasma response to shifts in operational space solicits new 3D plasma response predictions for RMP ELM control guidance. This work introduces an integrated modeling framework to self-consistently scan through presently experimentally-unrealized parts of operational space and use this to estimate the 3D plasma response, offering predictive guidance for ELM-suppression access favorability. The framework generates tightly converged equilibria satisfying a target set of plasma parameters (Ip, β, l_i) with a self-consistent set of kinetic and current profiles constrained by an EPED(NN)-computed pedestal [2], which are then input to GPEC to calculate the 3D plasma response [3]. In addition to the device upgrade application explored in this work, this tool can be versatilely used for generic scenario exploration.