Assessment of ion cyclotron antenna performance in ASDEX Upgrade using TOPICA

Nuclear fusion in magnetic confinement devices is one of the most challenging application fields for electromagnetics and mechanics. In particular antennas, charged with the task of handling and delivering high power to the plasma, have to operate in a harsh environment with very demanding thermal and mechanical requirements. Within this scenario, the use of tools able to efficiently predict the antenna behaviour is mandatory. In the present work, the TOrino Polytechnic Ion Cyclotron Antenna (TOPICA) code has been used to simulate the real 3D geometry of two launchers, generally operating at 30 MHz and presently installed on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. The working frequency belongs to the Ion-Cyclotron range of frequencies that was proven to achieve very efficient plasma heating. Antenna performances are presented in terms of coupled power and RF potentials for different realistic plasma scenarios taken from ASDEX Upgrade.