Structural design of the Tore Supra Phase III limiter head

The authors discuss innovative support techniques that are used to prevent misalignment of the tubes in the Tore Supra Phase III limiter head during plasma operations. Since thermal misalignment of the limiter with respect to the toroidal field will damage the limiter, all tubes in the tube bank must be maintained in good alignment with each other. In order to minimize limiter damage due to misalignment and dynamic chattering loads without increasing eddy current loads, a design which weaves the limiter head together with flexible strands of Inconel wire evolved. The analysis and solutions that were used to address the structural integrity problems that exist in the design are included. A variety of weave patterns are investigated using finite element modeling techniques. One novel weave pattern and hardware configuration has been selected which minimizes misalignment and eliminates vibrational chattering loads without significantly increasing eddy currents. This support configuration is critical in providing good thermal performance of the limiter system