Current understanding of divertor detachment: experiments and modelling

A qualitative as well as quantitative evaluation of experimentally observed plasma parameters in the detached regime proves to be difficult for several tokamaks. A series of ohmic discharges have been performed in ASDEX Upgrade and DIII-D at similar as possible plasma parameters and at different line averaged densities, {bar n}{sub e}. The experimental data represent a set of well diagnosed discharges against which numerical simulations are compared. For the numerical modeling the fluid-code B2.5 coupled to the Monte Carlo neutrals transport code EIRENE is used. Only the combined enhancement of effects, such as geometry, drift terms, neutral conductance, increased radial transport and divertor target composition, explains a significant fraction of the experimentally observed asymmetries of the ion fluxes as a function of {bar n}{sub e} to the inner and outer target plates in ASDEX Upgrade. The relative importance of the mechanisms leading to detachment are different in DIII-D and ASDEX Upgrade.