PIES Applications to NCSX

The purpose of the research presented here is two fold. We present preliminary results for the assessment of flux surface quality for a candidate configuration for the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) experiment. We also present preliminary results of the assessment of our 3-D MHD tools, PIES[1] and VMEC[2]. We first illustrate the flux surface quality in C82 by showing PIES results for several snapshots in the evolution of the plasma from 0% beta to 3.5% beta. C82 is a quasi-axisymmetric candidate configuration for the NCSX experiment. Next, as part of our effort to qualify the PIES code for current carrying stellarators, we present results for a W7-AS experimental shot. Lastly, we show evidence from the PIES code that the equilibrium produced by VMEC violate the Hamada condition.