GSevolve simulations of KSTAR ITER baseline scenario plasmas from ramp-up to ramp-down

The superconducting design of KSTAR provide an excellent platform to test the plasma control algorithms required for ITER. One significant challenge is the coupled control of plasma current (Ip) and shape, which are fully dependent on the currents and their trajectories in the poloidal field coils. Work is underway to simulate the entire evolution of a plasma discharge, from ramp-up to ramp-down, using a time-dependent Grad-Shafranov solver connected to the plasma control system (PCS) inside the TokSys framework. In the ramp-up and ramp-down portions, the effort is focused on optimizing the shape control, the Ip ramp rate, and the timing of LH and HL transitions. In the flattop phase, the goal is to achieve a closer match to scaled ITER parameters by reaching a higher normalized Ip and a lower safety factor. Once the optimizations are complete, the solutions can be directly ported to the KSTAR PCS for experiment.