IDEAL TOROIDAL STABILITY BETA LIMITS AND SHAPING EFFECTS FOR REVERSED FIELD PINCH CONFIGURATIONS

The influence of shaping and toroidicity on the ideal MHD stability of the reversed field pinch (RFP) is investigated with respect to current driven and pressure driven modes. It is found that triangularity and X-point shaping does not significantly modify the operational limits of RFPs, while ellipticity and D shaping is destabilizing. A simple relation for the stability of current driven modes is also given.