Abstract: This paper presents a comparative study of the poloidal distribution of mean ExB shearing rate for positive triangularity(PT) and negative triangularity(NT) tokamaks. The effects of flux surface up-down asymmetry due to asymmetric upper and lower triangularities is also considered. Both direct eddy straining and effects on Shafranov shift feedback loops are examined. Shafranov shift increases the shearing rate at all poloidal angles for all triangularities, due to flux surface compression. The maximum shearing rate bifurcates at a critical triangularity δcrit(≤0). Thus, the shearing rate is maximal off the outboard mid-plane for NT, while it is maximal on the outboard mid-plane for PT. For up-down asymmetric triangularity, the usual up-down symmetry of the shearing rate is broken. The shearing rate at the out board mid-plane is lower for NT than for PT suggesting that the shearing efficiency in NT is reduced. Implications for turbulence stabilization and confinement improvement in high-βp NT and ITB discharges are discussed.

The path of tokamak fusion and International thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) is maintaining high-performance plasma to produce sufficient fusion power. This effort is hindered by the transient energy burst arising from the instabilities at the boundary of plasmas. Conventional 3D magnetic perturbations used to suppress these instabilities often degrade fusion performance and increase the risk of other instabilities. This study presents an innovative 3D field optimization approach that leverages machine learning and real-time adaptability to overcome these challenges. Implemented in the DIII-D and KSTAR tokamaks, this method has consistently achieved reactor-relevant core confinement and the highest fusion performance without triggering damaging bursts. This is enabled by advances in the physics understanding of self-organized transport in the plasma edge and machine learning techniques to optimize the 3D field spectrum. The success of automated, real-time adaptive control of such complex systems paves the way for maximizing fusion efficiency in ITER and beyond while minimizing damage to device components.