  In ideal MHD, shear Alfv\'{e}n eigenmodes may experience dissipationless
damping due to resonant interaction with the shear Alfv\'{e}n continuum. This
continuum damping can make a significant contribution to the overall
growth/decay rate of shear Alfv\'{e}n eigenmodes, with consequent implications
for fast ion transport. One method for calculating continuum damping is to
solve the MHD eigenvalue problem over a suitable contour in the complex plane,
thereby satisfying the causality condition. Such an approach can be implemented
in three-dimensional ideal MHD codes which use the Galerkin method. Analytic
functions can be fitted to numerical data for equilibrium quantities in order
to determine the value of these quantities along the complex contour. This
approach requires less resolution than the established technique of calculating
damping as resistivity vanishes and is thus more computationally efficient. The
complex contour method has been applied to the three-dimensional finite element
ideal MHD code CKA . In this paper we discuss the application of the complex
contour technique to calculate the continuum damping of global modes in tokamak
as well as torsatron, W7X and H1-NF stellarator cases. To the authors'
knowledge these stellarator calculations represent the first calculation of
continuum damping for eigenmodes in fully three-dimensional equilibria. The
continuum damping of global modes in W7X and H1-NF stellarator configurations
investigated is found to depend sensitively on coupling to numerous poloidal
and toroidal harmonics.
