Numerical study of MHD supersonic flow control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryakhovskiy, A. I.; Schmidt, A. A.

2017-11-01

Supersonic MHD flow around a blunted body with a constant external magnetic field has been simulated for a number of geometries as well as a range of the flow parameters. Solvers based on Balbas-Tadmor MHD schemes and HLLC-Roe Godunov-type method have been developed within the OpenFOAM framework. The stability of the solution varies depending on the intensity of magnetic interaction The obtained solutions show the potential of MHD flow control and provide insights into for the development of the flow control system. The analysis of the results proves the applicability of numerical schemes, that are being used in the solvers. A number of ways to improve both the mathematical model of the process and the developed solvers are proposed.

Stability of a two-volume MRxMHD model in slab geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuen, Li Huey

Ideal MHD models are known to be inadequate to describe various physical attributes of a toroidal field with non-continuous symmetry, such as magnetic islands and stochastic regions. Motivated by this omission, a new variational principle MRXMHD was developed; rather than include an infinity of magnetic flux surfaces, MRxMHD has a finite number of flux surfaces, and thus supports partial plasma relaxation. The model comprises of relaxed plasma regions which are separated by nested ideal MHD interfaces (flux surfaces), and can be encased in a perfectly conducting wall. In each region the pressure is constant, but can jump across interfaces. The field and field pitch, or rotational transform, can also jump across the interfaces. Unlike ideal MHD, MRxMHD plasmas can support toroidally non-axisymmetric confined magnetic fields, magnetic islands and stochastic regions. In toroidally non-axisymmetric plasma, the existence of interfaces in MRxMHD is contingent on the irrationality of the rotational transform of flux surfaces. That is, the KAM theorem shows that invariant tori (flux surfaces) continue to exist for sufficiently small perturbations to an integrable system (which describes flux surfaces), provided that the rotational transform is sufficiently irrational. Building upon the MRxMHD stability model, we study the effects of irrationality of the rotational transform at interfaces in MRxMHD on plasma stability. We present an MRxMHD equilibrium model to investigate the effects of magnetic field pitch within the plasma and across the aforementioned flux surfaces within a chosen geometry. In this model, it is found that the 2D system stability conditions are dependent on the interface and resonant surface magnetic field pitch at minimised energy states, and the stability of a system as a function of magnetic field pitch destabilises at particular values of magnetic field pitch. We benchmark the treatment of a two-volume system, along with the calculations for background and perturbed magnetic fields to existing cylindrical working. An expression is formulated for the stability eigenvalues by creating a model for the slab geometry system. The eigenvalues for system stability at a minimum energy state are found to depend upon the rationality of the magnetic field pitch at resonant surfaces. Various system parameter scans are conducted to determine their affect upon system stability and their implications. While tearing instabilities exist at low order rational resonances, investigating the instability of high-order rationals requires study of pressure-driven instabilities.

Integrated Modeling of Time Evolving 3D Kinetic MHD Equilibria and NTV Torque

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Logan, N. C.; Park, J.-K.; Grierson, B. A.; Haskey, S. R.; Nazikian, R.; Cui, L.; Smith, S. P.; Meneghini, O.

2016-10-01

New analysis tools and integrated modeling of plasma dynamics developed in the OMFIT framework are used to study kinetic MHD equilibria evolution on the transport time scale. The experimentally observed profile dynamics following the application of 3D error fields are described using a new OMFITprofiles workflow that directly addresses the need for rapid and comprehensive analysis of dynamic equilibria for next-step theory validation. The workflow treats all diagnostic data as fundamentally time dependent, provides physics-based manipulations such as ELM phase data selection, and is consistent across multiple machines - including DIII-D and NSTX-U. The seamless integration of tokamak data and simulation is demonstrated by using the self-consistent kinetic EFIT equilibria and profiles as input into 2D particle, momentum and energy transport calculations using TRANSP as well as 3D kinetic MHD equilibrium stability and neoclassical transport modeling using General Perturbed Equilibrium Code (GPEC). The result is a smooth kinetic stability and NTV torque evolution over transport time scales. Work supported by DE-AC02-09CH11466.

Trapped particle stability for the kinetic stabilizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berk, H. L.; Pratt, J.

2011-08-01

A kinetically stabilized axially symmetric tandem mirror (KSTM) uses the momentum flux of low-energy, unconfined particles that sample only the outer end-regions of the mirror plugs, where large favourable field-line curvature exists. The window of operation is determined for achieving magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability with tolerable energy drain from the kinetic stabilizer. Then MHD stable systems are analysed for stability of the trapped particle mode. This mode is characterized by the detachment of the central-cell plasma from the kinetic-stabilizer region without inducing field-line bending. Stability of the trapped particle mode is sensitive to the electron connection between the stabilizer and the end plug. It is found that the stability condition for the trapped particle mode is more constraining than the stability condition for the MHD mode, and it is challenging to satisfy the required power constraint. Furthermore, a severe power drain may arise from the necessary connection of low-energy electrons in the kinetic stabilizer to the central region.

Linear MHD stability analysis of post-disruption plasmas in ITER

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aleynikova, K., E-mail: ksenia.aleynikova@gmail.com; Huijsmans, G. T. A.; Aleynikov, P.

2016-05-15

Most of the plasma current can be replaced by a runaway electron (RE) current during plasma disruptions in ITER. In this case the post-disruption plasma current profile is likely to be more peaked than the pre-disruption profile. The MHD activity of such plasma will affect the runaway electron generation and confinement and the dynamics of the plasma position evolution (Vertical Displacement Event), limiting the timeframe for runaway electrons and disruption mitigation. In the present paper, we evaluate the influence of the possible RE seed current parameters on the onset of the MHD instabilities. By varying the RE seed current profile,more » we search for subsequent plasma evolutions with the highest and the lowest MHD activity. This information can be applied to a development of desirable ITER disruption scenario.« less

Special Issue on the 20th Workshop on MHD Stability Control

DOE PAGES

Park, Jong -Kyu

2016-11-08

The 20th workshop on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability control took place November 22–24, 2015, in Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), following the American Physical Society—Division of Plasma Physics annual meeting on November 16–20 in Savannah, GA. The purpose of this workshop is to stimulate in depth discussion and motivate future research in the areas of MHD stability physics and control of magnetically confined plasmas. Furthermore, the workshop was organized jointly by Auburn University, Columbia University, General Atomics, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and under the auspices of the US/Japan Collaboration.

Stability of DIII-D high-performance, negative central shear discharges

DOE PAGES

Hanson, Jeremy M.; Berkery, John W.; Bialek, James M.; ...

2017-03-20

Tokamak plasma experiments on the DIII-D device demonstrate high-performance, negative central shear (NCS) equilibria with enhanced stability when the minimum safety factor q min exceeds 2, qualitatively confirming theoretical predictions of favorable stability in the NCS regime. The discharges exhibit good confinement with an L-mode enhancement factor H 89 = 2.5, and are ultimately limited by the ideal-wall external kink stability boundary as predicted by ideal MHD theory, as long as tearing mode (TM) locking events, resistive wall modes (RWMs), and internal kink modes are properly avoided or controlled. Although the discharges exhibit rotating TMs, locking events are avoided asmore » long as a threshold minimum safety factor value q min > 2 is maintained. Fast timescale magnetic feedback control ameliorates RWM activity, expanding the stable operating space and allowing access to β N values approaching the ideal-wall limit. Quickly growing and rotating instabilities consistent with internal kink mode dynamics are encountered when the ideal-wall limit is reached. The RWM events largely occur between the no- and ideal-wall pressure limits predicted by ideal MHD. However, evaluating kinetic contributions to the RWM dispersion relation results in a prediction of passive stability in this regime due to high plasma rotation. In addition, the ideal MHD stability analysis predicts that the ideal-wall limit can be further increased to β N > 4 by broadening the current profile. Furthermore, this path toward improved stability has the potential advantage of being compatible with the bootstrap-dominated equilibria envisioned for advanced tokamak (AT) fusion reactors.« less

Stability of DIII-D high-performance, negative central shear discharges

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hanson, Jeremy M.; Berkery, John W.; Bialek, James M.

Tokamak plasma experiments on the DIII-D device demonstrate high-performance, negative central shear (NCS) equilibria with enhanced stability when the minimum safety factor q min exceeds 2, qualitatively confirming theoretical predictions of favorable stability in the NCS regime. The discharges exhibit good confinement with an L-mode enhancement factor H 89 = 2.5, and are ultimately limited by the ideal-wall external kink stability boundary as predicted by ideal MHD theory, as long as tearing mode (TM) locking events, resistive wall modes (RWMs), and internal kink modes are properly avoided or controlled. Although the discharges exhibit rotating TMs, locking events are avoided asmore » long as a threshold minimum safety factor value q min > 2 is maintained. Fast timescale magnetic feedback control ameliorates RWM activity, expanding the stable operating space and allowing access to β N values approaching the ideal-wall limit. Quickly growing and rotating instabilities consistent with internal kink mode dynamics are encountered when the ideal-wall limit is reached. The RWM events largely occur between the no- and ideal-wall pressure limits predicted by ideal MHD. However, evaluating kinetic contributions to the RWM dispersion relation results in a prediction of passive stability in this regime due to high plasma rotation. In addition, the ideal MHD stability analysis predicts that the ideal-wall limit can be further increased to β N > 4 by broadening the current profile. Furthermore, this path toward improved stability has the potential advantage of being compatible with the bootstrap-dominated equilibria envisioned for advanced tokamak (AT) fusion reactors.« less

Dependence of Edge Profiles and Stability on Neutral Beam Power in NSTX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Travis, P.; Canal, G. P.; Osborne, T. H.; Maingi, R.; Sabbagh, S. A.; NSTX-U Team

2016-10-01

Studying the effect of neutral beam injected (NBI) power on edge plasma profiles and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability is central to the understanding of edge-localized modes (ELMs). Higher heating power should quicken the development of pressure and current-driven peeling-ballooning modes. NSTX ELMy H-mode discharges with NBI power of 4, 5 and 6 MW were analyzed with a python-based set of analysis tools that fit plasma profiles, compute kinetic equilibria, and evaluate the MHD stability with the code ELITE. Electron density and temperature from Thomson scattering measurements, and ion density, temperature, and rotation from Charge Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy were inputs to the kinetic equilibrium fits. The power scan provides an opportunity to compare the stability calculations from the ELITE (ideal) and M3D-C1 (resistive) codes. Preliminary analysis shows that edge pressure profiles for the 5 and 6 MW discharges are comparable, suggesting they both reach a stability boundary. The 4 MW case shows lower edge pressure, which is likely limited by edge transport below the edge stability boundary. This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS) under the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program.

Existence and Stability of Compressible Current-Vortex Sheets in Three-Dimensional Magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Gui-Qiang; Wang, Ya-Guang

2008-03-01

Compressible vortex sheets are fundamental waves, along with shocks and rarefaction waves, in entropy solutions to multidimensional hyperbolic systems of conservation laws. Understanding the behavior of compressible vortex sheets is an important step towards our full understanding of fluid motions and the behavior of entropy solutions. For the Euler equations in two-dimensional gas dynamics, the classical linearized stability analysis on compressible vortex sheets predicts stability when the Mach number M > sqrt{2} and instability when M < sqrt{2} ; and Artola and Majda’s analysis reveals that the nonlinear instability may occur if planar vortex sheets are perturbed by highly oscillatory waves even when M > sqrt{2} . For the Euler equations in three dimensions, every compressible vortex sheet is violently unstable and this instability is the analogue of the Kelvin Helmholtz instability for incompressible fluids. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether compressible vortex sheets in three dimensions, which are unstable in the regime of pure gas dynamics, become stable under the magnetic effect in three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). One of the main features is that the stability problem is equivalent to a free-boundary problem whose free boundary is a characteristic surface, which is more delicate than noncharacteristic free-boundary problems. Another feature is that the linearized problem for current-vortex sheets in MHD does not meet the uniform Kreiss Lopatinskii condition. These features cause additional analytical difficulties and especially prevent a direct use of the standard Picard iteration to the nonlinear problem. In this paper, we develop a nonlinear approach to deal with these difficulties in three-dimensional MHD. We first carefully formulate the linearized problem for the current-vortex sheets to show rigorously that the magnetic effect makes the problem weakly stable and establish energy estimates, especially high-order energy estimates, in terms of the nonhomogeneous terms and variable coefficients. Then we exploit these results to develop a suitable iteration scheme of the Nash Moser Hörmander type to deal with the loss of the order of derivative in the nonlinear level and establish its convergence, which leads to the existence and stability of compressible current-vortex sheets, locally in time, in three-dimensional MHD.

ON THE ROLE OF INVOLUTIONS IN THE DISCONTINUOUS GALERKIN DISCRETIZATION OF MAXWELL AND MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SYSTEMS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barth, Timothy

2005-01-01

The role of involutions in energy stability of the discontinuous Galerkin (DG) discretization of Maxwell and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) systems is examined. Important differences are identified in the symmetrization of the Maxwell and MHD systems that impact the construction of energy stable discretizations using the DG method. Specifically, general sufficient conditions to be imposed on the DG numerical flux and approximation space are given so that energy stability is retained These sufficient conditions reveal the favorable energy consequence of imposing continuity in the normal component of the magnetic induction field at interelement boundaries for MHD discretizations. Counterintuitively, this condition is not required for stability of Maxwell discretizations using the discontinuous Galerkin method.

Stability of DIII-D high-performance, negative central shear discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanson, J. M.; Berkery, J. W.; Bialek, J.; Clement, M.; Ferron, J. R.; Garofalo, A. M.; Holcomb, C. T.; La Haye, R. J.; Lanctot, M. J.; Luce, T. C.; Navratil, G. A.; Olofsson, K. E. J.; Strait, E. J.; Turco, F.; Turnbull, A. D.

2017-05-01

Tokamak plasma experiments on the DIII-D device (Luxon et al 2005 Fusion Sci. Tech. 48 807) demonstrate high-performance, negative central shear (NCS) equilibria with enhanced stability when the minimum safety factor {{q}\\text{min}} exceeds 2, qualitatively confirming theoretical predictions of favorable stability in the NCS regime. The discharges exhibit good confinement with an L-mode enhancement factor H 89  =  2.5, and are ultimately limited by the ideal-wall external kink stability boundary as predicted by ideal MHD theory, as long as tearing mode (TM) locking events, resistive wall modes (RWMs), and internal kink modes are properly avoided or controlled. Although the discharges exhibit rotating TMs, locking events are avoided as long as a threshold minimum safety factor value {{q}\\text{min}}>2 is maintained. Fast timescale magnetic feedback control ameliorates RWM activity, expanding the stable operating space and allowing access to {β\\text{N}} values approaching the ideal-wall limit. Quickly growing and rotating instabilities consistent with internal kink mode dynamics are encountered when the ideal-wall limit is reached. The RWM events largely occur between the no- and ideal-wall pressure limits predicted by ideal MHD. However, evaluating kinetic contributions to the RWM dispersion relation results in a prediction of passive stability in this regime due to high plasma rotation. In addition, the ideal MHD stability analysis predicts that the ideal-wall limit can be further increased to {β\\text{N}}>4 by broadening the current profile. This path toward improved stability has the potential advantage of being compatible with the bootstrap-dominated equilibria envisioned for advanced tokamak (AT) fusion reactors.

Equilibrium and initial linear stability analysis of liquid metal falling film flows in a varying spanwise magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, D.; Morley, N. B.

2002-12-01

A 2D model for MHD free surface flow in a spanwise field is developed. The model, designed to simulate film flows of liquid metals in future thermo­nuclear fusion reactors, considers an applied spanwise magnetic field with spatial and temporal variation and an applied streamwise external current. A special case - a thin falling film flow in spanwise magnetic field with constant gradient and constant applied external streamwise current, is here investigated in depth to gain insight into the behavior of the MHD film flow. The fully developed flow solution is derived and initial linear stability analysis is performed for this special case. It is seen that the velocity profile is significantly changed due to the presence of the MHD effect, resulting in the free surface analog of the classic M-shape velocity profile seen in developing pipe flows in a field gradient. The field gradient is also seen to destabilize the film flow under most conditions. The effect of external current depends on the relative direction of the field gradient to the current direction. By controlling the magnitude of an external current, it is possible to obtain a linearly stable falling film under these magnetic field conditions. Tables 1, Figs 12, Refs 20.

Active control of ECCD-induced tearing mode stabilization in coupled NIMROD/GENRAY HPC simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Thomas; Kruger, Scott; Held, Eric

2013-10-01

Actively controlled ECCD applied in or near magnetic islands formed by NTMs has been successfully shown to control/suppress these modes, despite uncertainties in island O-point locations (where induced current is most stabilizing) relative to the RF deposition region. Integrated numerical models of the mode stabilization process can resolve these uncertainties and augment experimental efforts to determine optimal ITER NTM stabilization strategies. The advanced SWIM model incorporates RF effects in the equations/closures of extended MHD as 3D (not toroidal or bounce-averaged) quasilinear diffusion coefficients. Equilibration of driven current within the island geometry is modeled using the same extended MHD dynamics governing the physics of island formation, yielding a more accurate/self-consistent picture of island response to RF drive. Additionally, a numerical active feedback control system gathers data from synthetic diagnostics to dynamically trigger & spatially align the RF fields. Computations which model the RF deposition using ray tracing, assemble the 3D QL operator from ray & profile data, calculate the resultant xMHD forces, and dynamically realign the RF to more efficiently stabilize modes are presented; the efficacy of various control strategies is also discussed. Supported by the SciDAC Center for Extended MHD Modeling (CEMM); see also https://cswim.org.

Stable Spheromaks Sustained by Neutral Beam Injection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fowler, T K; Jayakumar, R; McLean, H S

It is shown that spheromak equilibria, stable at zero-beta but departing from the Taylor state, could be sustained by non-inductive current drive at acceptable power levels. Stability to both ideal MHD and tearing modes is verified using the NIMROD code for linear stability analysis. Non-linear NIMROD calculations with non-inductive current drive and pressure effects could point the way to improved fusion reactors.

Study of Second Stability for Global ITG Modes in MHD-stable Equilibria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fivaz, Mathieu; Sauter, Olivier; Appert, Kurt; Tran, Trach-Minh; Vaclavik, Jan

1997-11-01

We study finite pressure effects on the Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG) instabilities; these modes are stabilized when the magnetic field gradient is reversed at high β [1]. This second stability regime for ITG modes is studied in details with a global linear gyrokinetic Particle-In-Cell code which takes the full toroidal MHD equilibrium data from the equilibrium solver CHEASE [2]. Both the trapped-ion and the toroidal ITG regimes are explored. In contrast to second stability for MHD ballooning modes, low magnetic shear and high values of the safety factor do not facilitate strongly the access to the second-stable ITG regime. The consequences for anomalous ion heat transport in tokamaks are explored. We use the results to find optimized configurations that are stable to ideal MHD modes for both the long (kink) and short (ballooning) wavelengths and where the ITG modes are stable or have very low growth rates; such configurations might present very low level of anomalous transport. [1] M. Fivaz, T.M. Tran, K. Appert, J. Vaclavik and S. E. Parker, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1997, p. 3471 [2] H. Lütjens, A. Bondeson and O. Sauter, Comput. Phys. Commun. 97, 1996, p. 219

Linear and nonlinear stability criteria for compressible MHD flows in a gravitational field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moawad, S. M.; Moawad

2013-10-01

The equilibrium and stability properties of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) of compressible flow in a gravitational field with a translational symmetry are investigated. Variational principles for the steady-state equations are formulated. The MHD equilibrium equations are obtained as critical points of a conserved Lyapunov functional. This functional consists of the sum of the total energy, the mass, the circulation along field lines (cross helicity), the momentum, and the magnetic helicity. In the unperturbed case, the equilibrium states satisfy a nonlinear second-order partial differential equation (PDE) associated with hydrodynamic Bernoulli law. The PDE can be an elliptic or a parabolic equation depending on increasing the poloidal flow speed. Linear and nonlinear Lyapunov stability conditions under translational symmetric perturbations are established for the equilibrium states.

Core plasma design of the compact helical reactor with a consideration of the equipartition effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goto, T.; Miyazawa, J.; Yanagi, N.; Tamura, H.; Tanaka, T.; Sakamoto, R.; Suzuki, C.; Seki, R.; Satake, S.; Nunami, M.; Yokoyama, M.; Sagara, A.; the FFHR Design Group

2018-07-01

Integrated physics analysis of plasma operation scenario of the compact helical reactor FFHR-c1 has been conducted. The DPE method, which predicts radial profiles in a reactor by direct extrapolation from the reference experimental data, has been extended to implement the equipartition effect. Close investigation of the plasma operation regime has been conducted and a candidate plasma operation point of FFHR-c1 has been identified within the parameter regime that has already been confirmed in LHD experiment in view of MHD equilibrium, MHD stability and neoclassical transport.

Stability analysis of the high poloidal bet scenario on DIII-Dtowards operation athigher plasma current

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, W. F.; Gong, X. Z.; Huang, J.; Ren, Q. L.; Qian, J. P.; Ding, S. Y.; Pan, C. K.; Li, G. Q.; Xia, T. Y.; Garofalo, A. M.; Lao, L.; Hyatt, A.; Ferron, J.; Meneghini, O.; Liu, Y. Q.; McClenaghan, J.; Holcomb, C. T.

2017-10-01

The high poloidal beta scenario with plasma current IP 600 kA and large-radius internal transport barrier (ITB) on DIII-D is subject to n =1 MHD kink modes when the current profile becomes very broad at internal inductance values li 0.5-0.6. It is desirable to extend this scenario to higer plasma current ( 1 MA) for highernormalized fusionperformance. However, higher current at constant normalized beta, ?N 3, would reducethe poloidal bet, ?P, below the threshold for ITB sustainment, observed at ?P 1.9. Thus, to avoid loss of the IT, ?N?? must be increased together with IP while avoiding the kink instability. MHD analysis is presented that explains possible paths to high ?N stability limit for the kink mode in tis scenario. Work supported by National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Program of Chin under 2015GB110001 and 2015GB102000 - National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 1147521 and by US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698.

Fast Numerical Solution of the Plasma Response Matrix for Real-time Ideal MHD Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Glasser, Alexander; Kolemen, Egemen; Glasser, Alan H.

To help effectuate near real-time feedback control of ideal MHD instabilities in tokamak geometries, a parallelized version of A.H. Glasser’s DCON (Direct Criterion of Newcomb) code is developed. To motivate the numerical implementation, we first solve DCON’s δW formulation with a Hamilton-Jacobi theory, elucidating analytical and numerical features of the ideal MHD stability problem. The plasma response matrix is demonstrated to be the solution of an ideal MHD Riccati equation. We then describe our adaptation of DCON with numerical methods natural to solutions of the Riccati equation, parallelizing it to enable its operation in near real-time. We replace DCON’s serial integration of perturbed modes—which satisfy a singular Euler- Lagrange equation—with a domain-decomposed integration of state transition matrices. Output is shown to match results from DCON with high accuracy, and with computation time < 1s. Such computational speed may enable active feedback ideal MHD stability control, especially in plasmas whose ideal MHD equilibria evolve with inductive timescalemore » $$\\tau$$ ≳ 1s—as in ITER. Further potential applications of this theory are discussed.« less

Fast Numerical Solution of the Plasma Response Matrix for Real-time Ideal MHD Control

DOE PAGES

Glasser, Alexander; Kolemen, Egemen; Glasser, Alan H.

2018-03-26

To help effectuate near real-time feedback control of ideal MHD instabilities in tokamak geometries, a parallelized version of A.H. Glasser’s DCON (Direct Criterion of Newcomb) code is developed. To motivate the numerical implementation, we first solve DCON’s δW formulation with a Hamilton-Jacobi theory, elucidating analytical and numerical features of the ideal MHD stability problem. The plasma response matrix is demonstrated to be the solution of an ideal MHD Riccati equation. We then describe our adaptation of DCON with numerical methods natural to solutions of the Riccati equation, parallelizing it to enable its operation in near real-time. We replace DCON’s serial integration of perturbed modes—which satisfy a singular Euler- Lagrange equation—with a domain-decomposed integration of state transition matrices. Output is shown to match results from DCON with high accuracy, and with computation time < 1s. Such computational speed may enable active feedback ideal MHD stability control, especially in plasmas whose ideal MHD equilibria evolve with inductive timescalemore » $$\\tau$$ ≳ 1s—as in ITER. Further potential applications of this theory are discussed.« less

Resistive Wall Modes Identification and Control in RFX-mod low qedge tokamak discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baruzzo, Matteo; Bolzonella, Tommaso; Cavazzana, Roberto; Marchiori, Giuseppe; Marrelli, Lionello; Martin, Piero; Paccagnella, Roberto; Piovesan, Paolo; Piron, Lidia; Soppelsa, Anton; Zanca, Paolo; in, Yongkyoon; Liu, Yueqiang; Okabayashi, Michio; Takechi, Manabu; Villone, Fabio

2011-10-01

In this work the MHD stability of RFX mode tokamak discharges with qedge < 3 will be studied. The target plasma scenario is characterized by a plasma current 100kA

ECCD-induced tearing mode stabilization in coupled IPS/NIMROD/GENRAY HPC simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Thomas; Kruger, S. E.; Held, E. D.; Harvey, R. W.; Elwasif, W. R.

2012-03-01

We summarize ongoing developments toward an integrated, predictive model for determining optimal ECCD-based NTM stabilization strategies in ITER. We demonstrate the capability of the SWIM Project's Integrated Plasma Simulator (IPS) framework to choreograph multiple executions of, and data exchanges between, physics codes modeling various spatiotemporal scales of this coupled RF/MHD problem on several thousand HPC processors. As NIMROD evolves fluid equations to model bulk plasma behavior, self-consistent propagation/deposition of RF power in the ensuing plasma profiles is calculated by GENRAY. Data from both codes is then processed by computational geometry packages to construct the RF-induced quasilinear diffusion tensor; moments of this tensor (entering as additional terms in NIMROD's fluid equations due to the disparity in RF/MHD spatiotemporal scales) influence the dynamics of current, momentum, and energy evolution as well as the MHD closures. Initial results are shown to correctly capture the physics of magnetic island stabilization; we also discuss the development of a numerical plasma control system for active feedback stabilization of tearing modes.

Damping Rate Measurements of Medium n Alfv'en Eigenmodes in JET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, Alexander; Testa, Duccio; Snipes, Joseph; Fasoli, Ambrogio; Carfantan, Hervé

2007-11-01

Alfv'en Eigenmodes (AE's) with mode numbers 5 < n < 20 are expected to be unstable in burning tokamaks and may lead to loss of fast particle confinement. The active MHD spectroscopy program at JET has already provided a wealth of information about low n (n <= 2) AE's in the past decade, but a recently installed array of four antennas is capable of driving higher mode numbered (n < 100, 30 < f < 350 kHz) perturbations. In the latest JET campaign, the damping rates for several types of AE's were measured parasitically in a wide range of tokamak scenarios. We review the active MHD diagnostic and present the first measurements of medium-n AE stability on JET, then describe future plans for the active MHD spectroscopy project. The data analysis involves a novel method for resolving multiple AE's that exist at identical frequencies, which uses techniques based on the SparSpec code.

Axisymmetric MHD-stable Mirror as a Neutron Source and a Fusion Reactor

ScienceCinema

Dr. Dmitri Ryutov

2018-04-17

Dr. Ryutov discusses the concept of axisymmetric mirrors and presents an overview of current experiments and theories. Particular attention is paid to MHD stabilization and the advantages and disadvantages of using mirrors. Future work is identified and further discussed.

An MHD variational principle that admits reconnection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rilee, M. L.; Sudan, R. N.; Pfirsch, D.

1997-01-01

The variational approach of Pfirsch and Sudan's averaged magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to the stability of a line-tied current layer is summarized. The effect of line-tying on current sheets that might arise in line-tied magnetic flux tubes by estimating the growth rates of a resistive instability using a variational method. The results show that this method provides a potentially new technique to gauge the stability of nearly ideal magnetohydrodynamic systems. The primary implication for the stability of solar coronal structures is that tearing modes are probably constant at work removing magnetic shear from the solar corona.

Ideal MHD stability and characteristics of edge localized modes on CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ze-Yu; Chan, V. S.; Zhu, Yi-Ren; Jian, Xiang; Chen, Jia-Le; Cheng, Shi-Kui; Zhu, Ping; Xu, Xue-Qiao; Xia, Tian-Yang; Li, Guo-Qiang; Lao, L. L.; Snyder, P. B.; Wang, Xiao-Gang; the CFETR Physics Team

2018-01-01

Investigation on the equilibrium operation regime, its ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) stability and edge localized modes (ELM) characteristics is performed for the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The CFETR operation regime study starts with a baseline scenario (R  =  5.7 m, B T  =  5 T) derived from multi-code integrated modeling, with key parameters {{β }N},{{β }T},{{β }p} varied to build a systematic database. These parameters, under profile and pedestal constraints, provide the foundation for the engineering design. The long wavelength low-n global ideal MHD stability of the CFETR baseline scenario, including the wall stabilization effect, is evaluated by GATO. It is found that the low-n core modes are stable with a wall at r/a  =  1.2. An investigation of intermediate wavelength ideal MHD modes (peeling ballooning modes) is also carried out by multi-code benchmarking, including GATO, ELITE, BOUT++ and NIMROD. A good agreement is achieved in predicting edge-localized instabilities. Nonlinear behavior of ELMs for the baseline scenario is simulated using BOUT++. A mix of grassy and type I ELMs is identified. When the size and magnetic field of CFETR are increased (R  =  6.6 m, B T  =  6 T), collisionality correspondingly increases and the instability is expected to shift to grassy ELMs.

Plasma Density Effects on Toroidal Flow Stabilization of Edge Localized Modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Shikui; Zhu, Ping; Banerjee, Debabrata

2016-10-01

Recent EAST experiments have demonstrated mitigation and suppression of edge localized modes (ELMs) with toroidal rotation flow in higher collisionality regime, suggesting potential roles of plasma density. In this work, the effects of plasma density on the toroidal flow stabilization of the high- n edge localized modes have been extensively studied in linear calculations for a circular-shaped limiter H-mode tokamak, using the initial-value extended MHD code NIMROD. In the single MHD model, toroidal flow has a weak stabilizing effects on the high- n modes. Such a stabilization, however, can be significantly enhanced with the increase in plasma density. Furthermore, our calculations show that the enhanced stabilization of high- n modes from toroidal flow with higher edge plasma density persists in the 2-fluid MHD model. These findings may explain the ELM mitigation and suppression by toroidal rotation in higher collisionality regime due to the enhancement of plasma density obtained in EAST experiment. Supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Program of China under Grant Nos. 2014GB124002 and 2015GB101004, the 100 Talent Program and the President International Fellowship Initiative of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Stabilizing Effect of Resistivity towards ELM-free H-mode Discharge in Lithium-conditioned NSTX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banerjee, Debabrata; Zhu, Ping; Maingi, Rajesh

2016-10-01

The stabilizing effect of edge resistivity on the edge localized modes (ELMs) has been recently recovered through analyzing NSTX experimental profiles of Lithium-conditioned ELM-free H-mode discharge. Comparative studies of ELM-free and a reference NSTX ELMy-H mode equilibriums have been performed using both resistive and 2-fluid MHD models implemented in the initial value extended MHD code NIMROD. Our results indicate that in addition to the pedestal profile refinement in electron pressure, the inclusion of enhanced resistivity due to the increase in the effective electric charge number Zeff, which is observed after Lithium-conditioning in experiment, is further required to account for the full stabilization of the low- n edge localized modes. Such a stabilization from the enhanced edge resistivity only becomes effective when the two-fluid diamagnetic and finite-Larmor-radius (FLR) effects are considered in the MHD model. Supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Program of China under Grant Nos. 2014GB124002 and 2015GB101004, the 100 Talent Program and the President International Fellowship Initiative of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Effect of Pressure Anisotropy on the m = 1 Small Wavelength Modes in Z-Pinches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Faghihi, M.

1987-05-01

A generalization of Freidberg's perpendicular MHD model is used to investigate the effect of pressure anisotropy on the small wavelength internal kink (m = 1) mode instability in a Z-Pinch. A normal mode analysis of perturbed motion of an incompressible, collisionless and cylindrical plasma is performed. The stability criterion is (rΣB2)' <= 0, where Σ = 1 - (P|| - P⊥)/B2. It cannot be fulfilled without violation of the fire hose stability condition Σ >= 0.

Study of neoclassical effects on the pedestal structure in ELMy H-mode plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pankin, A. Y.; Bateman, G.; Kritz, A. H.; Rafiq, T.; Park, G. Y.; Ku, S.; Chang, C. S.; Snyder, P. B.

2009-11-01

The neoclassical effects on the H-mode pedestal structure are investigated in this study. First principles' kinetic simulations of the neoclassical pedestal dynamics are combined with the MHD stability conditions for triggering ELM crashes that limit the pedestal width and height in H-mode plasmas. The neoclassical kinetic XGC0 code [1] is used to produce systematic scans over plasma parameters including plasma current, elongation, and triangularity. As plasma profiles evolve, the MHD stability limits of these profiles are analyzed with the ideal MHD stability ELITE code [2]. The scalings of the pedestal width and height are presented as a function of the scanned plasma parameters. Simulations with the XGC0 code, which include coupled ion-electron dynamics, yield predictions for both ion and electron pedestal profiles. Differences in the electron and ion pedestal scalings are investigated. [1] C.S. Chang et al, Phys. Plasmas 11 (2004) 2649. [2] P.B. Snyder et al, Phys. Plasmas, 9 (2002) 2037.

Scalable implicit incompressible resistive MHD with stabilized FE and fully-coupled Newton–Krylov-AMG

DOE PAGES

Shadid, J. N.; Pawlowski, R. P.; Cyr, E. C.; ...

2016-02-10

Here, we discuss that the computational solution of the governing balance equations for mass, momentum, heat transfer and magnetic induction for resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) systems can be extremely challenging. These difficulties arise from both the strong nonlinear, nonsymmetric coupling of fluid and electromagnetic phenomena, as well as the significant range of time- and length-scales that the interactions of these physical mechanisms produce. This paper explores the development of a scalable, fully-implicit stabilized unstructured finite element (FE) capability for 3D incompressible resistive MHD. The discussion considers the development of a stabilized FE formulation in context of the variational multiscale (VMS) method,more » and describes the scalable implicit time integration and direct-to-steady-state solution capability. The nonlinear solver strategy employs Newton–Krylov methods, which are preconditioned using fully-coupled algebraic multilevel preconditioners. These preconditioners are shown to enable a robust, scalable and efficient solution approach for the large-scale sparse linear systems generated by the Newton linearization. Verification results demonstrate the expected order-of-accuracy for the stabilized FE discretization. The approach is tested on a variety of prototype problems, that include MHD duct flows, an unstable hydromagnetic Kelvin–Helmholtz shear layer, and a 3D island coalescence problem used to model magnetic reconnection. Initial results that explore the scaling of the solution methods are also presented on up to 128K processors for problems with up to 1.8B unknowns on a CrayXK7.« less

Laboratory Study of MHD Effects on Stability of Free-surface Liquid Metal Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burin, M. J.; Ji, H.; McMurtry, K.; Peterson, L.; Giannakis, D.; Rosner, R.; Fischer, P.

2006-10-01

The dynamics of free-surface MHD shear flows is potentially important to both astrophysics (e.g. in the mixing of dense plasma accreted upon neutron star surfaces) and fusion reactors (e.g. in liquid metal ‘first walls’). To date however few relevant experiments exist. In order to study the fundamental physics of such flows, a small-scale laboratory experiment is being built using a liquid gallium alloy flowing in an open- channel geometry. The flow dimensions are nominally 10cm wide, 1cm deep, and 70cm long under an imposed magnetic field up to 7kG, leading to maximum Hartman number of 2000 and maximum Reynolds number of 4x10^5. Two basic physics issues will ultimately be addressed: (1) How do MHD effects modify the stability of the free surface? For example, is the flow more stable (through the suppression of cross-field motions), or less stable (through the introduction of new boundary layers)? We also investigate whether internal shear layers and imposed electric currents can control the surface stability. (2) How do MHD effects modify free-surface convection driven by a vertical and/or horizontal temperature gradient? We discuss aspects of both of these issues, along with detailed descriptions of the experimental device. Pertinent theoretical stability analyses and initial hydrodynamic results are presented in companion posters. This work is supported by DoE under contract #DE-AC02-76-CH03073.

Flow-Induced New Channels of Energy Exchange in Multi-Scale Plasma Dynamics - Revisiting Perturbative Hybrid Kinetic-MHD Theory.

PubMed

Shiraishi, Junya; Miyato, Naoaki; Matsunaga, Go

2016-05-10

It is found that new channels of energy exchange between macro- and microscopic dynamics exist in plasmas. They are induced by macroscopic plasma flow. This finding is based on the kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory, which analyses interaction between macroscopic (MHD-scale) motion and microscopic (particle-scale) dynamics. The kinetic-MHD theory is extended to include effects of macroscopic plasma flow self-consistently. The extension is realised by generalising an energy exchange term due to wave-particle resonance, denoted by δ WK. The first extension is generalisation of the particle's Lagrangian, and the second one stems from modification to the particle distribution function due to flow. These extensions lead to a generalised expression of δ WK, which affects the MHD stability of plasmas.

EDITORIAL: Selected papers from the 16th Workshop on MHD Stability Control: Optimizing and Understanding the Role of Coils for Mode Control Selected papers from the 16th Workshop on MHD Stability Control: Optimizing and Understanding the Role of Coils for Mode Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

La Haye, Rob

2012-09-01

The Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Control Workshop with the theme 'Optimizing and Understanding the Role of Coils for Mode Control' was held at General Atomics (20-22 November 2011) following the 2011 APS-DPP Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah (14-18 November). This was the 16th in the annual series and was organized jointly by Columbia University, General Atomics, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Program committee participation included representatives from the EU and Japan along with other US laboratory and university institutions. This workshop highlighted the role of applied non-axisymmetric magnetic fields from both internal and external coils for control of MHD stability to achieve high performance fusion plasmas. The application of 3D magnetic field offers control of important elements of equilibrium, stability, and transport. The use of active 3D fields to stabilize global instabilities and to correct magnetic field errors is an established tool for achieving high beta configurations. 3D fields also affect transport and plasma momentum, and are shown to be important for the control of edge localized modes (ELMs), resistive wall modes, and optimized stellarator configurations. The format was similar to previous workshops, including 13 invited talks, 21 contributed talks, and this year there were 2 panel discussions ('Error Field Correction' led by Andrew Cole of Columbia University and 'Application of Coils in General' led by Richard Buttery of General Atomics). Ted Strait of General Atomics also gave a summary of the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) MHD meeting in Padua, a group for which he is now the leader. In this special section of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion (PPCF) is a sample of the presentations at the workshop, which have been subject to the normal refereeing procedures of the journal. They include a review (A Boozer) and an invited talk (R Fitzpatrick) on error fields, an invited on control of neoclassical tearing modes (H van den Brand), and an invited talk (P Zanca) and a contributed talk (E Oloffson) on control of the resistive wall mode kink. These are just representative of the broad spectrum of recent work on stability found posted at the web site (https://fusion.gat.com/conferences/mhd11/). We thank PPCF for continuing to have this special issue section. This was the third time the workshop was held at General Atomics. We thank General Atomics for making the site available for an internationally represented workshop in the new era of heightened security and controls. The next workshop (17th) will be held at Columbia University for the (fourth time) (https://fusion.gat.com/conferences/mhd12/) with the theme of 'Addressing the Disruption Challenge for ITER' to be combined with the Joint US-Japan MHD Workshop with a special session on: 'Fundamentals of 3D Perturbed Equilibrium Control: Present & Beyond'.

MHD Stability in Compact Stellarators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Guoyong

1999-11-01

A key issue for current carrying compact stellarators(S.P. Hirshman et al., "Physics of compact stellarators", Phys. Plasmas 6, 1858 (1999).) is the stability of ideal MHD modes. We present recent stability results of external kink modes, ballooning mode, and vertical modes in Quasi-axisymmetric Stellarators (QAS)( A. Reiman et al, "Physics issue in the design of a high beta Quasi-Axisymmetric Stellarator" the 17th IAEA Fusion Energy conference, (Yokohama, Japan, October 1998), Paper ICP/06.) as well as Quasi-Omnigeneous Stellarators (QOS)^2. The 3D stability code Terpsichore(W. A. Cooper et al., Phys. Plasmas 3, 275 (1996)) is used in this study. The vertical stability in a current carrying stellarator is studied for the first time. The vertical mode is found to be stabilized by externally generated poloidal flux(G.Y. Fu et al., "Stability of vertical mode in a current carrying stellarator"., to be submitted). Physically, this is because the external poloidal flux enhances the field line bending energy relative to the current drive term in the MHD energy principle, δ W. A simple stability criteria is derived in the limit of large aspect ratio and constant current density. For wall at infinite distance from the plasma, the amount of external flux needed for stabilization is given by f=(κ^2-κ)/(κ^2+1) where κ is the axisymmetric elongation and f is the fraction of the external rotational transform at the plasma edge. A systematic parameter study shows that the external kink in QAS can be stabilized at high beta ( ~ 5%) without a conducting wall by combination of edge magnetic shear and 3D shaping(G. Y. Fu et al., "MHD stability calculations of high-beta Quasi-Axisymmetric Stellarators", the 17th IAEA Fusion Energy conference, (Yokohama, Japan, October 1998), paper THP1/07.). The optimal shaping is obtained by using an optimizer with kink stability included in its objective function. The physics mechanism for the kink modes is studied by examining relative contributions of individual terms in δ W. It is found the external kinks are mainly driven by the parallel current. The pressure contributes significantly to the overall drive through the curvature term and the Pfirsch-Schluter current. These results demonstrate potential of QAS and QOS for disruption-free operations at high-beta without a close-fitting conducting wall and feedback stabilization.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

G.Y. Fu; L.P. Ku; M.H. Redi

A key issue for compact stellarators is the stability of beta-limiting MHD modes, such as external kink modes driven by bootstrap current and pressure gradient. We report here recent progress in MHD stability studies for low-aspect-ratio Quasi-Axisymmetric Stellarators (QAS) and Quasi-Omnigeneous Stellarators (QOS). We find that the N = 0 periodicity-preserving vertical mode is significantly more stable in stellarators than in tokamaks because of the externally generated rotational transform. It is shown that both low-n external kink modes and high-n ballooning modes can be stabilized at high beta by appropriate 3D shaping without a conducting wall. The stabilization mechanism formore » external kink modes in QAS appears to be an enhancement of local magnetic shear due to 3D shaping. The stabilization of ballooning mode in QOS is related to a shortening of the normal curvature connection length.« less

Mathematical modeling of the MHD stability dependence on the interpole distance in the multianode aluminium electrolyser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmin, R. N.; Savenkova, N. P.; Shobukhov, A. V.; Kalmykov, A. V.

2018-03-01

The paper deals with investigation of the MHD-stability dependence on the depth of the anode immersion in the process of aluminium electrolysis. The proposed 3D three-phase mathematical model is based on the Navier-Stokes and Maxwell equation systems. This model makes it possible to simulate the distributions of the main physical fields both in horizontal and vertical planes. The suggested approach also allows to study the dynamics of the border between aluminium and electrolyte and the shape of the back oxidation zone.

Modeling of Feedback Stabilization of External MHD Modes in Toroidal Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, M. S.; Chance, M. S.; Okabayashi, M.

2000-10-01

The intelligent shell feedback scheme(C.M. Bishop, Plasma Phys. Contr. Nucl. Fusion 31), 1179 (1989). seeks to utilize external coils to suppress the unstable MHD modes slowed down by the resistive shell. We present a new formulation and numerical results of the interaction between the plasma and its outside vacuum region, with complete plasma response and the inclusion of a resistive vessel in general toroidal geometry. This is achieved by using the Green's function technique, which is a generalization of that previously used for the VACUUM(M.S. Chance, Phys. Plasmas 4), 2161 (1997). code and coupled with the ideal MHD code GATO. The effectiveness of different realizations of the intelligent shell concept is gauged by their ability to minimize the available free energy to drive the MHD mode. Computations indicate poloidal coverage of 30% of the total resistive wall surface area and 6 or 7 segments of ``intelligent coil'' arrays superimposed on the resistive wall will allow recovery of up to 90% the effectiveness of the ideal shell in stabilizing the ideal external kink.

Flow-Induced New Channels of Energy Exchange in Multi-Scale Plasma Dynamics – Revisiting Perturbative Hybrid Kinetic-MHD Theory

PubMed Central

Shiraishi, Junya; Miyato, Naoaki; Matsunaga, Go

2016-01-01

It is found that new channels of energy exchange between macro- and microscopic dynamics exist in plasmas. They are induced by macroscopic plasma flow. This finding is based on the kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory, which analyses interaction between macroscopic (MHD-scale) motion and microscopic (particle-scale) dynamics. The kinetic-MHD theory is extended to include effects of macroscopic plasma flow self-consistently. The extension is realised by generalising an energy exchange term due to wave-particle resonance, denoted by δ WK. The first extension is generalisation of the particle’s Lagrangian, and the second one stems from modification to the particle distribution function due to flow. These extensions lead to a generalised expression of δ WK, which affects the MHD stability of plasmas. PMID:27160346

Flow shear stabilization of rotating plasmas due to the Coriolis effect.

PubMed

Haverkort, J W; de Blank, H J

2012-07-01

A radially decreasing toroidal rotation frequency can have a stabilizing effect on nonaxisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities. We show that this is a consequence of the Coriolis effect that induces a restoring pressure gradient force when plasma is perturbed radially. In a rotating cylindrical plasma, this Coriolis-pressure effect is canceled by the centrifugal effect responsible for the magnetorotational instability. In a magnetically confined toroidal plasma, a large aspect ratio expansion shows that only half of the effect is canceled. This analytical result is confirmed by numerical computations. When the plasma rotates faster toroidally in the core than near the edge, the effect can contribute to the formation of transport barriers by stabilizing MHD instabilities.

Thermal radiation and mass transfer effects on unsteady MHD free convection flow past a vertical oscillating plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rana, B. M. Jewel; Ahmed, Rubel; Ahmmed, S. F.

2017-06-01

Unsteady MHD free convection flow past a vertical porous plate in porous medium with radiation, diffusion thermo, thermal diffusion and heat source are analyzed. The governing non-linear, partial differential equations are transformed into dimensionless by using non-dimensional quantities. Then the resultant dimensionless equations are solved numerically by applying an efficient, accurate and conditionally stable finite difference scheme of explicit type with the help of a computer programming language Compaq Visual Fortran. The stability and convergence analysis has been carried out to establish the effect of velocity, temperature, concentration, skin friction, Nusselt number, Sherwood number, stream lines and isotherms line. Finally, the effects of various parameters are presented graphically and discussed qualitatively.

Initial Flow Matching Results of MHD Energy Bypass on a Supersonic Turbojet Engine Using the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benyo, Theresa L.

2010-01-01

Preliminary flow matching has been demonstrated for a MHD energy bypass system on a supersonic turbojet engine. The Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) environment was used to perform a thermodynamic cycle analysis to properly match the flows from an inlet to a MHD generator and from the exit of a supersonic turbojet to a MHD accelerator. Working with various operating conditions such as the enthalpy extraction ratio and isentropic efficiency of the MHD generator and MHD accelerator, interfacing studies were conducted between the pre-ionizers, the MHD generator, the turbojet engine, and the MHD accelerator. This paper briefly describes the NPSS environment used in this analysis and describes the NPSS analysis of a supersonic turbojet engine with a MHD generator/accelerator energy bypass system. Results from this study have shown that using MHD energy bypass in the flow path of a supersonic turbojet engine increases the useful Mach number operating range from 0 to 3.0 Mach (not using MHD) to an explored and desired range of 0 to 7.0 Mach.

Stable Spheromaks with Profile Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fowler, T K; Jayakumar, R

A spheromak equilibrium with zero edge current is shown to be stable to both ideal MHD and tearing modes that normally produce Taylor relaxation in gun-injected spheromaks. This stable equilibrium differs from the stable Taylor state in that the current density j falls to zero at the wall. Estimates indicate that this current profile could be sustained by non-inductive current drive at acceptable power levels. Stability is determined using the NIMROD code for linear stability analysis. Non-linear NIMROD calculations with non-inductive current drive could point the way to improved fusion reactors.

Theory-based model for the pedestal, edge stability and ELMs in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pankin, A. Y.; Bateman, G.; Brennan, D. P.; Schnack, D. D.; Snyder, P. B.; Voitsekhovitch, I.; Kritz, A. H.; Janeschitz, G.; Kruger, S.; Onjun, T.; Pacher, G. W.; Pacher, H. D.

2006-04-01

An improved model for triggering edge localized mode (ELM) crashes is developed for use within integrated modelling simulations of the pedestal and ELM cycles at the edge of H-mode tokamak plasmas. The new model is developed by using the BALOO, DCON and ELITE ideal MHD stability codes to derive parametric expressions for the ELM triggering threshold. The whole toroidal mode number spectrum is studied with these codes. The DCON code applies to low mode numbers, while the BALOO code applies to only high mode numbers and the ELITE code applies to intermediate and high mode numbers. The variables used in the parametric stability expressions are the normalized pressure gradient and the parallel current density, which drive ballooning and peeling modes. Two equilibria motivated by DIII-D geometry with different plasma triangularities are studied. It is found that the stable region in the high triangularity discharge covers a much larger region of parameter space than the corresponding stability region in the low triangularity discharge. The new ELM trigger model is used together with a previously developed model for pedestal formation and ELM crashes in the ASTRA integrated modelling code to follow the time evolution of the temperature profiles during ELM cycles. The ELM frequencies obtained in the simulations of low and high triangularity discharges are observed to increase with increasing heating power. There is a transition from second stability to first ballooning mode stability as the heating power is increased in the high triangularity simulations. The results from the ideal MHD stability codes are compared with results from the resistive MHD stability code NIMROD.

MHD stagnation point flow and heat transfer of a nanofluid over a permeable nonlinear stretching/shrinking sheet with viscous dissipation effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jusoh, Rahimah; Nazar, Roslinda

2018-04-01

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stagnation point flow and heat transfer of an electrically conducting nanofluid over a nonlinear stretching/shrinking sheet is studied numerically. Mathematical modelling and analysis are attended in the presence of viscous dissipation. Appropriate similarity transformations are used to reduce the boundary layer equations for momentum, energy and concentration into a set of ordinary differential equations. The reduced equations are solved numerically using the built in bvp4c function in Matlab. The numerical and graphical results on the effects of various parameters on the velocity and temperature profiles as well as the skin friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number are analyzed and discussed in this paper. The study discovers the existence of dual solutions for a certain range of the suction parameter. The conducted stability analysis reveals that the first solution is stable and feasible, while the second solution is unstable.

Investigation of the plasma shaping effects on the H-mode pedestal structure using coupled kinetic neoclassical/MHD stability simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pankin, A. Y.; Rafiq, T.; Kritz, A. H.; Park, G. Y.; Snyder, P. B.; Chang, C. S.

2017-06-01

The effects of plasma shaping on the H-mode pedestal structure are investigated. High fidelity kinetic simulations of the neoclassical pedestal dynamics are combined with the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability conditions for triggering edge localized mode (ELM) instabilities that limit the pedestal width and height in H-mode plasmas. The neoclassical kinetic XGC0 code [Chang et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 2649 (2004)] is used in carrying out a scan over plasma elongation and triangularity. As plasma profiles evolve, the MHD stability limits of these profiles are analyzed with the ideal MHD ELITE code [Snyder et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 2037 (2002)]. Simulations with the XGC0 code, which includes coupled ion-electron dynamics, yield predictions for both ion and electron pedestal profiles. The differences in the predicted H-mode pedestal width and height for the DIII-D discharges with different elongation and triangularities are discussed. For the discharges with higher elongation, it is found that the gradients of the plasma profiles in the H-mode pedestal reach semi-steady states. In these simulations, the pedestal slowly continues to evolve to higher pedestal pressures and bootstrap currents until the peeling-ballooning stability conditions are satisfied. The discharges with lower elongation do not reach the semi-steady state, and ELM crashes are triggered at earlier times. The plasma elongation is found to have a stronger stabilizing effect than the plasma triangularity. For the discharges with lower elongation and lower triangularity, the ELM frequency is large, and the H-mode pedestal evolves rapidly. It is found that the temperature of neutrals in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) region can affect the dynamics of the H-mode pedestal buildup. However, the final pedestal profiles are nearly independent of the neutral temperature. The elongation and triangularity affect the pedestal widths of plasma density and electron temperature profiles differently. This provides a new mechanism of controlling the pedestal bootstrap current and the pedestal stability.

Investigation of the plasma shaping effects on the H-mode pedestal structure using coupled kinetic neoclassical/MHD stability simulations

DOE PAGES

Pankin, A. Y.; Rafiq, T.; Kritz, A. H.; ...

2017-06-08

The effects of plasma shaping on the H-mode pedestal structure are investigated. High fidelity kinetic simulations of the neoclassical pedestal dynamics are combined with the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability conditions for triggering edge localized mode (ELM) instabilities that limit the pedestal width and height in H-mode plasmas. We use the neoclassical kinetic XGC0 code [Chang et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 2649 (2004)] to carry out a scan over plasma elongation and triangularity. As plasma profiles evolve, the MHD stability limits of these profiles are analyzed with the ideal MHD ELITE code [Snyder et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 2037 (2002)]. In simulationsmore » with the XGC0 code, which includes coupled ion-electron dynamics, yield predictions for both ion and electron pedestal profiles. The differences in the predicted H-mode pedestal width and height for the DIII-D discharges with different elongation and triangularities are discussed. For the discharges with higher elongation, it is found that the gradients of the plasma profiles in the H-mode pedestal reach semi-steady states. In these simulations, the pedestal slowly continues to evolve to higher pedestal pressures and bootstrap currents until the peeling-ballooning stability conditions are satisfied. The discharges with lower elongation do not reach the semi-steady state, and ELM crashes are triggered at earlier times. The plasma elongation is found to have a stronger stabilizing effect than the plasma triangularity. For the discharges with lower elongation and lower triangularity, the ELM frequency is large, and the H-mode pedestal evolves rapidly. It is found that the temperature of neutrals in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) region can affect the dynamics of the H-mode pedestal buildup. But the final pedestal profiles are nearly independent of the neutral temperature. The elongation and triangularity affect the pedestal widths of plasma density and electron temperature profiles differently. This provides a new mechanism of controlling the pedestal bootstrap current and the pedestal stability.« less

Investigation of the plasma shaping effects on the H-mode pedestal structure using coupled kinetic neoclassical/MHD stability simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pankin, A. Y.; Rafiq, T.; Kritz, A. H.

The effects of plasma shaping on the H-mode pedestal structure are investigated. High fidelity kinetic simulations of the neoclassical pedestal dynamics are combined with the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability conditions for triggering edge localized mode (ELM) instabilities that limit the pedestal width and height in H-mode plasmas. We use the neoclassical kinetic XGC0 code [Chang et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 2649 (2004)] to carry out a scan over plasma elongation and triangularity. As plasma profiles evolve, the MHD stability limits of these profiles are analyzed with the ideal MHD ELITE code [Snyder et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 2037 (2002)]. In simulationsmore » with the XGC0 code, which includes coupled ion-electron dynamics, yield predictions for both ion and electron pedestal profiles. The differences in the predicted H-mode pedestal width and height for the DIII-D discharges with different elongation and triangularities are discussed. For the discharges with higher elongation, it is found that the gradients of the plasma profiles in the H-mode pedestal reach semi-steady states. In these simulations, the pedestal slowly continues to evolve to higher pedestal pressures and bootstrap currents until the peeling-ballooning stability conditions are satisfied. The discharges with lower elongation do not reach the semi-steady state, and ELM crashes are triggered at earlier times. The plasma elongation is found to have a stronger stabilizing effect than the plasma triangularity. For the discharges with lower elongation and lower triangularity, the ELM frequency is large, and the H-mode pedestal evolves rapidly. It is found that the temperature of neutrals in the scrape-off-layer (SOL) region can affect the dynamics of the H-mode pedestal buildup. But the final pedestal profiles are nearly independent of the neutral temperature. The elongation and triangularity affect the pedestal widths of plasma density and electron temperature profiles differently. This provides a new mechanism of controlling the pedestal bootstrap current and the pedestal stability.« less

Nonlinear Diamagnetic Stabilization of Double Tearing Modes in Cylindrical MHD Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbott, Stephen; Germaschewski, Kai

2014-10-01

Double tearing modes (DTMs) may occur in reversed-shear tokamak configurations if two nearby rational surfaces couple and begin reconnecting. During the DTM's nonlinear evolution it can enter an ``explosive'' growth phase leading to complete reconnection, making it a possible driver for off-axis sawtooth crashes. Motivated by similarities between this behavior and that of the m = 1 kink-tearing mode in conventional tokamaks we investigate diamagnetic drifts as a possible DTM stabilization mechanism. We extend our previous linear studies of an m = 2 , n = 1 DTM in cylindrical geometry to the fully nonlinear regime using the MHD code MRC-3D. A pressure gradient similar to observed ITB profiles is used, together with Hall physics, to introduce ω* effects. We find the diamagnetic drifts can have a stabilizing effect on the nonlinear DTM through a combination of large scale differential rotation and mechanisms local to the reconnection layer. MRC-3D is an extended MHD code based on the libMRC computational framework. It supports nonuniform grids in curvilinear coordinates with parallel implicit and explicit time integration.

Featured Image: Tests of an MHD Code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohler, Susanna

2016-09-01

Creating the codes that are used to numerically model astrophysical systems takes a lot of work and a lot of testing! A new, publicly available moving-mesh magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code, DISCO, is designed to model 2D and 3D orbital fluid motion, such as that of astrophysical disks. In a recent article, DISCO creator Paul Duffell (University of California, Berkeley) presents the code and the outcomes from a series of standard tests of DISCOs stability, accuracy, and scalability.From left to right and top to bottom, the test outputs shown above are: a cylindrical Kelvin-Helmholtz flow (showing off DISCOs numerical grid in 2D), a passive scalar in a smooth vortex (can DISCO maintain contact discontinuities?), a global look at the cylindrical Kelvin-Helmholtz flow, a Jupiter-mass planet opening a gap in a viscous disk, an MHD flywheel (a test of DISCOs stability), an MHD explosion revealing shock structures, an MHD rotor (a more challenging version of the explosion), a Flock 3D MRI test (can DISCO study linear growth of the magnetorotational instability in disks?), and a nonlinear 3D MRI test.Check out the gif below for a closer look at each of these images, or follow the link to the original article to see even more!CitationPaul C. Duffell 2016 ApJS 226 2. doi:10.3847/0067-0049/226/1/2

Ceramic component for electrodes

DOEpatents

Marchant, David D.

1979-01-01

A ceramic component suitable for preparing MHD generator electrodes consists of HfO.sub.2 and sufficient Tb.sub.4 O.sub.7 to stabilize at least 60 volume percent of the HfO.sub.2 into the cubic structure. The ceramic component may also contain a small amount of PrO.sub.2, Yb.sub.2 O.sub.3 or a mixture of both to improve stability and electronic conductivity of the electrode. The component is highly resistant to corrosion by molten potassium seed and molten coal slag in the MHD fluid and exhibits both ionic and electronic conductivity.

The impact of collisionality, FLR, and parallel closure effects on instabilities in the tokamak pedestal: Numerical studies with the NIMROD code

DOE PAGES

King, J. R.; Pankin, A. Y.; Kruger, S. E.; ...

2016-06-24

The extended-MHD NIMROD code [C. R. Sovinec and J. R. King, J. Comput. Phys. 229, 5803 (2010)] is verified against the ideal-MHD ELITE code [H. R. Wilson et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 1277 (2002)] on a diverted tokamak discharge. When the NIMROD model complexity is increased incrementally, resistive and first-order finite-Larmour radius effects are destabilizing and stabilizing, respectively. Lastly, the full result is compared to local analytic calculations which are found to overpredict both the resistive destabilization and drift stabilization in comparison to the NIMROD computations.

The impact of collisionality, FLR, and parallel closure effects on instabilities in the tokamak pedestal: Numerical studies with the NIMROD code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, J. R.; Pankin, A. Y.; Kruger, S. E.

The extended-MHD NIMROD code [C. R. Sovinec and J. R. King, J. Comput. Phys. 229, 5803 (2010)] is verified against the ideal-MHD ELITE code [H. R. Wilson et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 1277 (2002)] on a diverted tokamak discharge. When the NIMROD model complexity is increased incrementally, resistive and first-order finite-Larmour radius effects are destabilizing and stabilizing, respectively. The full result is compared to local analytic calculations which are found to overpredict both the resistive destabilization and drift stabilization in comparison to the NIMROD computations.

The impact of collisionality, FLR, and parallel closure effects on instabilities in the tokamak pedestal: Numerical studies with the NIMROD code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, J. R.; Pankin, A. Y.; Kruger, S. E.

The extended-MHD NIMROD code [C. R. Sovinec and J. R. King, J. Comput. Phys. 229, 5803 (2010)] is verified against the ideal-MHD ELITE code [H. R. Wilson et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 1277 (2002)] on a diverted tokamak discharge. When the NIMROD model complexity is increased incrementally, resistive and first-order finite-Larmour radius effects are destabilizing and stabilizing, respectively. Lastly, the full result is compared to local analytic calculations which are found to overpredict both the resistive destabilization and drift stabilization in comparison to the NIMROD computations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Jong -Kyu

The 20th workshop on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability control took place November 22–24, 2015, in Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), following the American Physical Society—Division of Plasma Physics annual meeting on November 16–20 in Savannah, GA. The purpose of this workshop is to stimulate in depth discussion and motivate future research in the areas of MHD stability physics and control of magnetically confined plasmas. Furthermore, the workshop was organized jointly by Auburn University, Columbia University, General Atomics, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and under the auspices of the US/Japan Collaboration.

Viscous, resistive MHD stability computed by spectral techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dahlburg, R. B.; Zang, T. A.; Montgomery, D.; Hussaini, M. Y.

1983-01-01

Expansions in Chebyshev polynomials are used to study the linear stability of one dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) quasi-equilibria, in the presence of finite resistivity and viscosity. The method is modeled on the one used by Orszag in accurate computation of solutions of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. Two Reynolds like numbers involving Alfven speeds, length scales, kinematic viscosity, and magnetic diffusivity govern the stability boundaries, which are determined by the geometric mean of the two Reynolds like numbers. Marginal stability curves, growth rates versus Reynolds like numbers, and growth rates versus parallel wave numbers are exhibited. A numerical result which appears general is that instability was found to be associated with inflection points in the current profile, though no general analytical proof has emerged. It is possible that nonlinear subcritical three dimensional instabilities may exist, similar to those in Poiseuille and Couette flow.

Control of linear modes in cylindrical resistive magnetohydrodynamics with a resistive wall, plasma rotation, and complex gain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennan, D. P.; Finn, J. M.

2014-10-01

Feedback stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes in a tokamak is studied in a cylindrical model with a resistive wall, plasma resistivity, viscosity, and toroidal rotation. The control is based on a linear combination of the normal and tangential components of the magnetic field just inside the resistive wall. The feedback includes complex gain, for both the normal and for the tangential components, and it is known that the imaginary part of the feedback for the former is equivalent to plasma rotation [J. M. Finn and L. Chacon, Phys. Plasmas 11, 1866 (2004)]. The work includes (1) analysis with a reduced resistive MHD model for a tokamak with finite β and with stepfunction current density and pressure profiles, and (2) computations with a full compressible visco-resistive MHD model with smooth decreasing profiles of current density and pressure. The equilibria are stable for β = 0 and the marginal stability values βrp,rw < βrp,iw < βip,rw < βip,iw (resistive plasma, resistive wall; resistive plasma, ideal wall; ideal plasma, resistive wall; and ideal plasma, ideal wall) are computed for both models. The main results are: (a) imaginary gain with normal sensors or plasma rotation stabilizes below βrp,iw because rotation suppresses the diffusion of flux from the plasma out through the wall and, more surprisingly, (b) rotation or imaginary gain with normal sensors destabilizes above βrp,iw because it prevents the feedback flux from entering the plasma through the resistive wall to form a virtual wall. A method of using complex gain Gi to optimize in the presence of rotation in this regime with β > βrp,iw is presented. The effect of imaginary gain with tangential sensors is more complicated but essentially destabilizes above and below βrp,iw.

Ideal MHD stability and performance of ITER steady-state scenarios with ITBs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poli, F. M.; Kessel, C. E.; Chance, M. S.; Jardin, S. C.; Manickam, J.

2012-06-01

Non-inductive steady-state scenarios on ITER will need to operate with internal transport barriers (ITBs) in order to reach adequate fusion gain at typical currents of 9 MA. The large pressure gradients at the location of the internal barrier are conducive to the development of ideal MHD instabilities that may limit the plasma performance and may lead to plasma disruptions. Fully non-inductive scenario simulations with five combinations of heating and current drive sources are presented in this work, with plasma currents in the range 7-10 MA. For each configuration the linear, ideal MHD stability is analysed for variations of the Greenwald fraction and of the pressure peaking factor around the operating point, aiming at defining an operational space for stable, steady-state operations at optimized performance. It is shown that plasmas with lower hybrid heating and current drive maintain the minimum safety factor above 1.5, which is desirable in steady-state operations to avoid neoclassical tearing modes. Operating with moderate ITBs at 2/3 of the minor radius, these plasmas have a minimum safety factor above 2, are ideal MHD stable and reach Q ≳ 5 operating above the ideal no-wall limit.

3-D MHD modeling and stability analysis of jet and spheromak plasmas launched into a magnetized plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Dustin; Zhang, Yue; Wallace, Ben; Gilmore, Mark; Manchester, Ward; Arge, C. Nick

2016-10-01

The Plasma Bubble Expansion Experiment (PBEX) at the University of New Mexico uses a coaxial plasma gun to launch jet and spheromak magnetic plasma configurations into the Helicon-Cathode (HelCat) plasma device. Plasma structures launched from the gun drag frozen-in magnetic flux into the background magnetic field of the chamber providing a rich set of dynamics to study magnetic turbulence, force-free magnetic spheromaks, and shocks. Preliminary modeling is presented using the highly-developed 3-D, MHD, BATS-R-US code developed at the University of Michigan. BATS-R-US employs an adaptive mesh refinement grid that enables the capture and resolution of shock structures and current sheets, and is particularly suited to model the parameter regime under investigation. CCD images and magnetic field data from the experiment suggest the stabilization of an m =1 kink mode trailing a plasma jet launched into a background magnetic field. Results from a linear stability code investigating the effect of shear-flow as a cause of this stabilization from magnetic tension forces on the jet will be presented. Initial analyses of a possible magnetic Rayleigh Taylor instability seen at the interface between launched spheromaks and their entraining background magnetic field will also be presented. Work supported by the Army Research Office Award No. W911NF1510480.

Energetic electrons, hard x-ray emission and MHD activity studies in the IR-T1 tokamak.

PubMed

Agah, K Mikaili; Ghoranneviss, M; Elahi, A Salar

2015-01-01

Determinations of plasma parameters as well as the Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) activity, energetic electrons energy and energy confinement time are essential for future fusion reactors experiments and optimized operation. Also some of the plasma information can be deduced from these parameters, such as plasma equilibrium, stability, and MHD instabilities. In this contribution we investigated the relation between energetic electrons, hard x-ray emission and MHD activity in the IR-T1 Tokamak. For this purpose we used the magnetic diagnostics and a hard x-ray spectroscopy in IR-T1 tokamak. A hard x-ray emission is produced by collision of the runaway electrons with the plasma particles or limiters. The mean energy was calculated from the slope of the energy spectrum of hard x-ray photons.

Analysis of ELM stability with extended MHD models in JET, JT-60U and future JT-60SA tokamak plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aiba, N.; Pamela, S.; Honda, M.; Urano, H.; Giroud, C.; Delabie, E.; Frassinetti, L.; Lupelli, I.; Hayashi, N.; Huijsmans, G.; JET Contributors, the; Research Unit, JT-60SA

2018-01-01

The stability with respect to a peeling-ballooning mode (PBM) was investigated numerically with extended MHD simulation codes in JET, JT-60U and future JT-60SA plasmas. The MINERVA-DI code was used to analyze the linear stability, including the effects of rotation and ion diamagnetic drift ({ω }* {{i}}), in JET-ILW and JT-60SA plasmas, and the JOREK code was used to simulate nonlinear dynamics with rotation, viscosity and resistivity in JT-60U plasmas. It was validated quantitatively that the ELM trigger condition in JET-ILW plasmas can be reasonably explained by taking into account both the rotation and {ω }* {{i}} effects in the numerical analysis. When deuterium poloidal rotation is evaluated based on neoclassical theory, an increase in the effective charge of plasma destabilizes the PBM because of an acceleration of rotation and a decrease in {ω }* {{i}}. The difference in the amount of ELM energy loss in JT-60U plasmas rotating in opposite directions was reproduced qualitatively with JOREK. By comparing the ELM affected areas with linear eigenfunctions, it was confirmed that the difference in the linear stability property, due not to the rotation direction but to the plasma density profile, is thought to be responsible for changing the ELM energy loss just after the ELM crash. A predictive study to determine the pedestal profiles in JT-60SA was performed by updating the EPED1 model to include the rotation and {ω }* {{i}} effects in the PBM stability analysis. It was shown that the plasma rotation predicted with the neoclassical toroidal viscosity degrades the pedestal performance by about 10% by destabilizing the PBM, but the pressure pedestal height will be high enough to achieve the target parameters required for the ITER-like shape inductive scenario in JT-60SA.

The Magnetorotational Instability in a Collisionless Plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quataert, Eliot; Dorland, William; Hammett, Gregory W.

2002-09-01

We consider the linear axisymmetric stability of a differentially rotating collisionless plasma in the presence of a weak magnetic field; we restrict our analysis to wavelengths much larger than the proton Larmor radius. This is the kinetic version of the magnetorotational instability explored extensively as a mechanism for magnetic field amplification and angular momentum transport in accretion disks. The kinetic calculation is appropriate for hot accretion flows onto compact objects and for the growth of very weak magnetic fields, where the collisional mean free path is larger than the wavelength of the unstable modes. We show that the kinetic instability criterion is the same as in MHD, namely that the angular velocity decrease outward. However, nearly every mode has a linear kinetic growth rate that differs from its MHD counterpart. The kinetic growth rates also depend explicitly on β, i.e., on the ratio of the gas pressure to the pressure of the seed magnetic field. For β~1 the kinetic growth rates are similar to the MHD growth rates, while for β>>1 they differ significantly. For β>>1, the fastest growing mode has a growth rate ~sqrt(3)Ω for a Keplerian disk, larger than its MHD counterpart; there are also many modes whose growth rates are negligible, <~β-1/2Ω<<Ω. We provide a detailed physical interpretation of these results and show that gas pressure forces, rather than just magnetic forces, are central to the behavior of the magnetorotational instability in a collisionless plasma. We also discuss the astrophysical implications of our analysis.

Parameter-Space Survey of Linear G-mode and Interchange in Extended Magnetohydrodynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Howell, E. C.; Sovinec, C. R.

The extended magnetohydrodynamic stability of interchange modes is studied in two configurations. In slab geometry, a local dispersion relation for the gravitational interchange mode (g-mode) with three different extensions of the MHD model [P. Zhu, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 085005 (2008)] is analyzed. Our results delineate where drifts stablize the g-mode with gyroviscosity alone and with a two-fluid Ohm’s law alone. Including the two-fluid Ohm’s law produces an ion drift wave that interacts with the g-mode. This interaction then gives rise to a second instability at finite k y. A second instability is also observed in numerical extended MHD computations of linear interchange in cylindrical screw-pinch equilibria, the second configuration. Particularly with incomplete models, this mode limits the regions of stability for physically realistic conditions. But, applying a consistent two-temperature extended MHD model that includes the diamagnetic heat flux density (more » $$\\vec{q}$$ *) makes the onset of the second mode occur at larger Hall parameter. For conditions relevant to the SSPX experiment [E.B. Hooper, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 54, 113001 (2012)], significant stabilization is observed for Suydam parameters as large as unity (D s≲1).« less

ECCD-induced tearing mode stabilization via active control in coupled NIMROD/GENRAY HPC simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Thomas; Kruger, S. E.; Held, E. D.; Harvey, R. W.

2012-10-01

Actively controlled electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) applied within magnetic islands formed by neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) has been shown to control or suppress these modes. In conjunction with ongoing experimental efforts, the development and verification of integrated numerical models of this mode stabilization process is of paramount importance in determining optimal NTM stabilization strategies for ITER. In the advanced model developed by the SWIM Project, the equations/closures of extended (not reduced) MHD contain new terms arising from 3D (not toroidal or bounce-averaged) RF-induced quasilinear diffusion. The quasilinear operator formulation models the equilibration of driven current within the island using the same extended MHD dynamics which govern the physics of island formation, yielding a more accurate and self-consistent picture of 3D island response to RF drive. Results of computations which model ECRF deposition using ray tracing, assemble the 3D quasilinear operator from ray/profile data, and calculate the resultant forces within the extended MHD code will be presented. We also discuss the efficacy of various numerical active feedback control systems, which gather data from synthetic diagnostics to dynamically trigger and spatially align RF fields.

Parameter-Space Survey of Linear G-mode and Interchange in Extended Magnetohydrodynamics

DOE PAGES

Howell, E. C.; Sovinec, C. R.

2017-09-11

The extended magnetohydrodynamic stability of interchange modes is studied in two configurations. In slab geometry, a local dispersion relation for the gravitational interchange mode (g-mode) with three different extensions of the MHD model [P. Zhu, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 085005 (2008)] is analyzed. Our results delineate where drifts stablize the g-mode with gyroviscosity alone and with a two-fluid Ohm’s law alone. Including the two-fluid Ohm’s law produces an ion drift wave that interacts with the g-mode. This interaction then gives rise to a second instability at finite k y. A second instability is also observed in numerical extended MHD computations of linear interchange in cylindrical screw-pinch equilibria, the second configuration. Particularly with incomplete models, this mode limits the regions of stability for physically realistic conditions. But, applying a consistent two-temperature extended MHD model that includes the diamagnetic heat flux density (more » $$\\vec{q}$$ *) makes the onset of the second mode occur at larger Hall parameter. For conditions relevant to the SSPX experiment [E.B. Hooper, Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 54, 113001 (2012)], significant stabilization is observed for Suydam parameters as large as unity (D s≲1).« less

User's manual for the FLORA equilibrium and stability code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Freis, R.P.; Cohen, B.I.

1985-04-01

This document provides a user's guide to the content and use of the two-dimensional axisymmetric equilibrium and stability code FLORA. FLORA addresses the low-frequency MHD stability of long-thin axisymmetric tandem mirror systems with finite pressure and finite-larmor-radius effects. FLORA solves an initial-value problem for interchange, rotational, and ballooning stability.

Two-way coupling of magnetohydrodynamic simulations with embedded particle-in-cell simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makwana, K. D.; Keppens, R.; Lapenta, G.

2017-12-01

We describe a method for coupling an embedded domain in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation with a particle-in-cell (PIC) method. In this two-way coupling we follow the work of Daldorff et al. (2014) [19] in which the PIC domain receives its initial and boundary conditions from MHD variables (MHD to PIC coupling) while the MHD simulation is updated based on the PIC variables (PIC to MHD coupling). This method can be useful for simulating large plasma systems, where kinetic effects captured by particle-in-cell simulations are localized but affect global dynamics. We describe the numerical implementation of this coupling, its time-stepping algorithm, and its parallelization strategy, emphasizing the novel aspects of it. We test the stability and energy/momentum conservation of this method by simulating a steady-state plasma. We test the dynamics of this coupling by propagating plasma waves through the embedded PIC domain. Coupling with MHD shows satisfactory results for the fast magnetosonic wave, but significant distortion for the circularly polarized Alfvén wave. Coupling with Hall-MHD shows excellent coupling for the whistler wave. We also apply this methodology to simulate a Geospace Environmental Modeling (GEM) challenge type of reconnection with the diffusion region simulated by PIC coupled to larger scales with MHD and Hall-MHD. In both these cases we see the expected signatures of kinetic reconnection in the PIC domain, implying that this method can be used for reconnection studies.

Feedback-assisted extension of the tokamak operating space to low safety factor

DOE PAGES

Hanson, Jeremy M.; Bialek, James M.; Baruzzo, M.; ...

2014-07-07

Recent DIII-D and RFX-mod experiments have demonstrated stable tokamak operation at very low values of the edge safety factor q( a) near and below 2. The onset of n = 1 resistive wall mode (RWM) kink instabilities leads to a disruptive stability limit, encountered at q( a) = 2 (limiter plasmas) and q 95 = 2 (divertor plasmas). However, passively stable operation can be attained for q( a) and q 95 values as low as 2.2. RWM damping in the q( a) = 2 regime was measured using active MHD spectroscopy. Although consistent with theoretical predictions, the amplitude of themore » damped response does not increase significantly as the q( a) = 2 limit is approached, in contrast with damping measurements made approaching the pressure-driven RWM limit. Applying proportional gain magnetic feedback control of the n = 1 modes has resulted in stabilized operation with q 95 values reaching as low as 1.9 in DIII-D and q( a) reaching 1.55 in RFX-mod. In addition to being consistent with the q( a) = 2 external kink mode stability limit, the unstable modes have growth rates on the order of the characteristic wall eddy-current decay timescale in both devices, and a dominant m = 2 poloidal structure that is consistent with ideal MHD predictions. As a result, the experiments contribute to validating MHD stability theory and demonstrate that a key tokamak stability limit can be overcome with feedback.« less

Flow Matching Results of an MHD Energy Bypass System on a Supersonic Turbojet Engine Using the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benyo, Theresa L.

2011-01-01

Flow matching has been successfully achieved for an MHD energy bypass system on a supersonic turbojet engine. The Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) environment helped perform a thermodynamic cycle analysis to properly match the flows from an inlet employing a MHD energy bypass system (consisting of an MHD generator and MHD accelerator) on a supersonic turbojet engine. Working with various operating conditions (such as the applied magnetic field, MHD generator length and flow conductivity), interfacing studies were conducted between the MHD generator, the turbojet engine, and the MHD accelerator. This paper briefly describes the NPSS environment used in this analysis. This paper further describes the analysis of a supersonic turbojet engine with an MHD generator/accelerator energy bypass system. Results from this study have shown that using MHD energy bypass in the flow path of a supersonic turbojet engine increases the useful Mach number operating range from 0 to 3.0 Mach (not using MHD) to a range of 0 to 7.0 Mach with specific net thrust range of 740 N-s/kg (at ambient Mach = 3.25) to 70 N-s/kg (at ambient Mach = 7). These results were achieved with an applied magnetic field of 2.5 Tesla and conductivity levels in a range from 2 mhos/m (ambient Mach = 7) to 5.5 mhos/m (ambient Mach = 3.5) for an MHD generator length of 3 m.

DISCO: A 3D Moving-mesh Magnetohydrodynamics Code Designed for the Study of Astrophysical Disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duffell, Paul C.

2016-09-01

This work presents the publicly available moving-mesh magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code DISCO. DISCO is efficient and accurate at evolving orbital fluid motion in two and three dimensions, especially at high Mach numbers. DISCO employs a moving-mesh approach utilizing a dynamic cylindrical mesh that can shear azimuthally to follow the orbital motion of the gas. The moving mesh removes diffusive advection errors and allows for longer time-steps than a static grid. MHD is implemented in DISCO using an HLLD Riemann solver and a novel constrained transport (CT) scheme that is compatible with the mesh motion. DISCO is tested against a wide variety of problems, which are designed to test its stability, accuracy, and scalability. In addition, several MHD tests are performed which demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the new CT approach, including two tests of the magneto-rotational instability, one testing the linear growth rate and the other following the instability into the fully turbulent regime.

DISCO: A 3D MOVING-MESH MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS CODE DESIGNED FOR THE STUDY OF ASTROPHYSICAL DISKS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duffell, Paul C., E-mail: duffell@berkeley.edu

2016-09-01

This work presents the publicly available moving-mesh magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code DISCO. DISCO is efficient and accurate at evolving orbital fluid motion in two and three dimensions, especially at high Mach numbers. DISCO employs a moving-mesh approach utilizing a dynamic cylindrical mesh that can shear azimuthally to follow the orbital motion of the gas. The moving mesh removes diffusive advection errors and allows for longer time-steps than a static grid. MHD is implemented in DISCO using an HLLD Riemann solver and a novel constrained transport (CT) scheme that is compatible with the mesh motion. DISCO is tested against a wide varietymore » of problems, which are designed to test its stability, accuracy, and scalability. In addition, several MHD tests are performed which demonstrate the accuracy and stability of the new CT approach, including two tests of the magneto-rotational instability, one testing the linear growth rate and the other following the instability into the fully turbulent regime.« less

Advances in simulation of wave interactions with extended MHD phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batchelor, D.; Abla, G.; D'Azevedo, E.; Bateman, G.; Bernholdt, D. E.; Berry, L.; Bonoli, P.; Bramley, R.; Breslau, J.; Chance, M.; Chen, J.; Choi, M.; Elwasif, W.; Foley, S.; Fu, G.; Harvey, R.; Jaeger, E.; Jardin, S.; Jenkins, T.; Keyes, D.; Klasky, S.; Kruger, S.; Ku, L.; Lynch, V.; McCune, D.; Ramos, J.; Schissel, D.; Schnack, D.; Wright, J.

2009-07-01

The Integrated Plasma Simulator (IPS) provides a framework within which some of the most advanced, massively-parallel fusion modeling codes can be interoperated to provide a detailed picture of the multi-physics processes involved in fusion experiments. The presentation will cover four topics: 1) recent improvements to the IPS, 2) application of the IPS for very high resolution simulations of ITER scenarios, 3) studies of resistive and ideal MHD stability in tokamk discharges using IPS facilities, and 4) the application of RF power in the electron cyclotron range of frequencies to control slowly growing MHD modes in tokamaks and initial evaluations of optimized location for RF power deposition.

Edge localized linear ideal magnetohydrodynamic instability studies in an extended-magnetohydrodynamic code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burke, B. J.; Kruger, S. E.; Hegna, C. C.

A linear benchmark between the linear ideal MHD stability codes ELITE [H. R. Wilson et al., Phys. Plasmas 9, 1277 (2002)], GATO [L. Bernard et al., Comput. Phys. Commun. 24, 377 (1981)], and the extended nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code, NIMROD [C. R. Sovinec et al.., J. Comput. Phys. 195, 355 (2004)] is undertaken for edge-localized (MHD) instabilities. Two ballooning-unstable, shifted-circle tokamak equilibria are compared where the stability characteristics are varied by changing the equilibrium plasma profiles. The equilibria model an H-mode plasma with a pedestal pressure profile and parallel edge currents. For both equilibria, NIMROD accurately reproduces the transition tomore » instability (the marginally unstable mode), as well as the ideal growth spectrum for a large range of toroidal modes (n=1-20). The results use the compressible MHD model and depend on a precise representation of 'ideal-like' and 'vacuumlike' or 'halo' regions within the code. The halo region is modeled by the introduction of a Lundquist-value profile that transitions from a large to a small value at a flux surface location outside of the pedestal region. To model an ideal-like MHD response in the core and a vacuumlike response outside the transition, separate criteria on the plasma and halo Lundquist values are required. For the benchmarked equilibria the critical Lundquist values are 10{sup 8} and 10{sup 3} for the ideal-like and halo regions, respectively. Notably, this gives a ratio on the order of 10{sup 5}, which is much larger than experimentally measured values using T{sub e} values associated with the top of the pedestal and separatrix. Excellent agreement with ELITE and GATO calculations are made when sharp boundary transitions in the resistivity are used and a small amount of physical dissipation is added for conditions very near and below marginal ideal stability.« less

The Hall-induced stability of gravitating fluids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karmakar, P. K.; Goutam, H. P.

2018-05-01

We analyze the stability behavior of low-density partially ionized self-gravitating magnetized unbounded dusty plasma fluid in the presence of the Hall diffusion effects (HDEs) in the non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium framework. The effects of inhomogeneous self-gravity are methodically included in the basic model tapestry. Application of the Fourier plane-wave perturbative treatment decouples the structuration representative parameters into a linear generalized dispersion relation (sextic) in a judicious mean-fluid approximation. The dispersion analysis shows that the normal mode, termed as the gravito-magneto-acoustic (GMA) mode, is drastically modified due to the HDEs. This mode is highly dispersive, and driven unstable by the Hall current resulting from the symmetry-breaking of electrons and ions relative to the magnetic field. The mode feature, which is derived from a modified induction with the positive Hall, is against the ideal MHD. It is further demonstrated that the HDEs play stabilizing roles by supporting the cloud against gravitational collapse. Provided that the HDEs are concurrently switched off, the collapse occurs on the global spatial scale due to enhanced inward accretion of the gravitating dust constituents. It is seen explicitly that the enhanced dust-charge leads to stabilizing effects. Besides, the Hall-induced fluctuations, as propagatory wave modes, exhibit both normal and anomalous dispersions. The reliability checkup of the entailed results as diverse corollaries and special cases are illustratively discussed in the panoptic light of the earlier paradigmatic predictions available in the literature.

Finite-Larmor-radius effects on z-pinch stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheffel, Jan; Faghihi, Mostafa

1989-06-01

The effect of finite Larmor radius (FLR) on the stability of m = 1 small-axial-wavelength kinks in a z-pinch with purely poloidal magnetic field is investigated. We use the incompressible FLR MHD model; a collisionless fluid model that consistently includes the relevant FLR terms due to ion gyroviscosity, Hall effect and electron diamagnetism. With FLR terms absent, the Kadomtsev criterion of ideal MHD, 2r dp/dr + m2B2/μ0 ≥ 0 predicts instability for internal modes unless the current density is singular at the centre of the pinch. The same result is obtained in the present model, with FLR terms absent. When the FLR terms are included, a normal-mode analysis of the linearized equations yields the following results. Marginally unstable (ideal) modes are stabilized by gyroviscosity. The Hall term has a damping (but not absolutely stabilizing) effect - in agreement with earlier work. On specifying a constant current and particle density equilibrium, the effect of electron diamagnetism vanishes. For a z-pinch with parameters relevant to the EXTRAP experiment, the m = 1 modes are then fully stabilized over the crosssection for wavelengths λ/a ≤ 1, where a denotes the pinch radius. As a general z-pinch result a critical line-density limit Nmax = 5 × 1018 m-1 is found, above which gyroviscous stabilization near the plasma boundary becomes insufficient. This limit corresponds to about five Larmor radii along the pinch radius. The result holds for wavelengths close to, or smaller than, the pinch radius and for realistic equilibrium profiles. This limit is far below the required limit for a reactor with contained alpha particles, which is in excess of 1020 m-1.

Axisymmetric Tandem Mirrors: Stabilization and Confinement Studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Post, R.F.; Fowler, T.K.; Bulmer, R.

2005-01-15

The 'Kinetic Stabilizer' has been proposed as a means of MHD stabilizing an axisymmetric tandem mirror system. The K-S concept is based on theoretical studies by Ryutov, confirmed experimentally in the Gas Dynamic Trap experiment in Novosibirsk. In the K-S beams of ions are directed into the end of an 'expander' region outside the outer mirror of a tandem mirror. These ions, slowed, stagnated, and reflected as they move up the magnetic gradient, produce a low-density stabilizing plasma.At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory we have been conducting theoretical and computational studies of the K-S Tandem Mirror. These studies have employedmore » a low-beta code written especially to analyze the beam injection/stabilization process,and a new code SYMTRAN (by Hua and Fowler)that solves the coupled radial and axial particle and energy transport in a K-S T-M. Also, a 'legacy' MHD stability code, FLORA, has been upgraded and employed to benchmark the injection/stabilization code and to extend its results to high beta values.The FLORA code studies so far have confirmed the effectiveness of the K-S in stabilizing high-beta (40%) plasmas with stabilizer plasmas the peak pressures of which are several orders of magnitude smaller than those of the confined plasma.Also the SYMTRAN code has shown D-T plasma ignition from alpha particle energy deposition in T-M regimes with strong end plugging.Our studies have confirmed the viability of the K-S T-M concept with respect to MHD stability and radial and axial confinement. We are continuing these studies in order to optimize the parameters and to examine means for the stabilization of possible residual instability modes, such as drift modes and 'trapped-particle' modes. These modes may in principle be controlled by tailoring the stabilizer plasma distribution and/or the radial potential distribution.In the paper the results to date of our studies are summarized and projected to scope out possible fusion-power versions of the K-S T-M.« less

Axisymmetric Tandem Mirrors: Stabilization and Confinement Studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Post, R F; Fowler, T K; Bulmer, R

2004-07-15

The 'Kinetic Stabilizer' has been proposed as a means of MHD stabilizing an axisymmetric tandem mirror system. The K-S concept is based on theoretical studies by Ryutov, confirmed experimentally in the Gas Dynamic Trap experiment in Novosibirsk. In the K-S beams of ions are directed into the end of an 'expander' region outside the outer mirror of a tandem mirror. These ions, slowed, stagnated, and reflected as they move up the magnetic gradient, produce a low-density stabilizing plasma. At the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory we have been conducting theoretical and computational studies of the K-S Tandem Mirror. These studies havemore » employed a low-beta code written especially to analyze the beam injection/stabilization process, and a new code SYMTRAN (by Hua and Fowler) that solves the coupled radial and axial particle and energy transport in a K-S TM. Also, a 'legacy' MHD stability code, FLORA, has been upgraded and employed to benchmark the injection/stabilization code and to extend its results to high beta values. The FLORA code studies so far have confirmed the effectiveness of the K-S in stabilizing high-beta (40%) plasmas with stabilizer plasmas the peak pressures of which are several orders of magnitude smaller than those of the confined plasma. Also the SYMTRAN code has shown D-T plasma ignition from alpha particle energy deposition in T-M regimes with strong end plugging. Our studies have confirmed the viability of the K-S-T-M concept with respect to MHD stability and radial and axial confinement. We are continuing these studies in order to optimize the parameters and to examine means for the stabilization of possible residual instability modes, such as drift modes and 'trapped-particle' modes. These modes may in principle be controlled by tailoring the stabilizer plasma distribution and/or the radial potential distribution. In the paper the results to date of our studies are summarized and projected to scope out possible fusion-power versions of the K-S T-M« less

A model of energetic ion effects on pressure driven tearing modes in tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Halfmoon, M. R.; Brennan, D. P.

2017-06-05

Here, the effects that energetic trapped ions have on linear resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities are studied in a reduced model that captures the essential physics driving or damping the modes through variations in the magnetic shear. The drift-kinetic orbital interaction of a slowing down distribution of trapped energetic ions with a resistive MHD instability is integrated to a scalar contribution to the perturbed pressure, and entered into an asymptotic matching formalism for the resistive MHD dispersion relation. Toroidal magnetic field line curvature is included to model trapping in the particle distribution, in an otherwise cylindrical model. The focus is onmore » a configuration that is driven unstable to the m/n = 2/1 mode by increasing pressure, where m is the poloidal mode number and n is the toroidal. The particles and pressure can affect the mode both in the core region where there can be low and reversed shear and outside the resonant surface in significant positive shear. The results show that the energetic ions damp and stabilize the mode when orbiting in significant positive shear, increasing the marginal stability boundary. However, the inner core region contribution with low and reversed shear can drive the mode unstable. This effect of shear on the energetic ion pressure contribution is found to be consistent with the literature. These results explain the observation that the 2/1 mode was found to be damped and stabilized by energetic ions in delta δf-MHD simulations of tokamak experiments with positive shear throughout, while the 2/1 mode was found to be driven unstable in simulations of experiments with weakly reversed shear in the core. This is also found to be consistent with related experimental observations of the stability of the 2/1 mode changing significantly with core shear.« less

A model of energetic ion effects on pressure driven tearing modes in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Halfmoon, M. R.; Brennan, D. P.

Here, the effects that energetic trapped ions have on linear resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities are studied in a reduced model that captures the essential physics driving or damping the modes through variations in the magnetic shear. The drift-kinetic orbital interaction of a slowing down distribution of trapped energetic ions with a resistive MHD instability is integrated to a scalar contribution to the perturbed pressure, and entered into an asymptotic matching formalism for the resistive MHD dispersion relation. Toroidal magnetic field line curvature is included to model trapping in the particle distribution, in an otherwise cylindrical model. The focus is onmore » a configuration that is driven unstable to the m/n = 2/1 mode by increasing pressure, where m is the poloidal mode number and n is the toroidal. The particles and pressure can affect the mode both in the core region where there can be low and reversed shear and outside the resonant surface in significant positive shear. The results show that the energetic ions damp and stabilize the mode when orbiting in significant positive shear, increasing the marginal stability boundary. However, the inner core region contribution with low and reversed shear can drive the mode unstable. This effect of shear on the energetic ion pressure contribution is found to be consistent with the literature. These results explain the observation that the 2/1 mode was found to be damped and stabilized by energetic ions in delta δf-MHD simulations of tokamak experiments with positive shear throughout, while the 2/1 mode was found to be driven unstable in simulations of experiments with weakly reversed shear in the core. This is also found to be consistent with related experimental observations of the stability of the 2/1 mode changing significantly with core shear.« less

3D MHD Models of Active Region Loops

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ofman, Leon

2004-01-01

Present imaging and spectroscopic observations of active region loops allow to determine many physical parameters of the coronal loops, such as the density, temperature, velocity of flows in loops, and the magnetic field. However, due to projection effects many of these parameters remain ambiguous. Three dimensional imaging in EUV by the STEREO spacecraft will help to resolve the projection ambiguities, and the observations could be used to setup 3D MHD models of active region loops to study the dynamics and stability of active regions. Here the results of 3D MHD models of active region loops are presented, and the progress towards more realistic 3D MHD models of active regions. In particular the effects of impulsive events on the excitation of active region loop oscillations, and the generation, propagations and reflection of EIT waves are shown. It is shown how 3D MHD models together with 3D EUV observations can be used as a diagnostic tool for active region loop physical parameters, and to advance the science of the sources of solar coronal activity.

Pressure profiles of plasmas confined in the field of a dipole magnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Matthew Stiles

Understanding the maintenance and stability of plasma pressure confined by a strong magnetic field is a fundamental challenge in both laboratory and space plasma physics. Using magnetic and X-ray measurements on the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX), the equilibrium plasma pressure has been reconstructed, and variations of the plasma pressure for different plasma conditions have been examined. The relationship of these profiles to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability limit, and to the enhanced stability limit that results from a fraction of energetic trapped electrons, has been analyzed. In each case, the measured pressure profiles and the estimated fractional densities of energetic electrons were qualitatively consistent with expectations of plasma stability. LDX confines high temperature and high pressure plasma in the field of a superconducting dipole magnet. The strong dipole magnet can be either mechanically supported or magnetically levitated. When the dipole was mechanically supported, the plasma density profile was generally uniform while the plasma pressure was highly peaked. The uniform density was attributed to the thermal plasma being rapidly lost along the field to the mechanical supports. In contrast, the strongly peaked plasma pressure resulted from a fraction of energetic, mirror trapped electrons created by microwave heating at the electron cyclotron resonance (ECRH). These hot electrons are known to be gyrokinetically stabilized by the background plasma and can adopt pressure profiles steeper than the MHD limit. X-ray measurements indicated that this hot electron population could be described by an energy distribution in the range 50-100 keV. Combining information from the magnetic reconstruction of the pressure profile, multi-chord interferometer measurements of the electron density profile, and X-ray measurements of the hot electron energy distribution, the fraction of energetic electrons at the pressure peak was estimated to be ˜ 35% of the total electron population. When the dipole was magnetically levitated the plasma density increased substantially because particle losses to the mechanical supports were eliminated so particles could only be lost via slower cross-field transport processes. The pressure profile was observed to be broader during levitated operation than it was during supported operation, and the pressure appeared to be contained in both a thermal population and an energetic electron population. X-ray spectra indicated that the X-rays came from a similar hot electron population during levitated and supported operation; however, the hot electron fraction was an order of magnitude smaller during levitated operation (<3% of the total electron population). Pressure gradients for both supported and levitated plasmas were compared to the MHD limit. Levitated plasmas had pressure profiles that were (i) steeper than, (ii) shallower than, or (iii) near the MHD limit dependent on plasma conditions. However, those profiles that exceeded the MHD limit were observed to have larger fractions of energetic electrons. When the dipole magnet was supported, high pressure plasmas always had profiles that exceeded the MHD interchange stability limit, but the high pressure in these plasmas appeared to arise entirely from a population of energetic trapped electrons.

Global plasma oscillations in electron internal transport barriers in TCV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udintsev, V. S.; Sauter, O.; Asp, E.; Fable, E.; Goodman, T. P.; Turri, G.; Graves, J. P.; Scarabosio, A.; Zhuang, G.; Zucca, C.; TCV Team

2008-12-01

In the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) (Hofmann F et al1994 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 36 B277), global plasma oscillations have been discovered in fully non-inductively driven plasmas featuring electron internal transport barriers (ITB) with strong ECRH/ECCD. These oscillations are linked to the destabilization and stabilization of MHD modes near the foot of the ITB and can lead to large oscillations of the total plasma current and line-averaged density, among others. They are intrinsically related to the fact that ITBs have large pressure gradients in a region of low magnetic shear. Therefore, the ideal MHD limit is relatively low and infernal modes can be unstable. Depending on the proximity to the ideal limit, small crashes or resistive modes can appear which affect the time evolution of the discharge. Being near marginal stability, the modes can self-stabilize due to the modification of the pressure gradient and local q-profile. The plasma recovers good confinement, reverses shear and the ITB builds up, until a new MHD mode is destabilized. TCV results show that this cycling behaviour can be controlled by modifying the current density or the pressure profiles, either with Ohmic current density perturbation or by modifying the ECH/ECCD power. It is demonstrated that many observations such as q >= 2 sawteeth, beta collapses, minor disruptions and oscillation regimes in ITBs can be assigned to the same physics origin: the proximity to the infernal mode stability limit.

Control of linear modes in cylindrical resistive magnetohydrodynamics with a resistive wall, plasma rotation, and complex gain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brennan, D. P.; Finn, J. M.

2014-10-15

Feedback stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes in a tokamak is studied in a cylindrical model with a resistive wall, plasma resistivity, viscosity, and toroidal rotation. The control is based on a linear combination of the normal and tangential components of the magnetic field just inside the resistive wall. The feedback includes complex gain, for both the normal and for the tangential components, and it is known that the imaginary part of the feedback for the former is equivalent to plasma rotation [J. M. Finn and L. Chacon, Phys. Plasmas 11, 1866 (2004)]. The work includes (1) analysis with a reducedmore » resistive MHD model for a tokamak with finite β and with stepfunction current density and pressure profiles, and (2) computations with a full compressible visco-resistive MHD model with smooth decreasing profiles of current density and pressure. The equilibria are stable for β = 0 and the marginal stability values β{sub rp,rw} < β{sub rp,iw} < β{sub ip,rw} < β{sub ip,iw} (resistive plasma, resistive wall; resistive plasma, ideal wall; ideal plasma, resistive wall; and ideal plasma, ideal wall) are computed for both models. The main results are: (a) imaginary gain with normal sensors or plasma rotation stabilizes below β{sub rp,iw} because rotation suppresses the diffusion of flux from the plasma out through the wall and, more surprisingly, (b) rotation or imaginary gain with normal sensors destabilizes above β{sub rp,iw} because it prevents the feedback flux from entering the plasma through the resistive wall to form a virtual wall. A method of using complex gain G{sub i} to optimize in the presence of rotation in this regime with β > β{sub rp,iw} is presented. The effect of imaginary gain with tangential sensors is more complicated but essentially destabilizes above and below β{sub rp,iw}.« less

Nonlinear Two Fluid and Kinetic ELM Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strauss, H. R.; Sugiyama, L.; Chang, C. S.; Ku, S.; Hientzsch, B.; Breslau, J.; Park, W.; Samtaney, R.; Adams, M.; Jardin, S.

2006-04-01

Simulations of ELMs using dissipative MHD, two fluid MHD, and neoclassical kinetic physics models are being carried out using the M3D code [1]. Resistive MHD simulations of nonlinear edge pressure and current driven instabilities have been performed, initialized with realistic DIIID equilibria. Simulations show the saturation of the modes and relaxation of equilbrium profiles. Linear simulations including two fluid effects show the stabilization of toroidal mode number n = 10 modes, when the Hall parameter H, the ratio of ion skin depth to major radius, exceeds a threshhold. Nonlinear simulations are being done including gyroviscous stabilization. Kinetic effects are incorporated by coupling with the XGC code [2], which is able to simulate the edge plasma density and pressure pedestal buildup. These profiles are being used to initialize M3D simulations of an ELM crash and pedestal relaxation. The goal is to simulate an ELM cycle. [1] Park, W., Belova, E.V., Fu, G.Y., Tang, X.Z., Strauss, H.R., Sugiyama, L.E., Phys. Plas. 6, 1796 (1999).[2] Chang, C.S., Ku, S., and Weitzner, H., Phys. Plas. 11, 2649 (2004)

High order entropy conservative central schemes for wide ranges of compressible gas dynamics and MHD flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sjögreen, Björn; Yee, H. C.

2018-07-01

The Sjogreen and Yee [31] high order entropy conservative numerical method for compressible gas dynamics is extended to include discontinuities and also extended to equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The basic idea is based on Tadmor's [40] original work for inviscid perfect gas flows. For the MHD four formulations of the MHD are considered: (a) the conservative MHD, (b) the Godunov [14] non-conservative form, (c) the Janhunen [19] - MHD with magnetic field source terms, and (d) a MHD with source terms by Brackbill and Barnes [5]. Three forms of the high order entropy numerical fluxes for the MHD in the finite difference framework are constructed. They are based on the extension of the low order form of Chandrashekar and Klingenberg [9], and two forms with modifications of the Winters and Gassner [49] numerical fluxes. For flows containing discontinuities and multiscale turbulence fluctuations the high order entropy conservative numerical fluxes as the new base scheme under the Yee and Sjogreen [31] and Kotov et al. [21,22] high order nonlinear filter approach is developed. The added nonlinear filter step on the high order centered entropy conservative spatial base scheme is only utilized at isolated computational regions, while maintaining high accuracy almost everywhere for long time integration of unsteady flows and DNS and LES of turbulence computations. Representative test cases for both smooth flows and problems containing discontinuities for the gas dynamics and the ideal MHD are included. The results illustrate the improved stability by using the high order entropy conservative numerical flux as the base scheme instead of the pure high order central scheme.

Fundamentals of Plasma Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellan, Paul M.

2008-07-01

Preface; 1. Basic concepts; 2. The Vlasov, two-fluid, and MHD models of plasma dynamics; 3. Motion of a single plasma particle; 4. Elementary plasma waves; 5. Streaming instabilities and the Landau problem; 6. Cold plasma waves in a magnetized plasma; 7. Waves in inhomogeneous plasmas and wave energy relations; 8. Vlasov theory of warm electrostatic waves in a magnetized plasma; 9. MHD equilibria; 10. Stability of static MHD equilibria; 11. Magnetic helicity interpreted and Woltjer-Taylor relaxation; 12. Magnetic reconnection; 13. Fokker-Planck theory of collisions; 14. Wave-particle nonlinearities; 15. Wave-wave nonlinearities; 16. Non-neutral plasmas; 17. Dusty plasmas; Appendix A. Intuitive method for vector calculus identities; Appendix B. Vector calculus in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates; Appendix C. Frequently used physical constants and formulae; Bibliography; References; Index.

Feedback and Control of Linear and Nonlinear Global MHD Modes in Rotating Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finn, J. M.; Chacon, L.

2002-11-01

We present studies of feedback applied to resistive wall modes in the presence of plasma rotation. The main tool used is a Newton-Krylov nonlinear reduced resistive MHD code with completely implicit time stepping[1]. The effects of proportional and derivative gain and toroidal phase shift are investigated. In addition to studying the complete stabilization of the resistive wall mode, we present results on controlling the amplitude of nonlinear modes locked to the wall but propagating slowly; we also show results on reducing the hysteresis in the locking-unlocking bifurcation diagram. [1] L. Chacon, D. A. Knoll and J. M. Finn, "An implicit, nonlinear reduced resistive MHD solver", J. Comp. Phys. v. 178, pp 15-36 (2002).

Simulations of initial MHD experiments on the Madison Dynamo Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connell, R.; Forest, C. B.; Goldwin, J. M.; Kendrick, R. D.; Canary, H. W.; Nornberg, M. D.; Jaun, A.

1999-11-01

Initial experiments for a liquid metal MHD device have been modelled using measurements from geometrically similar water experiments. In the low B limit the water flows are the same as sodium flows. Two codes have been written to predict 1) linear stability of the system and 2) the response of the system to an externally applied vertical magnetic field, using measured velocity profiles. Predictions are made for a first set of MHD experiments, including: a) demonstration of the distortion and amplification of externally applied magnetic fields by sheared flows, b) demonstration of the β-effect by measurement of the turbulent conductivity, c) demonstration of a turbulent α effect and d) characterization of magnetic eigenmodes.

What`s fair is fair

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nachtrieb, R.; Freidberg, J.P.

The newly elucidated strategy for the magnetic fusion program set forth by the Department of Energy calls for increased emphasis on alternate concepts. This strategy is motivated by the recognition that in spite of its many attractive features, a tokamak tends to be a low power density device, ultimately translating into large and corresponding expensive reactor. ITER, as it is currently envisaged, is a good example of a large, expensive, plain vanilla tokamak. In its defense, ITER rightly claims that its base design is very conservative in order to minimize the risk of failure. In order to increase power densitymore » and reduce cost there are two qualitatively different approaches that one can follow: discover advanced modes of tokamak operation or develop near alternate concepts. To decide which path to follow is a difficult task because of the uncertainties involved in making accurate comparisons between different concepts at different stages of development. One area, however, that most would agree is meaningful is ideal MHD stability. For any given concept to be credible as a reactor, it must at least be stable against macroscopic ideal MHD modes. The TPX design, for instance, goes to considerable trouble to obtain stability against external kinks: a close fitting metallic cage, rotation to stabilize the resistive wall version of the external kink, and, if all else fails, feedback. For credibility any other advanced tokamak or alternate concept should be held to the same standards of ideal MHD stability. As a first step in addressing this requirement we have investigated the stability of the RFP since it can be simply and accurately modeled as a straight cylinder. The RFP is well known to have good stability at high P against internal modes but is very unstable to external modes. We have developed a linear stability code which treats the plasma as an ideal compressible fluid, and includes longitudinal flow and a resistive wall.« less

Fully three-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic stability analysis of low- n modes and Mercier modes in stellarators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, G.Y.; Cooper, W.A.; Gruber, R.

1992-06-01

The TERPSICHORE three-dimensional linear ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability code ({ital Theory} {ital of} {ital Fusion} {ital Plasmas}, Proceedings of the Joint Varenna--Lausanne International Workshop, Chexbres, Switzerland, 1988 (Editrice Compositori, Bologna, Italy, 1989), p. 93; {ital Controlled} {ital Fusion} {ital and} {ital Plasma} {ital Heating}, Proceedings of the 17th European Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (European Physical Society, Petit-Lancy, Switzerland, 1990), Vol. 14B, Part II, p. 931; {ital Theory} {ital of} {ital Fusion} {ital Plasmas}, Proceedings of the Joint Varenna--Lausanne International Workshop, Valla Monastero, Varenna, Italy, 1990 (Editrice Compositori, Bologna, Italy, 1990), p. 655) has been extended to the full MHD equations.more » The new code is used to calculate the physical growth rates of nonlocal low-{ital n} modes for {ital l}=2 torsatron configurations. A comprehensive investigation of the relation between the Mercier modes and the low-{ital n} modes has been performed. The unstable localized low-{ital n} modes are found to be correlated with the Mercier criterion. Finite growth rates of the low-{ital n} modes correspond to finite values of the Mercier criterion parameter. Near the Mercier marginal stability boundary, the low-{ital n} modes tend to be weakly unstable with very small growth rates. However, the stability of global-type low-{ital n} modes is found to be decorrelated from that of Mercier modes. The low-{ital n} modes with global radial structures can be more stable or more unstable than Mercier modes.« less

Influence of ICRF heating on the stability of TAEs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sears, J.; Burke, W.; Parker, R. R.; Snipes, J. A.; Wolfe, S.

2007-11-01

Unstable toroidicity-induced Alfv'en eigenmodes (TAEs) can appear spontaneously due to resonant interaction with fast particles such as fusion alphas, raising concern that TAEs may threaten ITER performance. This work investigates the progression of stable TAE damping rates toward instability during a scan of ICRF heating power up to 3.1 MW. Stable eigenmodes are identified in Alcator C-Mod by the Active MHD diagnostic. Unstable TAEs are observed to appear spontaneously in C-Mod limited L-mode plasmas at sufficient tail energies generated by >3 MW of ICRF heating. However preliminary analysis of experiments with moderate ICRF heating power show that TAE stability may not simply degrade with overall fast particle content. There are hints that the stability of some TAEs may be enhanced in the presence of fast particle distribution tails. Furthermore, the radial profile of the energetic particle distribution relative to the safety factor profile affects the ICRF power influence on TAE stability.

Comparison between numerical and analytical results on the required rf current for stabilizing neoclassical tearing modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaojing; Yu, Qingquan; Zhang, Xiaodong; Zhang, Yang; Zhu, Sizheng; Wang, Xiaoguang; Wu, Bin

2018-04-01

Numerical studies on the stabilization of neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) by electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) have been carried out based on reduced MHD equations, focusing on the amount of the required driven current for mode stabilization and the comparison with analytical results. The dependence of the minimum driven current required for NTM stabilization on some parameters, including the bootstrap current density, radial width of the driven current, radial deviation of the driven current from the resonant surface, and the island width when applying ECCD, are studied. By fitting the numerical results, simple expressions for these dependences are obtained. Analysis based on the modified Rutherford equation (MRE) has also been carried out, and the corresponding results have the same trend as numerical ones, while a quantitative difference between them exists. This difference becomes smaller when the applied radio frequency (rf) current is smaller.

Performance of fully-coupled algebraic multigrid preconditioners for large-scale VMS resistive MHD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, P. T.; Shadid, J. N.; Hu, J. J.

Here, we explore the current performance and scaling of a fully-implicit stabilized unstructured finite element (FE) variational multiscale (VMS) capability for large-scale simulations of 3D incompressible resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The large-scale linear systems that are generated by a Newton nonlinear solver approach are iteratively solved by preconditioned Krylov subspace methods. The efficiency of this approach is critically dependent on the scalability and performance of the algebraic multigrid preconditioner. Our study considers the performance of the numerical methods as recently implemented in the second-generation Trilinos implementation that is 64-bit compliant and is not limited by the 32-bit global identifiers of themore » original Epetra-based Trilinos. The study presents representative results for a Poisson problem on 1.6 million cores of an IBM Blue Gene/Q platform to demonstrate very large-scale parallel execution. Additionally, results for a more challenging steady-state MHD generator and a transient solution of a benchmark MHD turbulence calculation for the full resistive MHD system are also presented. These results are obtained on up to 131,000 cores of a Cray XC40 and one million cores of a BG/Q system.« less

Performance of fully-coupled algebraic multigrid preconditioners for large-scale VMS resistive MHD

DOE PAGES

Lin, P. T.; Shadid, J. N.; Hu, J. J.; ...

2017-11-06

Here, we explore the current performance and scaling of a fully-implicit stabilized unstructured finite element (FE) variational multiscale (VMS) capability for large-scale simulations of 3D incompressible resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The large-scale linear systems that are generated by a Newton nonlinear solver approach are iteratively solved by preconditioned Krylov subspace methods. The efficiency of this approach is critically dependent on the scalability and performance of the algebraic multigrid preconditioner. Our study considers the performance of the numerical methods as recently implemented in the second-generation Trilinos implementation that is 64-bit compliant and is not limited by the 32-bit global identifiers of themore » original Epetra-based Trilinos. The study presents representative results for a Poisson problem on 1.6 million cores of an IBM Blue Gene/Q platform to demonstrate very large-scale parallel execution. Additionally, results for a more challenging steady-state MHD generator and a transient solution of a benchmark MHD turbulence calculation for the full resistive MHD system are also presented. These results are obtained on up to 131,000 cores of a Cray XC40 and one million cores of a BG/Q system.« less

Vector processing efficiency of plasma MHD codes by use of the FACOM 230-75 APU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuura, T.; Tanaka, Y.; Naraoka, K.; Takizuka, T.; Tsunematsu, T.; Tokuda, S.; Azumi, M.; Kurita, G.; Takeda, T.

1982-06-01

In the framework of pipelined vector architecture, the efficiency of vector processing is assessed with respect to plasma MHD codes in nuclear fusion research. By using a vector processor, the FACOM 230-75 APU, the limit of the enhancement factor due to parallelism of current vector machines is examined for three numerical codes based on a fluid model. Reasonable speed-up factors of approximately 6,6 and 4 times faster than the highly optimized scalar version are obtained for ERATO (linear stability code), AEOLUS-R1 (nonlinear stability code) and APOLLO (1-1/2D transport code), respectively. Problems of the pipelined vector processors are discussed from the viewpoint of restructuring, optimization and choice of algorithms. In conclusion, the important concept of "concurrency within pipelined parallelism" is emphasized.

17th Workshop on MHD Stability Control: addressing the disruption challenge for ITER

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buttery, Richard

2013-08-01

This annual workshop on magnetohydrodynamic stability control was held on 5-7 November 2012 at Columbia University in the city of New York, in the aftermath of a violent hydrodynamic instability event termed 'Hurricane Sandy'. Despite these challenging circumstances, Columbia University managed an excellent meeting, enabling the full participation of the community. This Workshop has been held since 1996 to help in the development of understanding and control of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities for future fusion reactors. It covers a wide range of stability topics—from disruptions, to tearing modes, error fields, edge-localized modes (ELMs), resistive wall modes (RWMs) and ideal MHD—spanning many device types (tokamaks, stellarators and reversed field pinches) to identify commonalities in the physics and a means of control. The theme for 2012 was 'addressing the disruption challenge for ITER', and thus the first day had a heavy focus on both the avoidance and mitigation of disruptions in ITER. Key elements included understanding how to apply 3D fields to maintain stability, as well as managing the disruption process itself through mitigating loads in the thermal quench and handling so called 'runaway electrons'. This culminated in a panel discussion on the disruption mitigation strategy for ITER, which noted that heat load asymmetries during the thermal quench appear to be an artifact of MHD processes, and that runaway electron generation may be inevitable, suggesting research should focus on control and dissipation of the runaway beam. The workshop was combined this year with the annual US-Japan MHD Workshop, with a special section looking more deeply at 'Fundamentals of 3D Perturbed Equilibrium Control', with interesting sessions on 3D equilibrium reconstruction, RWM physics, novel control concepts such as non-magnetic sensing, adaptive control, q < 2 tokamak operation, and the effects of flow. The final day turned to tearing mode interactions, exploring the state of the art in 3D modeling, and innovative means of control through application of electromagnetic torques, use of electron cyclotron current drive and even the idea of electrostatic current drive. This concluded with a second panel discussion on the disruption avoidance strategy in ITER, which commented on the important role played by energetic particles in stability, ideas of active stability sensing and ways to progress 3D reconstruction. In this special section of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion , we present several of the invited and contributed papers from the 2012 workshop, which have been subject to the normal refereeing procedures of the journal. These give a sense of the exceptional quality of the presentations at this workshop, which may be found at: http://fusion.gat.com/conferences/mhd12/. The Program Committee deeply appreciates the participation and support our community continues to show in this workshop, which provides an unparalleled opportunity for in-depth discussion of MHD issues. We would also like to thank our hosts Columbia University, and in particular Professor Gerald Navratil, for outstanding support and facilities in the face of Hurricane Sandy's adversity. The meeting thanked outgoing Program Chair, Dr Richard Buttery from General Atomics, and welcomed next year's Program Chair, Professor David Maurer from Auburn University. The next meeting will be held in Santa Fe 18-20 November 2013.

Poloidal structure of the plasma response to n = 1 Resonant Magnetic Perturbations in ASDEX Upgrade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marrelli, L.; Bettini, P.; Piovesan, P.; Terranova, D.; Giannone, L.; Igochine, V.; Maraschek, M.; Suttrop, W.; Teschke, M.; Liu, Y. Q.; Ryan, D.; Eurofusion Mst1 Team; ASDEX Upgrade Team

2017-10-01

The hybrid scenario, a candidate for high-beta steady-state tokamak operations, becomes highly sensitive to 3D magnetic field near the no-wall limit. A predictive understanding of the plasma response to 3D fields near ideal MHD limits in terms of validated MHD stability codes is therefore important in order to safely operate future devices. Slowly rotating (5 - 10 Hz) n = 1 external magnetic fields have been applied in hybrid discharges in ASDEX Upgrade for an experimental characterization: the global n = 1 kink response has been measured by means of SXR and complete poloidal arrays of bθ probes located at different toroidal angles and compared to predictions of MHD codes such as MARS-F and V3FIT-VMEC. A Least-Squares Spectral Analysis approach has been developed together with a Monte Carlo technique to extract the small plasma response and its confidence interval from the noisy magnetic signals. MARS-F correctly reproduces the poloidal structure of the n = 1 measurements: for example, the dependence of the dominant poloidal mode number at the plasma edge from q95 is the same as in the experiment. Similar comparisons with V3FIT-VMEC and will be presented. See author list of ``H. Meyer et al. 2017 Nucl. Fusion 57 102014''.

ECCD-induced tearing mode stabilization in coupled IPS/NIMROD/GENRAY HPC simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Thomas; Kruger, S. E.; Held, E. D.; Harvey, R. W.; Elwasif, W. R.; Schnack, D. D.; SWIM Project Team

2011-10-01

We present developments toward an integrated, predictive model for determining optimal ECCD-based NTM stabilization strategies in ITER. We demonstrate the capability of the SWIM Project's Integrated Plasma Simulator (IPS) framework to choreograph multiple executions of, and data exchanges between, physics codes modeling various spatiotemporal scales of this coupled RF/MHD problem on several thousand HPC processors. As NIMROD evolves fluid equations to model bulk plasma behavior, self-consistent propagation/deposition of RF power in the ensuing plasma profiles is calculated by GENRAY. A third code (QLCALC) then interfaces with computational geometry packages to construct the RF-induced quasilinear diffusion tensor from NIMROD/GENRAY data, and the moments of this tensor (entering as additional terms in NIMROD's fluid equations due to the disparity in RF/MHD spatiotemporal scales) influence the dynamics of current, momentum, and energy evolution. Initial results are shown to correctly capture the physics of magnetic island stabilization [Jenkins et al., PoP 17, 012502 (2010)]; we also discuss the development of a numerical plasma control system for active feedback stabilization of tearing modes. Funded by USDoE SciDAC.

Free boundary resistive modes in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huysmans, G.T.A.; Goedbloed, J.P.; Kerner, W.

1993-05-01

There exist a number of observations of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity that can be related to resistive MHD modes localized near the plasma boundary. To study the stability of these modes, a free boundary description of the plasma is essential. The resistive plasma--vacuum boundary conditions have been implemented in the fully toroidal resistive spectral code CASTOR (Complex Alfven Spectrum in Toroidal Geometry) [[ital Proceedings] [ital of] [ital the] 18[ital th] [ital Conference] [ital on] [ital Controlled] [ital Fusion] [ital and] [ital Plasma] [ital Physics], Berlin, edited by P. Bachmann and D. C. Robinson (European Physical Society, Petit-Lancy, Switzerland, 1991), p. 89].more » The influence of a free boundary, as compared to a fixed boundary on the stability of low-[ital m] tearing modes, is studied. It is found that the stabilizing (toroidal) effect of a finite pressure due the plasma compression is lost in the free boundary case for modes localized near the boundary. Since the stabilization due to the favorable average curvature in combination with a pressure gradient near the boundary is small, the influence of the pressure on the stability is much less important for free boundary modes than for fixed boundary modes.« less

QUANTITATIVE TESTS OF ELMS AS INTERMEDIATE N PEELING-BALOONING MODES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

LAO,LL; SNYDER,PB; LEONARD,AW

2003-03-01

A271 QUANTITATIVE TESTS OF ELMS AS INTERMEDIATE N PEELING-BALOONING MODES. Several testable features of the working model of edge localized modes (ELMs) as intermediate toroidal mode number peeling-ballooning modes are evaluated quantitatively using DIII-D and JT-60U experimental data and the ELITE MHD stability code. These include the hypothesis that ELM sizes are related to the radial widths of the unstable MHD modes, the unstable modes have a strong ballooning character localized in the outboard bad curvature region, and ELM size generally becomes smaller at high edge collisionality. ELMs are triggered when the growth rates of the unstable MHD modes becomemore » significantly large. These testable features are consistent with many ELM observations in DIII-D and JT-60U discharges.« less

New MHD feedback control schemes using the MARTe framework in RFX-mod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piron, Chiara; Manduchi, Gabriele; Marrelli, Lionello; Piovesan, Paolo; Zanca, Paolo

2013-10-01

Real-time feedback control of MHD instabilities is a topic of major interest in magnetic thermonuclear fusion, since it allows to optimize a device performance even beyond its stability bounds. The stability properties of different magnetic configurations are important test benches for real-time control systems. RFX-mod, a Reversed Field Pinch experiment that can also operate as a tokamak, is a well suited device to investigate this topic. It is equipped with a sophisticated magnetic feedback system that controls MHD instabilities and error fields by means of 192 active coils and a corresponding grid of sensors. In addition, the RFX-mod control system has recently gained new potentialities thanks to the introduction of the MARTe framework and of a new CPU architecture. These capabilities allow to study new feedback algorithms relevant to both RFP and tokamak operation and to contribute to the debate on the optimal feedback strategy. This work focuses on the design of new feedback schemes. For this purpose new magnetic sensors have been explored, together with new algorithms that refine the de-aliasing computation of the radial sideband harmonics. The comparison of different sensor and feedback strategy performance is described in both RFP and tokamak experiments.

Capabilities of Fully Parallelized MHD Stability Code MARS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svidzinski, Vladimir; Galkin, Sergei; Kim, Jin-Soo; Liu, Yueqiang

2016-10-01

Results of full parallelization of the plasma stability code MARS will be reported. MARS calculates eigenmodes in 2D axisymmetric toroidal equilibria in MHD-kinetic plasma models. Parallel version of MARS, named PMARS, has been recently developed at FAR-TECH. Parallelized MARS is an efficient tool for simulation of MHD instabilities with low, intermediate and high toroidal mode numbers within both fluid and kinetic plasma models, implemented in MARS. Parallelization of the code included parallelization of the construction of the matrix for the eigenvalue problem and parallelization of the inverse vector iterations algorithm, implemented in MARS for the solution of the formulated eigenvalue problem. Construction of the matrix is parallelized by distributing the load among processors assigned to different magnetic surfaces. Parallelization of the solution of the eigenvalue problem is made by repeating steps of the MARS algorithm using parallel libraries and procedures. Parallelized MARS is capable of calculating eigenmodes with significantly increased spatial resolution: up to 5,000 adapted radial grid points with up to 500 poloidal harmonics. Such resolution is sufficient for simulation of kink, tearing and peeling-ballooning instabilities with physically relevant parameters. Work is supported by the U.S. DOE SBIR program.

Magneto-hydrodynamically stable axisymmetric mirrorsa)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryutov, D. D.; Berk, H. L.; Cohen, B. I.; Molvik, A. W.; Simonen, T. C.

2011-09-01

Making axisymmetric mirrors magnetohydrodynamically (MHD) stable opens up exciting opportunities for using mirror devices as neutron sources, fusion-fission hybrids, and pure-fusion reactors. This is also of interest from a general physics standpoint (as it seemingly contradicts well-established criteria of curvature-driven instabilities). The axial symmetry allows for much simpler and more reliable designs of mirror-based fusion facilities than the well-known quadrupole mirror configurations. In this tutorial, after a summary of classical results, several techniques for achieving MHD stabilization of the axisymmetric mirrors are considered, in particular: (1) employing the favorable field-line curvature in the end tanks; (2) using the line-tying effect; (3) controlling the radial potential distribution; (4) imposing a divertor configuration on the solenoidal magnetic field; and (5) affecting the plasma dynamics by the ponderomotive force. Some illuminative theoretical approaches for understanding axisymmetric mirror stability are described. The applicability of the various stabilization techniques to axisymmetric mirrors as neutron sources, hybrids, and pure-fusion reactors are discussed; and the constraints on the plasma parameters are formulated.

Thermodynamic Cycle Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic-Bypass Hypersonic Airbreathing Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litchford, R. J.; Cole, J. W.; Bityurin, V. A.; Lineberry, J. T.

2000-01-01

The prospects for realizing a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) bypass hypersonic airbreathing engine are examined from the standpoint of fundamental thermodynamic feasibility. The MHD-bypass engine, first proposed as part of the Russian AJAX vehicle concept, is based on the idea of redistributing energy between various stages of the propulsion system flow train. The system uses an MHD generator to extract a portion of the aerodynamic heating energy from the inlet and an MHD accelerator to reintroduce this power as kinetic energy in the exhaust stream. In this way, the combustor entrance Mach number can be limited to a specified value even as the flight Mach number increases. Thus, the fuel and air can be efficiently mixed and burned within a practical combustor length, and the flight Mach number operating envelope can be extended. In this paper, we quantitatively assess the performance potential and scientific feasibility of MHD-bypass engines using a simplified thermodynamic analysis. This cycle analysis, based on a thermally and calorically perfect gas, incorporates a coupled MHD generator-accelerator system and accounts for aerodynamic losses and thermodynamic process efficiencies in the various engin components. It is found that the flight Mach number range can be significantly extended; however, overall performance is hampered by non-isentropic losses in the MHD devices.

On the behavior and stability of a liquid metal in quasi-planar electric contacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuilov, S. D.

2016-06-01

The contacts between conductors formed under relatively low pressures can be treated as quasi-planar. Melting of the material of such contacts upon the passage of electric current is used in some technological processes, but the behavior of liquid in these conditions has not been analyzed. In this study, such an estimate was obtained for specific conditions appearing under electric-pulse compacting (briquetting) of metal shavings. Analysis of derived relations shows that this estimate is valid for any quasi-2D contacts upon passage of a pulsed current of duration from microseconds to milliseconds. It is shown that the spacing between contact surfaces decreases, the liquid metal is extruded in the lateral directions, and the area of the contact and its conductivity increase. Sausage-type magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instability and overheating instability do not evolve in these conditions because the instability wavelength is larger than the rated thickness of the molten layer; screw MHD instability can appear in slower processes.

Modeling of fast neutral-beam-generated ion effects on MHD-spectroscopic observations of resistive wall mode stability in DIII-D plasmas [Modeling of fast neutral-beam-generated ion effects on MHD spectroscopic observations of RWM stability in DIII-D plasmas

DOE PAGES

Turco, Francesca; Turnbull, Alan D.; Hanson, Jeremy M.; ...

2015-02-03

Experiments conducted at DIII-D investigate the role of drift kinetic damping and fast neutral beam injection (NBI)-ions in the approach to the no-wall β N limit. Modelling results show that the drift kinetic effects are significant and necessary to reproduce the measured plasma response at the ideal no-wall limit. Fast neutral-beam ions and rotation play important roles and are crucial to quantitatively match the experiment. In this paper, we report on the model validation of a series of plasmas with increasing β N, where the plasma stability is probed by active magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) spectroscopy. The response of the plasma tomore » an externally applied field is used to probe the stable side of the resistive wall mode and obtain an indication of the proximity of the equilibrium to an instability limit. We describe the comparison between the measured plasma response and that calculated by means of the drift kinetic MARS-K code, which includes the toroidal rotation, the electron and ion drift-kinetic resonances, and the presence of fast particles for the modelled plasmas. The inclusion of kinetic effects allows the code to reproduce the experimental results within ~13% for both the amplitude and phase of the plasma response, which is a significant improvement with respect to the undamped MHD-only model. The presence of fast NBI-generated ions is necessary to obtain the low response at the highest β N levels (~90% of the ideal no-wall limit). Finally, the toroidal rotation has an impact on the results, and a sensitivity study shows that a large variation in the predicted response is caused by the details of the rotation profiles at high β N.« less

A conservative MHD scheme on unstructured Lagrangian grids for Z-pinch hydrodynamic simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Fuyuan; Ramis, Rafael; Li, Zhenghong

2018-03-01

A new algorithm to model resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in Z-pinches has been developed. Two-dimensional axisymmetric geometry with azimuthal magnetic field Bθ is considered. Discretization is carried out using unstructured meshes made up of arbitrarily connected polygons. The algorithm is fully conservative for mass, momentum, and energy. Matter energy and magnetic energy are managed separately. The diffusion of magnetic field is solved using a derivative of the Symmetric-Semi-Implicit scheme, Livne et al. (1985) [23], where unconditional stability is obtained without needing to solve large sparse systems of equations. This MHD package has been integrated into the radiation-hydrodynamics code MULTI-2D, Ramis et al. (2009) [20], that includes hydrodynamics, laser energy deposition, heat conduction, and radiation transport. This setup allows to simulate Z-pinch configurations relevant for Inertial Confinement Fusion.

Computation of resistive instabilities by matched asymptotic expansions

DOE PAGES

Glasser, A. H.; Wang, Z. R.; Park, J. -K.

2016-11-17

Here, we present a method for determining the linear resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability of an axisymmetric toroidal plasma, based on the method of matched asymptotic expansions. The plasma is partitioned into a set of ideal MHD outer regions, connected through resistive MHD inner regions about singular layers where q = m/n, with m and n toroidal mode numbers, respectively, and q the safety factor. The outer regions satisfy the ideal MHD equations with zero-frequency, which are identical to the Euler-Lagrange equations for minimizing the potential energy delta W. The solutions to these equations go to infinity at the singular surfaces.more » The inner regions satisfy the equations of motion of resistive MHD with a finite eigenvalue, resolving the singularity. Both outer and inner regions are solved numerically by newly developed singular Galerkin methods, using specialized basis functions. These solutions are matched asymptotically, providing a complex dispersion relation which is solved for global eigenvalues and eigenfunctions in full toroidal geometry. The dispersion relation may have multiple complex unstable roots, which are found by advanced root-finding methods. These methods are much faster and more robust than the previous numerical methods. The new methods are applicable to more challenging high-pressure and strongly shaped plasma equilibria and generalizable to more realistic inner region dynamics. In the thermonuclear regime, where the outer and inner regions overlap, they are also much faster and more accurate than the straight-through methods, which treat the resistive MHD equations in the whole plasma volume.« less

Analysis of Jeans instability of optically thick quantum plasma under the effect of modified Ohms law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pensia, R. K.; Sutar, D. L.; Sharma, S.

2018-05-01

The Jeans instability of self-gravitating optically thick quantum plasma is reanalyzed in the framework of viscosity, black body radiation and modify ohms law. The usual magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equation is used for the present configuration with black body radiation, viscosity, electrical resistivity and quantum corrections. A general dispersion relation is obtained with the help of linearized perturbation equations. It is found that the quantum correction has stabilizing effect on the system. The instability of system is discussed for various cases as our interest.

Entropy stable high order discontinuous Galerkin methods for ideal compressible MHD on structured meshes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yong; Shu, Chi-Wang; Zhang, Mengping

2018-02-01

We present a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) scheme with suitable quadrature rules [15] for ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations on structural meshes. The semi-discrete scheme is analyzed to be entropy stable by using the symmetrizable version of the equations as introduced by Godunov [32], the entropy stable DG framework with suitable quadrature rules [15], the entropy conservative flux in [14] inside each cell and the entropy dissipative approximate Godunov type numerical flux at cell interfaces to make the scheme entropy stable. The main difficulty in the generalization of the results in [15] is the appearance of the non-conservative "source terms" added in the modified MHD model introduced by Godunov [32], which do not exist in the general hyperbolic system studied in [15]. Special care must be taken to discretize these "source terms" adequately so that the resulting DG scheme satisfies entropy stability. Total variation diminishing / bounded (TVD/TVB) limiters and bound-preserving limiters are applied to control spurious oscillations. We demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of this new scheme on standard MHD examples.

A Computational Study of a Circular Interface Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in MHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maxon, William; Black, Wolfgang; Denissen, Nicholas; McFarland, Jacob; Los Alamos National Laboratory Collaboration; University of Missouri Shock Tube Laboratory Team

2017-11-01

The Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) is a hydrodynamic instability that appears in several high energy density applications such as inertial confinement fusion (ICF). In ICF, as the thermonuclear fuel is being compressed it begins to mix due to fluid instabilities including the RMI. This mixing greatly decreases the energy output. The RMI occurs when two fluids of different densities are impulsively accelerated and the pressure and density gradients are misaligned. In magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), the RMI may be suppressed by introducing a magnetic field in an electrically conducting fluid, such as a plasma. This suppression has been studied as a possible mechanism for improving confinement in ICF targets. In this study,ideal MHD simulations are performed with a circular interface impulsively accelerated by a shock wave in the presence of a magnetic field. These simulations are executed with the research code FLAG, a multiphysics, arbitrary Lagrangian/Eulerian, hydrocode developed and utilized at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The simulation results will be assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively to examine the stabilization mechanism. These simulations will guide ongoing MHD experiments at the University of Missouri Shock Tube Facility.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jain, Shweta; Sharma, Prerana; Kaothekar, Sachin

The thermal instability of an infinite homogeneous, thermally conducting, and rotating plasma, incorporating finite electrical resistivity, finite electron inertia, and an arbitrary radiative heat-loss function in the presence of finite Larmor radius corrections and Hall current, has been studied. Analysis has been made with the help of linearized magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations. A general dispersion relation is obtained using the normal mode analysis method, and the dispersion relation is discussed for longitudinal propagation and transverse propagation separately. The dispersion relation has been solved numerically to obtain the dependence of the growth rate on the various parameters involved. The conditions of modifiedmore » thermal instability and stability are discussed in the different cases of interest.« less

Transport and stability analyses supporting disruption prediction in high beta KSTAR plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, J.-H.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Park, Y. S.; Berkery, J. W.; Jiang, Y.; Riquezes, J.; Lee, H. H.; Terzolo, L.; Scott, S. D.; Wang, Z.; Glasser, A. H.

2017-10-01

KSTAR plasmas have reached high stability parameters in dedicated experiments, with normalized beta βN exceeding 4.3 at relatively low plasma internal inductance li (βN/li>6). Transport and stability analyses have begun on these plasmas to best understand a disruption-free path toward the design target of βN = 5 while aiming to maximize the non-inductive fraction of these plasmas. Initial analysis using the TRANSP code indicates that the non-inductive current fraction in these plasmas has exceeded 50 percent. The advent of KSTAR kinetic equilibrium reconstructions now allows more accurate computation of the MHD stability of these plasmas. Attention is placed on code validation of mode stability using the PEST-3 and resistive DCON codes. Initial evaluation of these analyses for disruption prediction is made using the disruption event characterization and forecasting (DECAF) code. The present global mode kinetic stability model in DECAF developed for low aspect ratio plasmas is evaluated to determine modifications required for successful disruption prediction of KSTAR plasmas. Work supported by U.S. DoE under contract DE-SC0016614.

Resistive instabilities in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rutherford, P.H.

1985-10-01

Low-m tearing modes constitute the dominant instability problem in present-day tokamaks. In this lecture, the stability criteria for representative current profiles with q(0)-values slightly less than unit are reviewed; ''sawtooth'' reconnection to q(0)-values just at, or slightly exceeding, unity is generally destabilizing to the m = 2, n = 1 and m = 3, n = 2 modes, and severely limits the range of stable profile shapes. Feedback stabilization of m greater than or equal to 2 modes by rf heating or current drive, applied locally at the magnetic islands, appears feasible; feedback by island current drive is much moremore » efficient, in terms of the radio-frequency power required, then feedback by island heating. Feedback stabilization of the m = 1 mode - although yielding particularly beneficial effects for resistive-tearing and high-beta stability by allowing q(0)-values substantially below unity - is more problematical, unless the m = 1 ideal-MHD mode can be made positively stable by strong triangular shaping of the central flux surfaces. Feedback techniques require a detectable, rotating MHD-like signal; the slowing of mode rotation - or the excitation of non-rotating modes - by an imperfectly conducting wall is also discussed.« less

Modeling resistive wall modes and disruptive instabilities with M3D-C1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferraro, Nm; Jardin, Sc; Pfefferle, D.

2016-10-01

Disruptive instabilities pose a significant challenge to the tokamak approach to magnetic fusion energy, and must be reliably avoided in a successful reactor. These instabilities generally involve rapid, global changes to the magnetic field, and electromagnetic interaction with surrounding conducting structures. Here we apply the extended-MHD code M3D-C1 to calculate the stability and evolution of disruptive modes, including their interaction with external conducting structures. The M3D-C1 model includes the effects of resistivity, equilibrium rotation, and resistive walls of arbitrary thickness, each of which may play important roles in the stability and evolution of disruptive modes. The strong stabilizing effect of rotation on resistive wall modes is explored and compared with analytic theory. The nonlinear evolution of vertical displacement events is also considered, including the evolution of non-axisymmetric instabilities that may arise during the current-quench phase of the disruption. It is found that the non-axisymmetric stability of the plasma during a VDE depends strongly on the thermal history of the plasma. This work is supported by US DOE Grant DE-AC02-09CH11466 and the SciDAC Center for Extended MHD Modeling.

A first look at resistive MHD stability differences between NSTX and NSTX-U high beta discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morton, L. A.; La Haye, R. J.; Berkery, J. W.; Menard, J. E.; Ferraro, N. M.; Brennan, D. P.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Delgado-Aparicio, L. F.; Tritz, K.

2017-10-01

Comparison is made of the onset, growth rate and saturation of m/n = 2/1 tearing modes in NSTX and NSTX-U high beta discharges. NSTX-U has stronger toroidal field, higher electron temperature (thus longer resistive diffusion time) and a larger aspect ratio (due to the expansion of the center stack). Experimental identification of the mode helicity, radial location, and width is accomplished by synergistically combining information from soft x-ray emission, Thomson scattering (Te profile), Charge Exchange Recombination (Ti profile) and Mirnov diagnostics. Fitting the generalized Rutherford equation to the time-evolution of the island width allows evaluation of the different drive and stabilizing terms. Linear stability calculations have also been performed with M3D-C1. The possibility of a reduction in the stabilizing interchange effect due to curvature at somewhat larger aspect ratio in NSTX-U is one focus of the analysis. This work is supported by the US DOE under Grant DE-FG02-99ER54522.

Mode control using two electrodes on HBT-EP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, I. G.; Brooks, J. W.; Levesque, J. P.; Mauel, M. E.; Navratil, G. A.

2017-10-01

Understanding the effects of plasma rotation on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes and tokamak plasma stability is important for performance enhancement of current magnetic confinement experiments and to future fusion devices such as ITER. In order to control plasma rotation, two molybdenum electrodes have been installed on HBT-EP toroidally separated by 144 degrees. This allows independent biasing of the two probes both spatially and temporally. When the bias probes are inserted into the edge of the plasma and a voltage is applied, the probes drive radial currents and produce plasma flow from the torque induced by the currents. If the bias probe voltage is sufficiently positive, the MHD mode rotation transitions into a state with a rapid mode rotation frequency (in excess of 25 kHz) in the direction opposite to mode rotation without bias. The transition into this reversed rotation state occurs when the torque exceeds a threshold, which can depend upon the phase of an applied n = 1 error field. We present recent studies of the two-electrode system on mode rotation, mode stability, and the toroidal symmetry of the radial current through the scrape-off-layer (SOL) during MHD activity and applied magnetic perturbations. Supported by U.S. DOE Grant DE-FG02-86ER53222.

Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX): Magnetic Reconnection in Linear Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Intrator, T.; Sovinec, C.; Begay, D.; Wurden, G.; Furno, I.; Werley, C.; Fisher, M.; Vermare, L.; Fienup, W.

2001-10-01

The linear Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX) at LANL is a qualitatively different way of creating MHD relevant plasmas to look at the physics of magnetic reconnection. We show here an overview of the experiment and initial electrostatic and magnetic probe data. Plasma creation using plasma guns is independent of equilibrium or force balance, so we can scale many relevant parameters. As the magnetic reconnection region between two parallel current channels sweeps down a long plasma column we can generate 3D movies of magnetic reconnection from many repetitive shots. If two current channels were to move because of kink instabilities instead of mutual J x B forces and reconnection effects, each shot would less reproducible. Our data show the kink stability boundary for a single current channel. We compare this with MHD 2 fluid NIMROD simulations of the single current channel kink stability boundary for a variety of experimental conditions.

Understanding the stability of the low torque ITER Baseline Scenario in DIII-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turco, Francesca

2017-10-01

Analysis of the evolving current density (J), pedestal and rotation profiles in a database of 200 ITER Baseline Scenario discharges in the DIII-D tokamak sheds light on the cause of the disruptive instability limiting both high and low torque operation of these plasmas. The m =2/n =1 tearing modes, occurring after several pressure-relaxation times, are related to the shape of the current profile in the outer region of the plasma. The q =2 surface is located just inside the current pedestal, near a minimum in J. This well in J deepens at constant betaN and at lower rotation, causing the equilibrium to evolve towards a classically unstable state. Lack of core-edge differential rotation likely biases the marginal point towards instability during the secular trend in J. New results from the 2017 experimental campaign establish the first reproducible, stable operation at T =0 Nm for this scenario. A new ramp-up recipe with delayed heating keeps the discharges stable without the need for ECCD stabilization. The J profile shape in the new shots is consistent with an expansion of the previous ``shallow well'' stable operational space. Realtime Active MHD Spectroscopy (AMS) has been applied to IBS plasmas for the first time, and the plasma response measurements show that the AMS can help sense the approach to instability during the discharges. The AMS data shows the trend towards instability at low rotation, and MARS-K modelling partially reproduces the experimental trend if collisionality and resistivity are included. The modelling results are sensitive to the edge resistivity, and this can indicate that the AMS is measuring the changes in ideal (kink) stability, to which the tearing stability index delta' is correlated. Together these results constitute a crucial step to acquire physical understanding and sensing capability for the MHD stability in the Q =10 ITER scenario. Work supported by US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698 and DE-FG02-04ER54761.

MHD simulation of plasma compression experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynolds, Meritt; Barsky, Sandra; de Vietien, Peter

2017-10-01

General Fusion (GF) is working to build a magnetized target fusion (MTF) power plant based on compression of magnetically-confined plasma by liquid metal. GF is testing this compression concept by collapsing solid aluminum liners onto plasmas formed by coaxial helicity injection in a series of experiments called PCS (Plasma Compression, Small). We simulate the PCS experiments using the finite-volume MHD code VAC. The single-fluid plasma model includes temperature-dependent resistivity and anisotropic heat transport. The time-dependent curvilinear mesh for MHD simulation is derived from LS-DYNA simulations of actual field tests of liner implosion. We will discuss how 3D simulations reproduced instability observed in the PCS13 experiment and correctly predicted stabilization of PCS14 by ramping the shaft current during compression. We will also present a comparison of simulated Mirnov and x-ray diagnostics with experimental measurements indicating that PCS14 compressed well to a linear compression ratio of 2.5:1.

Onset of solar flares as predicted by two-dimensional MHD-models of quiescent prominences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Galindotrejo, J.

1985-01-01

The close connection between the sudden disapperance (disparition brusque) of the quiescent prominences and the two-ribbon flares are well known. During this dynamic phase the prominence ascends rapidly (typically with a velocity about 100 Km/sec) and disappears. In another later stage is observed material falling back into the chromosphere. The impact of this downfalling matter on the chromosphere produces the H brightening, which shows the symmetric double pattern. The occurence of the disparition brusque is thought to be a consequence of a plasma instability of magnetohydrostatic (MHD) structures. By means of the MHD-energy principle, the stability properties of four prominence models are analyzed. It is shown that all considered models undergo instabilities for parameters outside of the observed range at quiescent prominences. The possibility that such instabilities in the flare parameter range may indicate just the onset of a flare is considered.

Alpha particle effects in burning tokamak plasmas: overview and specific examples

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sigmar, D.J.

1986-07-01

Using the total power balance of an ignited tokamak plasma as a guideline, a range of alpha driven effects is surveyed regarding their impact on achieving and maintaining fusion burn. Specific examples of MHD and kinetic modes and multi species transport dynamics are discussed, including the possible interaction of these categories of effects. This power balance approach rather than a straightforward enumeration of possible effects serves to reveal their non-linear dependence and the ensuing fragility of our understanding of the approach to and maintenance of ignition. Specific examples are given of the interaction between ..cap alpha..-power driven sawtoothing and idealmore » MHD stability, and direct ..cap alpha..-effects on MHD modes including kinetic corrections. Anomalous ion heat transport and central impurity peaking mechanisms and anomalous and collisional ..cap alpha..-transport including the ambipolar electric field are discussed.« less

Nonlinear MHD study on the influence of E×B flow in QH-mode plasma of DIII-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Feng; Huijsmans, Guido; Loarte, Alberto; Garofalo, Andrea; Solomon, Wayne; Nkonga, Boniface; Hoelzl, Matthias

2017-10-01

In QH-mode experiments with zero-net NBI torque show that there remains a finite E×B rotation in the pedestal region implying that a minimum E×B flow or flow shear is required for the plasma to develop the Edge Harmonic Oscillation (EHO), which is a saturated KPM (kink-peeling mode) characteristic of the QH-mode. To understand the roles of E×B flow and its shear in the saturation of KPMs, non-linear MHD simulations of DIII-D QH-mode plasmas including toroidal mode numbers n = 0 to 10 with different E×B rotation speed have been performed. These simulation show that ExB rotation strongly stabilizes high-n modes but destabilizes low-n modes (particularly the n =2 mode) in the linear growth phase, which is consistent experimental observations and previous linear MHD modelling. US DOE under DE-FC02-04ER54698.

Transport and Dynamics in Toroidal Fusion Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schnack, Dalton D

2006-05-16

This document reports the successful completion of the OFES Theory Milestone for FY2005, namely, Perform parametric studies to better understand the edge physics regimes of laboratory experiments. Simulate at increased resolution (up to 20 toroidal modes), with density evolution, late into the nonlinear phase and compare results from different types of edge modes. Simulate a single case including a study of heat deposition on nearby material walls. The linear stability properties and nonlinear evolution of Edge Localized Modes (ELMs) in tokamak plasmas are investigated through numerical computation. Data from the DIII-D device at General Atomics (http://fusion.gat.com/diii-d/) is used for themore » magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibria, but edge parameters are varied to reveal important physical effects. The equilibrium with very low magnetic shear produces an unstable spectrum that is somewhat insensitive to dissipation coefficient values. Here, linear growth rates from the non-ideal NIMROD code (http://nimrodteam.org) agree reasonably well with ideal, i.e. non-dissipative, results from the GATO global linear stability code at low toroidal mode number (n) and with ideal results from the ELITE edge linear stability code at moderate to high toroidal mode number. Linear studies with a more realistic sequence of MHD equilibria (based on DIII-D discharge 86166) produce more significant discrepancies between the ideal and non-ideal calculations. The maximum growth rate for the ideal computations occurs at toroidal mode index n=10, whereas growth rates in the non-ideal computations continue to increase with n unless strong anisotropic thermal conduction is included. Recent modeling advances allow drift effects associated with the Hall electric field and gyroviscosity to be considered. A stabilizing effect can be observed in the preliminary results, but while the distortion in mode structure is readily apparent at n=40, the growth rate is only 13% less than the non-ideal MHD result. Computations performed with a non-local kinetic closure for parallel electron thermal conduction that is valid over all collisionality regimes identify thermal diffusivity ratios of {chi}{sub ||}/{chi}{sub {perpendicular}} ~ 10{sup 7} - 10{sup 8} as appropriate when using collisional heat flux modeling for these modes. Adding significant parallel viscosity proves to have little effect. Nonlinear ELM computations solve the resistive MHD model with toroidal resolution 0{<=}n{<=}21, including anisotropic thermal conduction, temperature-dependent resistivity, and number density evolution. The computations are based on a realistic equilibrium with high pedestal temperature from the linear study. When the simulated ELM grows to appreciable amplitude, ribbon-like thermal structures extend from the separatrix to the wall as the spectrum broadens about a peak at n=13. Analysis of the results finds the heat flux on the wall to be very nonuniform with greatest intensity occurring in spots on the top and bottom of the chamber. Net thermal energy loss occurs on a time-scale of 100 {micro}s, and the instantaneous loss rate exceeds 1 GW.« less

Investigation of the High, Finite n Ballooning Mode Limit for Compact Quasi-Axially Symmetric Stellarators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Redi, Martha; Canik, John; Fredrickson, E.; Fu, G.; Nuehrenberg, C.; Boozer, A. H.

2000-10-01

The standard ballooning-mode beta limit comes from an infinite-n, radially local, ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) calculation. Finite-n ballooning modes have been observed in tokamak plasmas [1]. Investigations of optimized quasiaxially symmetric stellarators with three dimensional, global, ideal MHD codes have recently shown good stability for the external kink, ``vertical" and infinite-n ballooning modes [2,3]. However, infinite-n ballooning stability may be too restrictive, due to its sensitivity to features in the local shear and curvature. The CAS3D [4] code is being used to compare the stability of the high-n ballooning modes to the infinite-n calculations from TERPSICHORE [5]. [1] E. Fredrickson, et al. Phys. Plas. 3 (1996) 2620. [2] G. Fu, Phys. Plas. 7 (2000)1079; Phys. Plas. 7 (2000) 1809. M. Redi, et al. Phys. Plas 7 (2000)1911. [3] A. Reiman, et al., Plas. Phys. Cont. Fus. 41 (1999) B273. [4] C. Nuehrenberg, Phys. Plas. 6 (1999) 275. C. Nuehrenberg, Phys. Plas. 3 (1996) 2401. C. Schwab, Phys. Fluids B5 (1993) 3195. [5] W. A. Cooper, Phys. Plas. 3 (1996) 275.

Magnetohydrodynamic modes analysis and control of Fusion Advanced Studies Torus high-current scenarios

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Villone, F.; Mastrostefano, S.; Calabrò, G.

2014-08-15

One of the main FAST (Fusion Advanced Studies Torus) goals is to have a flexible experiment capable to test tools and scenarios for safe and reliable tokamak operation, in order to support ITER and help the final DEMO design. In particular, in this paper, we focus on operation close to a possible border of stability related to low-q operation. To this purpose, a new FAST scenario has then been designed at I{sub p} = 10 MA, B{sub T} = 8.5 T, q{sub 95} ≈ 2.3. Transport simulations, carried out by using the code JETTO and the first principle transport model GLF23, indicate that, under these conditions, FASTmore » could achieve an equivalent Q ≈ 3.5. FAST will be equipped with a set of internal active coils for feedback control, which will produce magnetic perturbation with toroidal number n = 1 or n = 2. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mode analysis and feedback control simulations performed with the codes MARS, MARS-F, CarMa (both assuming the presence of a perfect conductive wall and using the exact 3D resistive wall structure) show the possibility of the FAST conductive structures to stabilize n = 1 ideal modes. This leaves therefore room for active mitigation of the resistive mode (down to a characteristic time of 1 ms) for safety purposes, i.e., to avoid dangerous MHD-driven plasma disruption, when working close to the machine limits and magnetic and kinetic energy density not far from reactor values.« less

The Impact of Comorbid Mental Health Disorders on Complications Following Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery with Minimum 2-Year Surveillance.

PubMed

Diebo, Bassel G; Lavian, Joshua D; Murray, Daniel P; Liu, Shian; Shah, Neil V; Beyer, George A; Segreto, Frank A; Bloom, Lee; Vasquez-Montes, Dennis; Day, Louis M; Hollern, Douglas A; Horn, Samantha R; Naziri, Qais; Cukor, Daniel; Passias, Peter G; Paulino, Carl B

2018-02-06

Retrospective analysis OBJECTIVE.: To compare long-term outcomes between patients with and without mental health comorbidities who are undergoing surgery for adult spinal deformity (ASD). Recent literature reveals that one in three patients admitted for surgical treatment for ASD has comorbid mental health disorder. Currently, impacts of baseline mental health status on long-term outcomes following ASD surgery have not been thoroughly investigated. Patients admitted from 2009-2013 with diagnoses of ASD who underwent ≥4-level thoracolumbar fusion with minimum two-year follow-up were retrospectively reviewed using New York State's Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). Patients were stratified by fusion length (Short: 4-8-level; Long: ≥9 level). Patients with comorbid mental health disorder (MHD) at time of admission were selected for analysis (MHD) and compared against those without MHD (no-MHD). Univariate analysis compared demographics, complications, readmissions and revisions between cohorts for each fusion length. Multivariate binary logistic regression models identified independent predictors of outcomes (covariates: fusion length, age, female gender, and Deyo score). 6,020 patients (MHD: n = 1,631; no-MHD: n = 4,389) met inclusion criteria. Mental health diagnoses included disorders of depression (59.0%), sleep (28.0%), anxiety (24.0%), and stress (2.3%). At two-year follow-up, MHD patients with short fusion had significantly higher complication rates (p = 0.001). MHD patients with short or long fusion also had significantly higher rates of any readmission and revision (all p ≤ 0.002). Regression modeling revealed that comorbid MHD was a significant predictor of any complication (OR: 1.17, p = 0.01) and readmission (OR: 1.32, p < 0.001). MHD was the strongest predictor of any revision (OR: 1.56, p < 0.001). Long fusion most strongly predicted any complication (OR: 1.87, p < 0.001). ASD patients with comorbid depressive, sleep, anxiety, and stress disorders were more likely to experience surgical complications and revision at minimum of two years following spinal fusion surgery. Proper patient counseling and psychological screening/support is recommended to complement ASD treatment. 3.

A note on two-dimensional asymptotic magnetotail equilibria

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voigt, Gerd-Hannes; Moore, Brian D.

1994-01-01

In order to understand, on the fluid level, the structure, the time evolution, and the stability of current sheets, such as the magnetotail plasma sheet in Earth's magnetosphere, one has to consider magnetic field configurations that are in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) force equilibrium. Any reasonable MHD current sheet model has to be two-dimensional, at least in an asymptotic sense (B(sub z)/B (sub x)) = epsilon much less than 1. The necessary two-dimensionality is described by a rather arbitrary function f(x). We utilize the free function f(x) to construct two-dimensional magnetotail equilibria are 'equivalent' to current sheets in empirical three-dimensional models. We obtain a class of asymptotic magnetotail equilibria ordered with respect to the magnetic disturbance index Kp. For low Kp values the two-dimensional MHD equilibria reflect some of the realistic, observation-based, aspects of three-dimensional models. For high Kp values the three-dimensional models do not fit the asymptotic MHD equlibria, which is indicative of their inconsistency with the assumed pressure function. This, in turn, implies that high magnetic activity levels of the real magnetosphere might be ruled by thermodynamic conditions different from local thermodynamic equilibrium.

Lab experiments investigating astrophysical jet physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellan, Paul

2014-10-01

Dynamics relevant to astrophysical plasmas is being investigated in lab experiments having similar physics and topology, but much smaller time and space scales. High speed movies and numerical simulations both show that highly collimated MHD-driven plasma flows are a critical feature; these collimated flows can be considered to be a lab version of an astrophysical jet. Having both axial and azimuthal magnetic fields, the jet is effectively an axially lengthening plasma-confining flux tube with embedded helical magnetic field (flux rope). The jet velocity is in good agreement with an MHD acceleration model. Axial stagnation of the jet compresses embedded azimuthal magnetic flux and so results in jet self-collimation. Jets kink when they breach the Kruskal-Shafranov stability limit. The lateral acceleration of a sufficiently strong kink can provide an effective gravity which provides the environment for a spontaneously-developing, fine-scale, extremely fast Rayleigh-Taylor instability that erodes the current channel to be smaller than the ion skin depth. This cascade from the ideal MHD scale of the kink to the non-MHD ion skin depth scale can result in a fast magnetic reconnection whereby the jet breaks off from its source electrode. Supported by USDOE and NSF.

Analysis of oxcarbazepine and the 10-hydroxycarbazepine enantiomers in plasma by LC-MS/MS: application in a pharmacokinetic study.

PubMed

de Jesus Antunes, Natalicia; Wichert-Ana, Lauro; Coelho, Eduardo Barbosa; Della Pasqua, Oscar; Alexandre, Veriano; Takayanagui, Osvaldo Massaiti; Tozatto, Eduardo; Lanchote, Vera Lucia

2013-12-01

Oxcarbazepine is a second-generation antiepileptic drug indicated as monotherapy or adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial seizures or generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults and children. It undergoes rapid presystemic reduction with formation of the active metabolite 10-hydroxycarbazepine (MHD), which has a chiral center at position 10, with the enantiomers (S)-(+)- and R-(-)-MHD showing similar antiepileptic effects. This study presents the development and validation of a method of sequential analysis of oxcarbazepine and MHD enantiomers in plasma using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Aliquots of 100 μL of plasma were extracted with a mixture of methyl tert-butyl ether: dichloromethane (2:1). The separation of oxcarbazepine and the MHD enantiomers was obtained on a chiral phase Chiralcel OD-H column, using a mixture of hexane:ethanol:isopropanol (80:15:5, v/v/v) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.3 mL/min with a split ratio of 1:5, and quantification was performed by LC-MS/MS. The limit of quantification was 12.5 ng oxcarbazepine and 31.25 ng of each MHD enantiomer/mL of plasma. The method was applied in the study of kinetic disposition of oxcarbazepine and the MHD enantiomers in the steady state after oral administration of 300 mg/12 h oxcarbazepine in a healthy volunteer. The maximum plasma concentration of oxcarbazepine was 1.2 µg/mL at 0.75 h. The kinetic disposition of MHD is enantioselective, with a higher proportion of the S-(+)-MHD enantiomer compared to R-(-)-MHD and an AUC(0-12) S-(+)/R-(-) ratio of 5.44. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The method of projected characteristics for the evolution of magnetic arches

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakagawa, Y.; Hu, Y. Q.; Wu, S. T.

1987-01-01

A numerical method of solving fully nonlinear MHD equation is described. In particular, the formulation based on the newly developed method of projected characteristics (Nakagawa, 1981) suitable to study the evolution of magnetic arches due to motions of their foot-points is presented. The final formulation is given in the form of difference equations; therefore, the analysis of numerical stability is also presented. Further, the most important derivation of physically self-consistent, time-dependent boundary conditions (i.e. the evolving boundary equations) is given in detail, and some results obtained with such boundary equations are reported.

Dissipative MHD solutions for resonant Alfven waves in 1-dimensional magnetic flux tubes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goossens, Marcel; Ruderman, Michail S.; Hollweg, Joseph V.

1995-01-01

The present paper extends the analysis by Sakurai, Goossens, and Hollweg (1991) on resonant Alfven waves in nonuniform magnetic flux tubes. It proves that the fundamental conservation law for resonant Alfven waves found in ideal MHD by Sakurai, Goossens, and Hollweg remains valid in dissipative MHD. This guarantees that the jump conditions of Sakurai, Goossens, and Hollweg, that connect the ideal MHD solutions for xi(sub r), and P' across the dissipative layer, are correct. In addition, the present paper replaces the complicated dissipative MHD solutions obtained by Sakurai, Goossens, and Hollweg for xi(sub r), and P' in terms of double integrals of Hankel functions of complex argument of order 1/3 with compact analytical solutions that allow a straight- forward mathematical and physical interpretation. Finally, it presents an analytical dissipative MHD solution for the component of the Lagrangian displacement in the magnetic surfaces perpen- dicular to the magnetic field lines xi(sub perpendicular) which enables us to determine the dominant dynamics of resonant Alfven waves in dissipative MHD.

DAMPING OF MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE IN PARTIALLY IONIZED PLASMA: IMPLICATIONS FOR COSMIC RAY PROPAGATION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xu, Siyao; Yan, Huirong; Lazarian, A., E-mail: syxu@pku.edu.cn, E-mail: huirong.yan@desy.de, E-mail: lazarian@astro.wisc.edu

2016-08-01

We study the damping processes of both incompressible and compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in a partially ionized medium. We start from the linear analysis of MHD waves, applying both single-fluid and two-fluid treatments. The damping rates derived from the linear analysis are then used in determining the damping scales of MHD turbulence. The physical connection between the damping scale of MHD turbulence and the cutoff boundary of linear MHD waves is investigated. We find two branches of slow modes propagating in ions and neutrals, respectively, below the damping scale of slow MHD turbulence, and offer a thorough discussion of theirmore » propagation and dissipation behavior. Our analytical results are shown to be applicable in a variety of partially ionized interstellar medium (ISM) phases and the solar chromosphere. The importance of neutral viscosity in damping the Alfvenic turbulence in the interstellar warm neutral medium and the solar chromosphere is demonstrated. As a significant astrophysical utility, we introduce damping effects to the propagation of cosmic rays in partially ionized ISM. The important role of turbulence damping in both transit-time damping and gyroresonance is identified.« less

Verification of BOUT++ by the method of manufactured solutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dudson, B. D., E-mail: benjamin.dudson@york.ac.uk; Hill, P.; Madsen, J.

2016-06-15

BOUT++ is a software package designed for solving plasma fluid models. It has been used to simulate a wide range of plasma phenomena ranging from linear stability analysis to 3D plasma turbulence and is capable of simulating a wide range of drift-reduced plasma fluid and gyro-fluid models. A verification exercise has been performed as part of a EUROfusion Enabling Research project, to rigorously test the correctness of the algorithms implemented in BOUT++, by testing order-of-accuracy convergence rates using the Method of Manufactured Solutions (MMS). We present tests of individual components including time-integration and advection schemes, non-orthogonal toroidal field-aligned coordinate systemsmore » and the shifted metric procedure which is used to handle highly sheared grids. The flux coordinate independent approach to differencing along magnetic field-lines has been implemented in BOUT++ and is here verified using the MMS in a sheared slab configuration. Finally, we show tests of three complete models: 2-field Hasegawa-Wakatani in 2D slab, 3-field reduced magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in 3D field-aligned toroidal coordinates, and 5-field reduced MHD in slab geometry.« less

Effects of Density and Impurity on Edge Localized Modes in Tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Ping

2017-10-01

Plasma density and impurity concentration are believed to be two of the key elements governing the edge tokamak plasma conditions. Optimal levels of plasma density and impurity concentration in the edge region have been searched for in order to achieve the desired fusion gain and divertor heat/particle load mitigation. However, how plasma density or impurity would affect the edge pedestal stability may have not been well known. Our recent MHD theory modeling and simulations using the NIMROD code have found novel effects of density and impurity on the dynamics of edge-localized modes (ELMs) in tokamaks. First, previous MHD analyses often predict merely a weak stabilizing effect of toroidal flow on ELMs in experimentally relevant regimes. We find that the stabilizing effects on the high- n ELMs from toroidal flow can be significantly enhanced with the increased edge plasma density. Here n denotes the toroidal mode number. Second, the stabilizing effects of the enhanced edge resistivity due to lithium-conditioning on the low- n ELMs in the high confinement (H-mode) discharges in NSTX have been identified. Linear stability analysis of the experimentally constrained equilibrium suggests that the change in the equilibrium plasma density and pressure profiles alone due to lithium-conditioning may not be sufficient for a complete suppression of the low- n ELMs. The enhanced resistivity due to the increased effective electric charge number Zeff after lithium-conditioning provides additional stabilization of the low- n ELMs. These new effects revealed in our theory analyses may help further understand recent ELM experiments and suggest new control schemes for ELM suppression and mitigation in future experiments. They may also pose additional constraints on the optimal levels of plasma density and impurity concentration in the edge region for H-mode tokamak operation. Supported by National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China Grants 2014GB124002 and 2015GB101004, the 100 Talent Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and U.S. Department of Energy Grants DE-FG02-86ER53218 and DE-FC02-08ER54975.

Modeling of 3D magnetic equilibrium effects on edge turbulence stability during RMP ELM suppression in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilcox, R. S.; Wingen, Andreas; Cianciosa, Mark R.

Some recent experimental observations have found turbulent fluctuation structures that are non-axisymmetric in a tokamak with applied 3D fields. Here, two fluid resistive effects are shown to produce changes relevant to turbulent transport in the modeled 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium of tokamak pedestals with these 3D fields applied. Ideal MHD models are insufficient to reproduce the relevant effects. By calculating the ideal 3D equilibrium using the VMEC code, the geometric shaping parameters that determine linear turbulence stability, including the normal curvature and local magnetic shear, are shown to be only weakly modified by applied 3D fields in the DIII-D tokamak.more » These ideal MHD effects are therefore not sufficient to explain the observed changes to fluctuations and transport. Using the M3D-C1 code to model the 3D equilibrium, density is shown to be redistributed on flux surfaces in the pedestal when resistive two fluid effects are included, while islands are screened by rotation in this region. Furthermore, the redistribution of density results in density and pressure gradient scale lengths that vary within pedestal flux surfaces between different helically localized flux tubes. This would produce different drive terms for trapped electron mode and kinetic ballooning mode turbulence, the latter of which is expected to be the limiting factor for pedestal pressure gradients in DIII-D.« less

Observation of finite-. beta. MHD phenomena in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McGuire, K.M.

1984-09-01

Stable high-beta plasmas are required for the tokamak to attain an economical fusion reactor. Recently, intense neutral beam heating experiments in tokamaks have shown new effects on plasma stability and confinement associated with high beta plasmas. The observed spectrum of MHD fluctuations at high beta is clearly dominated by the n = 1 mode when the q = 1 surface is in the plasma. The m/n = 1/1 mode drives other n = 1 modes through toroidal coupling and n > 1 modes through nonlinear coupling. On PDX, with near perpendicular injection, a resonant interaction between the n = 1more » internal kink and the trapped fast ions results in loss of beam particles and heating power. Key parameters in the theory are the value of q/sub 0/ and the injection angle. High frequency broadband magnetic fluctuations have been observed on ISX-B and D-III and a correlation with the deterioration of plasma confinement was reported. During enhanced confinement (H-mode) discharges in divertor plasmas, two new edge instabilities were observed, both localized radially near the separatrix. By assembling results from the different tokamak experiments, it is found that the simple theoretical ideal MHD beta limit has not been exceeded. Whether this represents an ultimate tokamak limit or if beta optimized configurations (Dee- or bean-shaped plasmas) can exceed this limit and perhaps enter a second regime of stability remains to be clarified.« less

Modeling of 3D magnetic equilibrium effects on edge turbulence stability during RMP ELM suppression in tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Wilcox, R. S.; Wingen, Andreas; Cianciosa, Mark R.; ...

2017-07-28

Some recent experimental observations have found turbulent fluctuation structures that are non-axisymmetric in a tokamak with applied 3D fields. Here, two fluid resistive effects are shown to produce changes relevant to turbulent transport in the modeled 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium of tokamak pedestals with these 3D fields applied. Ideal MHD models are insufficient to reproduce the relevant effects. By calculating the ideal 3D equilibrium using the VMEC code, the geometric shaping parameters that determine linear turbulence stability, including the normal curvature and local magnetic shear, are shown to be only weakly modified by applied 3D fields in the DIII-D tokamak.more » These ideal MHD effects are therefore not sufficient to explain the observed changes to fluctuations and transport. Using the M3D-C1 code to model the 3D equilibrium, density is shown to be redistributed on flux surfaces in the pedestal when resistive two fluid effects are included, while islands are screened by rotation in this region. Furthermore, the redistribution of density results in density and pressure gradient scale lengths that vary within pedestal flux surfaces between different helically localized flux tubes. This would produce different drive terms for trapped electron mode and kinetic ballooning mode turbulence, the latter of which is expected to be the limiting factor for pedestal pressure gradients in DIII-D.« less

ELM Suppression and Pedestal Structure in I-Mode Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walk, John

2013-10-01

The I-mode regime is characterized by the formation of a temperature pedestal and enhanced energy confinement (H98 up to 1.2), without an accompanying density pedestal or drop in particle transport. Unlike ELMy H-modes, I-mode operation appears to have naturally-occurring suppression of large ELMs in addition to its highly favorable scalings of pedestal structure (and therefore overall performance). Instead, continuous Weakly Coherent Modes help to regulate density. Extensive study of the ELMy H-mode has led to the development of the EPED model, which utilizes calculations of coupled peeling-ballooning MHD modes and kinetic-ballooning mode (KBM) stability limits to predict the pedestal structure preceding an ELM crash. We apply similar tools to the structure and ELM stability of I-mode pedestals. Peeling-ballooning MHD calculations are completed using the ELITE code, showing I-mode pedestals to be generally MHD-stable. Under certain conditions, intermittent ELMs are observed in I-mode at reduced field, typically triggered by sawtooth crashes; modification of the temperature pedestal (and therefore the pressure profile stability) by sawtooth heat pulses is being examined in ELITE. Modeled stability to KBM turbulence in I-mode and ELMy H-mode suggests that typical I-modes are stable against KBM turbulence. Measured I-mode pedestals are significantly wider (more stable) than the width scaling with the square root of poloidal beta characteristic of the KBM-limited pedestals in ELMy H-mode. Finally, we explore scalings of pedestal structure with engineering parameters compared to ELMy H-modes on C-Mod. In particular, we focus on scalings of the pressure pedestal with heating power (and its relation to the favorable scaling of confinement with power in I-mode) and on relationships between heat flux and pedestal temperature gradients. This work is supported by DOE agreement DE-FC02-99ER54512. Theory work at General Atomics is supported by DOE agreement DE-FG02-99ER54309.

LIGKA: A linear gyrokinetic code for the description of background kinetic and fast particle effects on the MHD stability in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauber, Ph.; Günter, S.; Könies, A.; Pinches, S. D.

2007-09-01

In a plasma with a population of super-thermal particles generated by heating or fusion processes, kinetic effects can lead to the additional destabilisation of MHD modes or even to additional energetic particle modes. In order to describe these modes, a new linear gyrokinetic MHD code has been developed and tested, LIGKA (linear gyrokinetic shear Alfvén physics) [Ph. Lauber, Linear gyrokinetic description of fast particle effects on the MHD stability in tokamaks, Ph.D. Thesis, TU München, 2003; Ph. Lauber, S. Günter, S.D. Pinches, Phys. Plasmas 12 (2005) 122501], based on a gyrokinetic model [H. Qin, Gyrokinetic theory and computational methods for electromagnetic perturbations in tokamaks, Ph.D. Thesis, Princeton University, 1998]. A finite Larmor radius expansion together with the construction of some fluid moments and specification to the shear Alfvén regime results in a self-consistent, electromagnetic, non-perturbative model, that allows not only for growing or damped eigenvalues but also for a change in mode-structure of the magnetic perturbation due to the energetic particles and background kinetic effects. Compared to previous implementations [H. Qin, mentioned above], this model is coded in a more general and comprehensive way. LIGKA uses a Fourier decomposition in the poloidal coordinate and a finite element discretisation in the radial direction. Both analytical and numerical equilibria can be treated. Integration over the unperturbed particle orbits is performed with the drift-kinetic HAGIS code [S.D. Pinches, Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Nottingham, 1996; S.D. Pinches et al., CPC 111 (1998) 131] which accurately describes the particles' trajectories. This allows finite-banana-width effects to be implemented in a rigorous way since the linear formulation of the model allows the exchange of the unperturbed orbit integration and the discretisation of the perturbed potentials in the radial direction. Successful benchmarks for toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) and kinetic Alfvén waves (KAWs) with analytical results, ideal MHD codes, drift-kinetic codes and other codes based on kinetic models are reported.

DETECTION OF MALNUTRITION IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING MAINTENANCE HAEMODIALYSIS: A QUANTITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS ON 12 PARAMETERS.

PubMed

Nafzger, Sonja; Fleury, Lea-Angelica; Uehlinger, Dominik E; Plüss, Petra; Scura, Ninetta; Kurmann, Silvia

2015-09-01

Protein-energy-malnutrition (PEM) is common in people with end stage kidney disease (ESKD) undergoing maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) and correlates strongly with mortality. To this day, there is no gold standard for detecting PEM in patients on MHD. The aim of this study was to evaluate if Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002), handgrip strength measurement, mid-upper arm muscle area (MUAMA), triceps skin fold measurement (TSF), serum albumin, normalised protein catabolic rate (nPCR), Kt/V and eKt/V, dry body weight, body mass index (BMI), age and time since start on MHD are relevant for assessing PEM in patients on MHD. The predictive value of the selected parameters on mortality and mortality or weight loss of more than 5% was assessed. Quantitative data analysis of the 12 parameters in the same patients on MHD in autumn 2009 (n = 64) and spring 2011 (n = 40) with paired statistical analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. Paired data analysis showed significant reduction of dry body weight, BMI and nPCR. Kt/Vtot did not change, eKt/v and hand grip strength measurements were significantly higher in spring 2011. No changes were detected in TSF, serum albumin, NRS-2002 and MUAMA. Serum albumin was shown to be the only predictor of death and of the combined endpoint "death or weight loss of more than 5%". We now screen patients biannually for serum albumin, nPCR, Kt/V, handgrip measurement of the shunt-free arm, dry body weight, age and time since initiation of MHD. © 2015 European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses Association/European Renal Care Association.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Medvedev, S. Yu., E-mail: medvedev@a5.kiam.ru; Ivanov, A. A., E-mail: aai@a5.kiam.ru; Martynov, A. A., E-mail: martynov@a5.kiam.ru

The influence of current density and pressure gradient profiles in the pedestal on the access to the regimes free from edge localized modes (ELMs) like quiescent H-mode in ITER is investigated. Using the simulator of MHD modes localized near plasma boundary based on the KINX code, calculations of the ELM stability were performed for the ITER plasma in scenarios 2 and 4 under variations of density and temperature profiles with the self-consistent bootstrap current in the pedestal. Low pressure gradient values at the separatrix, the same position of the density and temperature pedestals and high poloidal beta values facilitate reachingmore » high current density in the pedestal and a potential transition into the regime with saturated large scale kink modes. New version of the localized MHD mode simulator allows one to compute the growth rates of ideal peeling-ballooning modes with different toroidal mode numbers and to determine the stability region taking into account diamagnetic stabilization. The edge stability diagrams computations and sensitivity studies of the stability limits to the value of diamagnetic frequency show that diamagnetic stabilization of the modes with high toroidal mode numbers can help to access the quiescent H-mode even with high plasma density but only with low pressure gradient values at the separatrix. The limiting pressure at the top of the pedestal increases for higher plasma density. With flat density profile the access to the quiescent H-mode is closed even with diamagnetic stabilization taken into account, while toroidal mode numbers of the most unstable peeling-ballooning mode decrease from n = 10−40 to n = 3−20.« less

Parametric study of potential early commercial power plants Task 3-A MHD cost analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

The development of costs for an MHD Power Plant and the comparison of these costs to a conventional coal fired power plant are reported. The program is divided into three activities: (1) code of accounts review; (2) MHD pulverized coal power plant cost comparison; (3) operating and maintenance cost estimates. The scope of each NASA code of account item was defined to assure that the recently completed Task 3 capital cost estimates are consistent with the code of account scope. Improvement confidence in MHD plant capital cost estimates by identifying comparability with conventional pulverized coal fired (PCF) power plant systems is undertaken. The basis for estimating the MHD plant operating and maintenance costs of electricity is verified.

A Radiation Transfer Solver for Athena Using Short Characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Shane W.; Stone, James M.; Jiang, Yan-Fei

2012-03-01

We describe the implementation of a module for the Athena magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code that solves the time-independent, multi-frequency radiative transfer (RT) equation on multidimensional Cartesian simulation domains, including scattering and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) effects. The module is based on well known and well tested algorithms developed for modeling stellar atmospheres, including the method of short characteristics to solve the RT equation, accelerated Lambda iteration to handle scattering and non-LTE effects, and parallelization via domain decomposition. The module serves several purposes: it can be used to generate spectra and images, to compute a variable Eddington tensor (VET) for full radiation MHD simulations, and to calculate the heating and cooling source terms in the MHD equations in flows where radiation pressure is small compared with gas pressure. For the latter case, the module is combined with the standard MHD integrators using operator splitting: we describe this approach in detail, including a new constraint on the time step for stability due to radiation diffusion modes. Implementation of the VET method for radiation pressure dominated flows is described in a companion paper. We present results from a suite of test problems for both the RT solver itself and for dynamical problems that include radiative heating and cooling. These tests demonstrate that the radiative transfer solution is accurate and confirm that the operator split method is stable, convergent, and efficient for problems of interest. We demonstrate there is no need to adopt ad hoc assumptions of questionable accuracy to solve RT problems in concert with MHD: the computational cost for our general-purpose module for simple (e.g., LTE gray) problems can be comparable to or less than a single time step of Athena's MHD integrators, and only few times more expensive than that for more general (non-LTE) problems.

Implementation of the full viscoresistive magnetohydrodynamic equations in a nonlinear finite element code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haverkort, J.W.; Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, P.O. Box 6336, 5600 HH Eindhoven; Blank, H.J. de

Numerical simulations form an indispensable tool to understand the behavior of a hot plasma that is created inside a tokamak for providing nuclear fusion energy. Various aspects of tokamak plasmas have been successfully studied through the reduced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. The need for more complete modeling through the full MHD equations is addressed here. Our computational method is presented along with measures against possible problems regarding pollution, stability, and regularity. The problem of ensuring continuity of solutions in the center of a polar grid is addressed in the context of a finite element discretization of the full MHD equations. Amore » rigorous and generally applicable solution is proposed here. Useful analytical test cases are devised to verify the correct implementation of the momentum and induction equation, the hyperdiffusive terms, and the accuracy with which highly anisotropic diffusion can be simulated. A striking observation is that highly anisotropic diffusion can be treated with the same order of accuracy as isotropic diffusion, even on non-aligned grids, as long as these grids are generated with sufficient care. This property is shown to be associated with our use of a magnetic vector potential to describe the magnetic field. Several well-known instabilities are simulated to demonstrate the capabilities of the new method. The linear growth rate of an internal kink mode and a tearing mode are benchmarked against the results of a linear MHD code. The evolution of a tearing mode and the resulting magnetic islands are simulated well into the nonlinear regime. The results are compared with predictions from the reduced MHD model. Finally, a simulation of a ballooning mode illustrates the possibility to use our method as an ideal MHD method without the need to add any physical dissipation.« less

Enhanced understanding of the MHD dynamics and ELM control experiments in KSTAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Hyeon K.

2013-10-01

In KSTAR, H-mode discharges have been achieved reliably at toroidal fields from 1.4 to 3.5 T with a heating power of ~ 5 MW. Using real-time plasma shape control the flattop time in H-mode has been extended to over ~ 16 s at 600 kA in the 2012 campaign and the extended plasma operation boundary has surpassed the n = 1 no-wall limit with βN /li up to 4.1. In order to achieve a high beta steady state operation in KSTAR, establishment of predictive MHD simulation and first-principle-based control of the harmful MHD are the first steps. Visualization of MHD dynamics via a 2-D Electron Cyclotron Emission Imaging (ECEI) has significantly enhanced the level of understanding of the MHD dynamics. Following the first 2-D ELM measurements in H-mode plasmas in KSTAR the measured 2-D ELM images were compared with synthetic images from the BOUT + + code. The physics of ELMs is characterized based on a wide range of measured mode numbers (n, m) local magnetic shear and pressure gradients. The observed ELM dynamics during control experiments have been enlightening and consistent with the stability models. Near the q ~ 2 surface, the island width and Δ' of the m = 2 tearing mode have been verified through the modified Rutherford model based on the 2-D images. With the aid of a second (toroidally separated) ECEI system installed in the 2012 KSTAR campaign, a 3-D reconstruction of the MHD instabilities has allowed further validation of the computed magnetic field pitch angles, rotation speeds, and toroidal asymmetries of the MHDs Work supported by NRF of Korea under contract No. 20120005920 and the U.S. DoE under contract No. DE-FG-02-99ER54531.

Forced Reconnection in the Near Magnetotail: Onset and Energy Conversion in PIC and MHD Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Birn, J.; Hesse, Michael

2014-01-01

Using two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) together with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Q1 simulations of magnetotail dynamics, we investigate the evolution toward onset of reconnection and the subsequent energy transfer and conversion. In either case, reconnection onset is preceded by a driven phase, during which magnetic flux is added to the tail at the high-latitude boundaries, followed by a relaxation phase, during which the configuration continues to respond to the driving. The boundary deformation leads to the formation of thin embedded current sheets, which are bifurcated in the near tail, converging to a single sheet farther out in the MHD simulations. The thin current sheets in the PIC simulation are carried by electrons and are associated with a strong perpendicular electrostatic field, which may provide a connection to parallel potentials and auroral arcs and an ionospheric signal even prior to the onset of reconnection. The PIC simulation very well satisfies integral entropy conservation (intrinsic to ideal MHD) during this phase, supporting ideal ballooning stability. Eventually, the current intensification leads to the onset of reconnection, the formation and ejection of a plasmoid, and a collapse of the inner tail. The earthward flow shows the characteristics of a dipolarization front: enhancement of Bz, associated with a thin vertical electron current sheet in the PIC simulation. Both MHD and PIC simulations show a dominance of energy conversion from incoming Poynting flux to outgoing enthalpy flux, resulting in heating of the inner tail. Localized Joule dissipation plays only a minor role.

Stabilization of the SIESTA MHD Equilibrium Code Using Rapid Cholesky Factorization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirshman, S. P.; D'Azevedo, E. A.; Seal, S. K.

2016-10-01

The SIESTA MHD equilibrium code solves the discretized nonlinear MHD force F ≡ J X B - ∇p for a 3D plasma which may contain islands and stochastic regions. At each nonlinear evolution step, it solves a set of linearized MHD equations which can be written r ≡ Ax - b = 0, where A is the linearized MHD Hessian matrix. When the solution norm | x| is small enough, the nonlinear force norm will be close to the linearized force norm | r| 0 obtained using preconditioned GMRES. In many cases, this procedure works well and leads to a vanishing nonlinear residual (equilibrium) after several iterations in SIESTA. In some cases, however, | x|>1 results and the SIESTA code has to be restarted to obtain nonlinear convergence. In order to make SIESTA more robust and avoid such restarts, we have implemented a new rapid QR factorization of the Hessian which allows us to rapidly and accurately solve the least-squares problem AT r = 0, subject to the condition | x|<1. This avoids large contributions to the nonlinear force terms and in general makes the convergence sequence of SIESTA much more stable. The innovative rapid QR method is based on a pairwise row factorization of the tri-diagonal Hessian. It provides a complete Cholesky factorization while preserving the memory allocation of A. This work was supported by the U.S. D.O.E. contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

Non-Equilibrium Plasma MHD Electrical Power Generation at Tokyo Tech

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murakami, T.; Okuno, Y.; Yamasaki, H.

2008-02-01

This paper reviews the recent activities on radio-frequency (rf) electromagnetic-field-assisted magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generation experiments at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. An inductively coupled rf field (13.56 MHz) is continuously supplied to the disk-shaped Hall-type MHD generator. The first part of this paper describes a method of obtaining increased power output from a pure Argon plasma MHD power generator by incorporating an rf power source to preionize and heat the plasma. The rf heating enhances ionization of the Argon and raises the temperature of the free electron population above the nominally low 4500 K temperatures obtained without rf heating. This in turn enhances the plasma conductivity making MHD power generation feasible. We demonstrate an enhanced power output when rf heating is on approximately 5 times larger than the input power of the rf generator. The second part of this paper is a demonstration of a physical phenomenon of the rf-stabilization of the ionization instability, that had been conjectured for some time, but had not been seen experimentally. The rf heating suppresses the ionization instability in the plasma behavior and homogenizes the nonuniformity of the plasma structures. The power-generating performance is significantly improved with the aid of the rf power under wide seeding conditions. The increment of the enthalpy extraction ratio of around 2% is significantly greater than the fraction of the net rf power, that is, 0.16%, to the thermal input.

Stability of the cometary ionopause

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ershkovich, A. I.; Axford, W. I.; Ip, W.-H.; Flammer, K. R.

MHD stability of the cometary ionopause is discussed in the context of the Giotto mission to comet Halley. A mechanism associated with the plasma compressibility is suggested here as being responsible for the apparent stability of the Halley ionopause: when the phase velocity of surface waves at the ionopause approaches the fast magnetoacoustic speed the unstable surface waves are transformed into stable body waves in the whole fluid resulting in an effective damping of the instability. The effects of both mass loading (due to photoionization) and dissociative recombination are also studied.

Local shear instabilities in weakly ionized, weakly magnetized disks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blaes, Omer M.; Balbus, Steven A.

1994-01-01

We extend the analysis of axisymmetric magnetic shear instabilities from ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows to weakly ionized plasmas with coupling between ions and neutrals caused by collisions, ionization, and recombination. As part of the analysis, we derive the single-fluid MHD dispersion relation without invoking the Boussinesq approximation. This work expands the range of applications of these instabilities from fully ionized accretion disks to molecular disks in galaxies and, with somewhat more uncertainty, to protostellar disks. Instability generally requires the angular velocity to decrease outward, the magnetic field strengths to be subthermal, and the ions and neutrals to be sufficiently well coupled. If ionization and recombination processes can be neglected on an orbital timescale, adequate coupling is achieved when the collision frequency of a given neutral with the ions exceeds the local epicyclic freqency. When ionization equilibrium is maintained on an orbital timescale, a new feature is present in the disk dynamics: in contrast to a single-fluid system, subthermal azimuthal fields can affect the axisymmetric stability of weakly ionized two-fluid systems. We discuss the underlying causes for this behavior. Azimuthal fields tend to be stabilizing under these circumstances, and good coupling between the neutrals and ions requires the collision frequency to exceed the epicyclic frequency by a potentially large secant factor related to the magnetic field geometry. When the instability is present, subthermal azimuthal fields may also reduce the growth rate unless the collision frequency is high, but this is important only if the field strengths are very subthermal and/or the azimuthal field is the dominant field component. We briefly discuss our results in the context of the Galactic center circumnuclear disk, and suggest that the shear instability might be present there, and be responsible for the observed turbulent motions.

Ideal MHD Stability and Characteristics of Edge Localized Modes on CFETR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zeyu; Chan, Vincent; Xu, Xueqiao; Wang, Xiaogang; Cfetr Physics Team

2017-10-01

Investigation on the equilibrium operation regime, its ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) stability and edge localized modes (ELM) characteristics is performed for China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The CFETR operation regime study starts with a baseline scenario derived from multi-code integrated modeling, with key parameters varied to build a systematic database. These parameters, under profile and pedestal constraints, provide the foundation for engineering design. The linear stabilities of low-n and intermediate-n peeling-ballooning modes for CFETR baseline scenario are analyzed. Multi-code benchmarking, including GATO, ELITE, BOUT + + and NIMROD, demonstrated good agreement in predicting instabilities. Nonlinear behavior of ELMs for the baseline scenario is simulated using BOUT + + . Instabilities are found both at the pedestal top and inside the pedestal region, which lead to a mix of grassy and type I ELMs. Pedestal structures extending inward beyond the pedestal top are also varied to study the influence on ELM characteristic. Preliminary results on the dependence of the Type-I ELM divertor heat load scaling on machine size and pedestal pressure will also be presented. Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344 and National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Research Program of China (Grant No. 2014GB110003 and 2014GB107004).

Effects of flows on viscous and resistive MHD stability

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Einaudi, Giorgio

1986-01-01

In many solar applications the viscosity appears to be more important than resistivity. In order to discuss the instabilities in solar conditions, an idealized configuration is considered in which the plasma is flowing in the z-direction along the magnetic field B sub 0 with a velocity V sub 0. As far as the velocity is concerned two different velocity profiles, with different hydrodynmaic stability properties are discussed. The results are summarized.

CosmosDG: An hp -adaptive Discontinuous Galerkin Code for Hyper-resolved Relativistic MHD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Anninos, Peter; Lau, Cheuk; Bryant, Colton

We have extended Cosmos++, a multidimensional unstructured adaptive mesh code for solving the covariant Newtonian and general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, to accommodate both discrete finite volume and arbitrarily high-order finite element structures. The new finite element implementation, called CosmosDG, is based on a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) formulation, using both entropy-based artificial viscosity and slope limiting procedures for the regularization of shocks. High-order multistage forward Euler and strong-stability preserving Runge–Kutta time integration options complement high-order spatial discretization. We have also added flexibility in the code infrastructure allowing for both adaptive mesh and adaptive basis order refinement to be performedmore » separately or simultaneously in a local (cell-by-cell) manner. We discuss in this report the DG formulation and present tests demonstrating the robustness, accuracy, and convergence of our numerical methods applied to special and general relativistic MHD, although we note that an equivalent capability currently also exists in CosmosDG for Newtonian systems.« less

CosmosDG: An hp-adaptive Discontinuous Galerkin Code for Hyper-resolved Relativistic MHD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anninos, Peter; Bryant, Colton; Fragile, P. Chris; Holgado, A. Miguel; Lau, Cheuk; Nemergut, Daniel

2017-08-01

We have extended Cosmos++, a multidimensional unstructured adaptive mesh code for solving the covariant Newtonian and general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, to accommodate both discrete finite volume and arbitrarily high-order finite element structures. The new finite element implementation, called CosmosDG, is based on a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) formulation, using both entropy-based artificial viscosity and slope limiting procedures for the regularization of shocks. High-order multistage forward Euler and strong-stability preserving Runge-Kutta time integration options complement high-order spatial discretization. We have also added flexibility in the code infrastructure allowing for both adaptive mesh and adaptive basis order refinement to be performed separately or simultaneously in a local (cell-by-cell) manner. We discuss in this report the DG formulation and present tests demonstrating the robustness, accuracy, and convergence of our numerical methods applied to special and general relativistic MHD, although we note that an equivalent capability currently also exists in CosmosDG for Newtonian systems.

Experimental tests of linear and nonlinear three-dimensional equilibrium models in DIII-D

DOE PAGES

King, Josh D.; Strait, Edward J.; Lazerson, Samuel A.; ...

2015-07-01

DIII-D experiments using new detailed magnetic diagnostics show that linear, ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) theory quantitatively describes the magnetic structure (as measured externally) of three-dimensional (3D) equilibria resulting from applied fields with toroidal mode number n = 1, while a nonlinear solution to ideal MHD force balance, using the VMEC code, requires the inclusion of n ≥ 1 to achieve similar agreement. Moreover, these tests are carried out near ITER baseline parameters, providing a validated basis on which to exploit 3D fields for plasma control development. We determine scans of the applied poloidal spectrum and edge safety factors which confirm thatmore » low-pressure, n = 1 non-axisymmetric tokamak equilibria are a single, dominant, stable eigenmode. But, at higher beta, near the ideal kink mode stability limit in the absence of a conducting wall, the qualitative features of the 3D structure are observed to vary in a way that is not captured by ideal MHD.« less

MHD Instability and Turbulence in the Tachocline

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Werne, Joe; Wagner, William J. (Technical Monitor)

2003-01-01

The focus of this project was to study the physical processes that govern tachocline dynamics and structure. Specific features explored included stratification, shear, waves, and toroidal and poloidal background fields. In order to address recent theoretical work on anisotropic mixing and dynamics in the tachocline, we were particularly interested in such anisotropic mixing for the specific tachocline processes studied. Transition to turbulence often shapes the largest-scale features that appear spontaneously in a flow during the development of turbulence. The resulting large-scale straining field can control the subsequent dynamics; therefore, anticipation of the large-scale straining field that results for individual realizations of the transition to turbulence can be important for subsequent dynamics, flow morphology, and transport characteristics. As a result, we paid particular attention to the development of turbulence in the stratified and sheared environment of the tachocline. This is complicated by the fact that the linearly stability of sheared MHD flows is non-self-adjoint, implying that normal asymptotic linear stability theory may not be relevant.

A stepped pressure profile model for internal transport barriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hole, Matthew; Hudson, Stuart; Dewar, Robert

2007-11-01

B ∇x et al We develop a multiple interface variational model, comprising multiple Taylor-relaxed plasma regions separated by ideal MHD barriers. The magnetic field in each region is Beltrami, = μ, and the pressure constant. Between these regions the pressure, field strength, and rotational transform may have step changes at the ideal barrier. A principle motivation is the development of a mathematically rigorous ideal MHD model to describe intrinsically 3D equilibria, with nonzero internal pressure, using robust KAM surfaces as the barriers. As each region is locally relaxed however, such a model may also yield reasons for existence of internal transport barriers (ITBs). Focusing on the latter, we build on Hole Nuc. Fus. 47, pp746-753, 2007, which recently studied the stability of a two-interface periodic-cylinder configuration. In this work, we perform a stability scan over pressure and for a two-interface configuration with no jump in , and compare the characteristics of stable equilibria to those of ITB's.

The Effect of Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Energy Bypass on Specific Thrust for a Supersonic Turbojet Engine

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benyo, Theresa L.

2010-01-01

This paper describes the preliminary results of a thermodynamic cycle analysis of a supersonic turbojet engine with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy bypass system that explores a wide range of MHD enthalpy extraction parameters. Through the analysis described here, it is shown that applying a magnetic field to a flow path in the Mach 2.0 to 3.5 range can increase the specific thrust of the turbojet engine up to as much as 420 N/(kg/s) provided that the magnitude of the magnetic field is in the range of 1 to 5 Tesla. The MHD energy bypass can also increase the operating Mach number range for a supersonic turbojet engine into the hypersonic flight regime. In this case, the Mach number range is shown to be extended to Mach 7.0.

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Magnet Modeling

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-06-01

Relationship /4 to Structural Teeth and Cold Bore Tube 56 Force Cý.mponents on Saddlc Winding 84 57 Quarter Section of Magnet nesign at Midplane 85 58...Graphite/Epoxy Filament Wound 184 A-2 Concept B - Boron /Aluminum Structure 186 A-3 Concept i - Graphite/Epoxy Structure 187 A-4 Initial Stress Analysis...Wound A-15 MHD Magnet Modeling Manufacturing Sequence 205 Concept B - Boron /Aluminum Structure A-16 MHD Magnet Modeling Manufacturing Sequence 206

Error Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Angular Rate Sensor Combing with Coriolis Effect at Low Frequency.

PubMed

Ji, Yue; Xu, Mengjie; Li, Xingfei; Wu, Tengfei; Tuo, Weixiao; Wu, Jun; Dong, Jiuzhi

2018-06-13

The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) angular rate sensor (ARS) with low noise level in ultra-wide bandwidth is developed in lasing and imaging applications, especially the line-of-sight (LOS) system. A modified MHD ARS combined with the Coriolis effect was studied in this paper to expand the sensor’s bandwidth at low frequency (<1 Hz), which is essential for precision LOS pointing and wide-bandwidth LOS jitter suppression. The model and the simulation method were constructed and a comprehensive solving method based on the magnetic and electric interaction methods was proposed. The numerical results on the Coriolis effect and the frequency response of the modified MHD ARS were detailed. In addition, according to the experimental results of the designed sensor consistent with the simulation results, an error analysis of model errors was discussed. Our study provides an error analysis method of MHD ARS combined with the Coriolis effect and offers a framework for future studies to minimize the error.

A general MHD formulation for plasmas with flow and resistive walls

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guazzotto, L.; Freidberg, J. P.; Betti, R.

2006-11-30

Toroidal rotation, either induced by means of neutral beams (e.g. in NSTX and DIII-D) or appearing spontaneously (e.g. in Alcator C-Mod, JET and Tore Supra) is routinely observed in modem tokamak experiments. Poloidal rotation is also commonly observed, in particular in the edge region of the plasma. Plasma rotation has a major effect on plasma stability. Flow and flow shear stabilize external modes such as the resistive wall mode (as observed e.g. in DIII-D), suppress turbulence when the flow shear is large enough, and also have a significant influence on the stability and nonlinear evolution of the internal kink andmore » ballooning modes. Flow shear can in particular have both a stabilizing (by breaking up unstable structures) and destabilizing (through the Kelvin-Helmoltz mechanism) effect. A self-consistent analysis of the effect of rotation requires the use of numerical tools. In this work, we present a general eigenvalue formulation based on a variational principle stability analysis, including arbitrary (both toroidal and poloidal) plasma rotation and a thin resistive wall of arbitrary shape and resistivity. It is shown that the problem can always be reduced to a classic eigenvalue formulation of the kind i{omega}A double underbar {center_dot} {zeta}-vector = B double underbar {center_dot} {zeta}-vector, where {zeta}-vector is the unknown eigenvector related to the plasma displacement, and {omega} the (complex) evolution frequency of the perturbation. The formulation is well suited for a finite element analysis.« less

Influence of verapamil on the pharmacokinetics of oxcarbazepine and of the enantiomers of its 10-hydroxy metabolite in healthy volunteers.

PubMed

Antunes, Natalícia de Jesus; Wichert-Ana, Lauro; Coelho, Eduardo Barbosa; Della Pasqua, Oscar; Alexandre Junior, Veriano; Takayanagui, Osvaldo Massaiti; Tozatto, Eduardo; Marques, Maria Paula; Lanchote, Vera Lucia

2016-02-01

Oxcarbazepine (OXC), a second-generation antiepileptic, and its chiral metabolite 10-hydroxycarbazepine (MHD) are substrates of P-glycoprotein, which can be inhibited by verapamil. This study evaluated the influence of verapamil on the pharmacokinetics of OXC and MHD enantiomers in healthy volunteers. Healthy volunteers (n = 12) on occasion O (OXC monotherapy) received 300 mg OXC/12 h for 5 days, and on the O + V occasion (treatment with OXC  + verapamil), they received 300 mg OXC/12 h and 80 mg verapamil/8 h for 5 days. Blood samples were collected over a period of 12 h. Total and free plasma concentrations of OXC and the MHD enantiomers were evaluated by LC-MS/MS. Noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analysis was performed using the WinNonlin program. The kinetic disposition of MHD was enantioselective with plasma accumulation (AUC(0-12) S-(+)/R-(-) ratio of 4.38) and lower fraction unbound (0.37 vs 0.42) of the S-(+)-MHD enantiomer. Treatment with verapamil reduced the OXC mean residence time (4.91 vs 4.20 h) and apparent volume of distribution (4.72 vs 3.15 L/kg). Verapamil also increased for both MHD enantiomers C max total [R-(-)-MHD: 2.65 vs 2.98 μg/mL and S-(+)-MHD: 10.15 vs 11.60 μg/mL], C average [R-(-)-MHD: 1.98 vs 2.18 μg/mL and S-(+)-MHD: 8.10 vs 8.83 μg/mL], and AUC(0-12) [R-(-)-MHD: 23.79 vs 26.19 μg h/mL and S-(+)-MHD: 97.87 vs 108.35 μg h/mL]. Verapamil increased the AUC values of both MDH enantiomers, which is probably related to the inhibition of intestinal P-glycoprotein. Considering that the exposure of both MHD enantiomers was increased in only 10 %, no OXC dose adjustment could be recommended in the situation of verapamil coadministration.

H2OTSTUF: Appropriate Operating Regimes for Magnetohydrodynamic Augmentation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Jonathan E.; Hawk, Clark W.

1998-01-01

A trade study of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) augmented propulsion reveals a unique operating regime at lower thrust levels. Substantial mass savings are realized over conventional chemical, solar, and electrical propulsion concepts when MHD augmentation is used to obtain optimal I(sub sp). However, trip times for the most conservative estimates of power plant specific impulse and accelerator efficiency may be prohibitively long. Quasi-one-dimensional calculations show that a solar or nuclear thermal system augmented by MHD can provide competitive performance while utilizing a diverse range of propellants including water, which is available from the Space Shuttle, the Moon, asteroids, and various moons and planets within our solar system. The use of in-situ propellants will reduce costs of space operations as well as enable human exploration of our Solar System. The following conclusions can be drawn from the results of the mission trade study: (1) There exists a maximum thrust or mass flow rate above which MHD augmentation increases the initial mass in low earth orbit (LEO); (2) Mass saving of over 50% can be realized for unique combination of solar/MHD systems; (3) Trip times for systems utilizing current power supply technology may be prohibitively long. Theoretical predictions of MHD performance for in space propulsion systems show that improved efficiencies can reduce trip times to acceptable levels; (4) Long trip times indicative of low thrust systems can be shortened by an increase in the MHD accelerator efficiency or a decrease in the specific mass of the power supply and power processing unit; and (5) As for all propulsion concepts, missions with larger (Delta)v's benefit more from the increased specific impulse resulting from MHD augmentation. Using a quasi-one-dimensional analysis, the required operating conditions for a MHD accelerator to reach acceptable efficiencies are outlined. This analysis shows that substantial non-equilibrium ionization is desirable.

Experimental investigation of multi-scale non-equilibrium plasma dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellan, Paul

2013-10-01

Lab experiments at Caltech resolve complex, detailed MHD dynamics spatially and temporally. Unbalanced forces drive fast plasma flows which tend to self-collimate via self-pinching. Collimation results from flow stagnation compressing embedded magnetic flux and so amplifying the magnetic field responsible for pinching. Measurements show that the collimated flow is essentially a dense plasma jet with embedded axial and azimuthal magnetic fields, i.e., a magnetic flux tube (flux rope). The measured jet velocity is in good agreement with an MHD acceleration model. Depending on how flux tube radius varies with axial position, jets flow into a flux tube from both ends or from just one end. Jets kink when the flux tube in which they are embedded breaches the Kruskal-Shafranov stability limit. The lateral acceleration of a sufficiently strong kink can produce an enormous effective gravity which provides the environment for an observed fine-scale, extremely fast Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability. The RT can erode the jet current channel to be smaller than the ion skin depth so there is a cascade from the ideal MHD scale of the kink to the non-MHD ion skin depth scale. This process can result in a magnetic reconnection whereby the jet and its embedded flux tube break. Supported by USDOE.

Stability of ideal MHD configurations. I. Realizing the generality of the G operator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keppens, R.; Demaerel, T.

2016-12-01

A field theoretical approach, applied to the time-reversible system described by the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, exposes the full generality of MHD spectral theory. MHD spectral theory, which classified waves and instabilities of static or stationary, usually axisymmetric or translationally symmetric configurations, actually governs the stability of flowing, (self-)gravitating, single fluid descriptions of nonlinear, time-dependent idealized plasmas, and this at any time during their nonlinear evolution. At the core of this theory is a self-adjoint operator G , discovered by Frieman and Rotenberg [Rev. Mod. Phys. 32, 898 (1960)] in its application to stationary (i.e., time-independent) plasma states. This Frieman-Rotenberg operator dictates the acceleration identified by a Lagrangian displacement field ξ , which connects two ideal MHD states in four-dimensional space-time that share initial conditions for density, entropy, and magnetic field. The governing equation reads /d 2 ξ d t 2 = G [ ξ ] , as first noted by Cotsaftis and Newcomb [Nucl. Fusion, Suppl. Part 2, 447 and 451 (1962)]. The time derivatives at left are to be taken in the Lagrangian way, i.e., moving with the flow v. Physically realizable displacements must have finite energy, corresponding to being square integrable in the Hilbert space of displacements equipped with an inner product rule, for which the G operator is self-adjoint. The acceleration in the left-hand side features the Doppler-Coriolis operator v . ∇ , which is known to become an antisymmetric operator when restricting attention to stationary equilibria. Here, we present all derivations needed to get to these insights and connect results throughout the literature. A first illustration elucidates what can happen when self-gravity is incorporated and presents aspects that have been overlooked even in simple uniform media. Ideal MHD flows, as well as Euler flows, have essentially 6 + 1 wave types, where the 6 wave modes are organized through the essential spectrum of the G operator. These 6 modes are actually three pairs of modes, in which the Alfvén pair (a shear wave pair in hydro) sits comfortably at the middle. Each pair of modes consists of a leftgoing wave and a rightgoing wave, or equivalently stated, with one type traveling from past to future (forward) and the other type that goes from future to past (backward). The Alfvén pair is special, in its left-right categorization, while there is full degeneracy for the slow and fast pairs when reversing time and mirroring space. The Alfvén pair group speed diagram leads to the familiar Elsässer variables.

Equilibrium Spline Interface (ESI) for magnetic confinement codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xujing; Zakharov, Leonid E.

2017-12-01

A compact and comprehensive interface between magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium codes and gyro-kinetic, particle orbit, MHD stability, and transport codes is presented. Its irreducible set of equilibrium data consists of three (in the 2-D case with occasionally one extra in the 3-D case) functions of coordinates and four 1-D radial profiles together with their first and mixed derivatives. The C reconstruction routines, accessible also from FORTRAN, allow the calculation of basis functions and their first derivatives at any position inside the plasma and in its vicinity. After this all vector fields and geometric coefficients, required for the above mentioned types of codes, can be calculated using only algebraic operations with no further interpolation or differentiation.

MHD instabilities in astrophysical plasmas: very different from MHD instabilities in tokamaks!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goedbloed, J. P.

2018-01-01

The extensive studies of MHD instabilities in thermonuclear magnetic confinement experiments, in particular of the tokamak as the most promising candidate for a future energy producing machine, have led to an ‘intuitive’ description based on the energy principle that is very misleading for most astrophysical plasmas. The ‘intuitive’ picture almost directly singles out the dominant stabilizing field line bending energy of the Alfvén waves and, consequently, concentrates on expansion schemes that minimize that contribution. This happens when the wave vector {{k}}0 of the perturbations, on average, is perpendicular to the magnetic field {B}. Hence, all macroscopic instabilities of tokamaks (kinks, interchanges, ballooning modes, ELMs, neoclassical tearing modes, etc) are characterized by satisfying the condition {{k}}0 \\perp {B}, or nearly so. In contrast, some of the major macroscopic instabilities of astrophysical plasmas (the Parker instability and the magneto-rotational instability) occur when precisely the opposite condition is satisfied: {{k}}0 \\parallel {B}. How do those instabilities escape from the dominance of the stabilizing Alfvén wave? The answer to that question involves, foremost, the recognition that MHD spectral theory of waves and instabilities of laboratory plasmas could be developed to such great depth since those plasmas are assumed to be in static equilibrium. This assumption is invalid for astrophysical plasmas where rotational and gravitational accelerations produce equilibria that are at best stationary, and the associated spectral theory is widely, and incorrectly, believed to be non-self adjoint. These complications are addressed, and cured, in the theory of the Spectral Web, recently developed by the author. Using this method, an extensive survey of instabilities of astrophysical plasmas demonstrates how the Alfvén wave is pushed into insignificance under these conditions to give rise to a host of instabilities that do not occur in laboratory plasmas.

X-ray emitting MHD accretion shocks in classical T Tauri stars. Case for moderate to high plasma-β values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orlando, S.; Sacco, G. G.; Argiroffi, C.; Reale, F.; Peres, G.; Maggio, A.

2010-02-01

Context. Plasma accreting onto classical T Tauri stars (CTTS) is believed to impact the stellar surface at free-fall velocities, generating a shock. Current time-dependent models describing accretion shocks in CTTSs are one-dimensional, assuming that the plasma moves and transports energy only along magnetic field lines (β ≪ 1). Aims: We investigate the stability and dynamics of accretion shocks in CTTSs, considering the case of β ⪆ 1 in the post-shock region. In these cases the 1D approximation is not valid and a multi-dimensional MHD approach is necessary. Methods: We model an accretion stream propagating through the atmosphere of a CTTS and impacting onto its chromosphere by performing 2D axisymmetric MHD simulations. The model takes into account the stellar magnetic field, the gravity, the radiative cooling, and the thermal conduction (including the effects of heat flux saturation). Results: The dynamics and stability of the accretion shock strongly depend on the plasma β. In the case of shocks with β > 10, violent outflows of shock-heated material (and possibly MHD waves) are generated at the base of the accretion column and intensely perturb the surrounding stellar atmosphere and the accretion column itself (therefore modifying the dynamics of the shock). In shocks with β ≈ 1, the post-shock region is efficiently confined by the magnetic field. The shock oscillations induced by cooling instability are strongly influenced by β: for β > 10, the oscillations may be rapidly dumped by the magnetic field, approaching a quasi-stationary state, or may be chaotic with no obvious periodicity due to perturbation of the stream induced by the post-shock plasma itself; for β≈ 1 the oscillations are quasi-periodic, although their amplitude is smaller and the frequency higher than those predicted by 1D models. Three movies are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

Numerical Analysis of 2-D and 3-D MHD Flows Relevant to Fusion Applications

DOE PAGES

Khodak, Andrei

2017-08-21

Here, the analysis of many fusion applications such as liquid-metal blankets requires application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods for electrically conductive liquids in geometrically complex regions and in the presence of a strong magnetic field. A current state of the art general purpose CFD code allows modeling of the flow in complex geometric regions, with simultaneous conjugated heat transfer analysis in liquid and surrounding solid parts. Together with a magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) capability, the general purpose CFD code will be a valuable tool for the design and optimization of fusion devices. This paper describes an introduction of MHD capability intomore » the general purpose CFD code CFX, part of the ANSYS Workbench. The code was adapted for MHD problems using a magnetic induction approach. CFX allows introduction of user-defined variables using transport or Poisson equations. For MHD adaptation of the code three additional transport equations were introduced for the components of the magnetic field, in addition to the Poisson equation for electric potential. The Lorentz force is included in the momentum transport equation as a source term. Fusion applications usually involve very strong magnetic fields, with values of the Hartmann number of up to tens of thousands. In this situation a system of MHD equations become very rigid with very large source terms and very strong variable gradients. To increase system robustness, special measures were introduced during the iterative convergence process, such as linearization using source coefficient for momentum equations. The MHD implementation in general purpose CFD code was tested against benchmarks, specifically selected for liquid-metal blanket applications. Results of numerical simulations using present implementation closely match analytical solutions for a Hartmann number of up to 1500 for a 2-D laminar flow in the duct of square cross section, with conducting and nonconducting walls. Results for a 3-D test case are also included.« less

Numerical Analysis of 2-D and 3-D MHD Flows Relevant to Fusion Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Khodak, Andrei

Here, the analysis of many fusion applications such as liquid-metal blankets requires application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods for electrically conductive liquids in geometrically complex regions and in the presence of a strong magnetic field. A current state of the art general purpose CFD code allows modeling of the flow in complex geometric regions, with simultaneous conjugated heat transfer analysis in liquid and surrounding solid parts. Together with a magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) capability, the general purpose CFD code will be a valuable tool for the design and optimization of fusion devices. This paper describes an introduction of MHD capability intomore » the general purpose CFD code CFX, part of the ANSYS Workbench. The code was adapted for MHD problems using a magnetic induction approach. CFX allows introduction of user-defined variables using transport or Poisson equations. For MHD adaptation of the code three additional transport equations were introduced for the components of the magnetic field, in addition to the Poisson equation for electric potential. The Lorentz force is included in the momentum transport equation as a source term. Fusion applications usually involve very strong magnetic fields, with values of the Hartmann number of up to tens of thousands. In this situation a system of MHD equations become very rigid with very large source terms and very strong variable gradients. To increase system robustness, special measures were introduced during the iterative convergence process, such as linearization using source coefficient for momentum equations. The MHD implementation in general purpose CFD code was tested against benchmarks, specifically selected for liquid-metal blanket applications. Results of numerical simulations using present implementation closely match analytical solutions for a Hartmann number of up to 1500 for a 2-D laminar flow in the duct of square cross section, with conducting and nonconducting walls. Results for a 3-D test case are also included.« less

Using Velocity Anisotropy to Analyze Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence in Giant Molecular Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madrid, Alecio; Hernandez, Audra

2018-01-01

Structure function (SF) analysis is a strong tool for gaging the Alfvénic properties of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, yet there is a lack of literature rigorously investigating limitations in the context of radio spectroscopy. This study takes an in depth approach to studying the limitations of SF analysis for analyzing MHD turbulence in giant molecular cloud (GMC) spectroscopy data. MHD turbulence plays a critical role in the structure and evolution of GMCs as well as in the formation of sub-structures known to spawn stellar progenitors. Existing methods of detection are neither economical nor robust (e.g. dust polarization), and nowhere is this more clear than in the theoretical-observational divide in current literature. A significant limitation of GMC spectroscopy results from the large variation in methods used for extracting GMCs from survey data. Thus, a robust method for studying MHD turbulence must correctly gauge physical properties regardless of the data extraction method used. While SF analysis has demonstrated strong potential across a range of simulated conditions, this study finds significant concern regarding its feasibility as a robust tool in GMC spectroscopy.

Results from the Mochi.Labjet Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavine, Eric Sander; You, Setthivoine

2017-10-01

Magnetized plasma jets are generally modeled as magnetic flux tubes filled with flowing plasma governed by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Recent theoretical work has outlined a more fundamental approach based on flux tubes of canonical vorticity, where canonical vorticity is defined as the circulation of a species' canonical momentum. This approach extends the concept of magnetic flux tube evolution to include the effects of finite particle momentum and enables visualization of the topology of plasma jets in regimes beyond MHD. Under the appropriate conditions this framework suggests how to form and drive stable, collimated plasma jets with very long aspect-ratios. To explore this possibility, a triple electrode planar plasma gun (Mochi.LabJet) has been designed to produce helical shear flows inside a driven magnetized plasma jet. High speed video confirms the experiment can produce long ( 1m), collimated, stable jets with core plasma currents of 60 - 80 kA, skin currents of 100 - 120 kA and axial velocities on the order of 40 - 80 km/s (for hydrogen). Presented here are magnetic and ion flow velocity measurements as well as stability space analysis that suggests the jets are stable to kink instabilities over many Alfvén times.

Magnetic Diagnosis Upgrade and Analysis for MHD Instabilities on the J-TEXT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Daojing; Hu, Qiming; Zhuang, Ge; Wang, Nengchao; Ding, Yonghua; Tang, Yuejin; Yu, Qingquan; Huazhong University of Science; Technology Team; Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik Collaboration

2017-10-01

The magnetic diagnostic system on the J-TEXT tokamak has been upgraded to measure the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities with diverse bands of frequencies. 12 saddle loop probes and 73 Mirnov probes are newly developed. The fabrication and installment of the new probes are elaborately designed, in consideration of higher spatial resolution and better amplitude-frequency characteristic. In this case, the probes utilize two kinds of novel fabrication craft, one of which is low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC), the other is flexible printed circuit (FPC). A great deal of experiments on the J-TEXT have validated the stability of the new system. Some typical discharges observed by the new diagnostic system are reviewed. In order to extract useful information from raw signals, several efficient signal processing methods are reviewed. An analytical model based on lumped eddy current circuits is used to compensate equilibrium flux and the corresponding eddy current fluxes, a visualization processing based on singular value decomposition (SVD) and cross-power spectrum are applied to detect the mode number. Fusion Science Program of China (Contract Nos. 2015GB111001 and 2014GB108000) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Contract Nos. 11505069 and 11405068).

Population pharmacokinetic analysis for 10-monohydroxy derivative of oxcarbazepine in pediatric epileptic patients shows no difference between Japanese and other ethnicities.

PubMed

Sugiyama, Ikuo; Bouillon, Thomas; Yamaguchi, Masayuki; Suzuki, Hikoe; Hirota, Takashi; Fink, Martin

2015-04-01

Oxcarbazepine is an anti-epileptic drug, which is almost completely metabolized by cytosolic enzymes in the liver to the active 10-monohyroxy metabolite (MHD) following oral administration. The pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of MHD were evaluated in pediatric epileptic patients and a possible ethnic difference in PK of MHD between Japanese and non-Japanese pediatric patients was assessed. A non-linear mixed effect modeling approach was used to determine the PK of MHD. A one-compartment population model with first-order absorption appropriately described the PK of MHD. No clinically relevant differences were found for using body surface area or weight to explain between-patient variability, therefore the final model included the effects of body weight on apparent clearance (CL/F) and apparent volume of distribution (V/F) of MHD, and in addition, the effect of 3 concomitant anti-epileptic drugs (carbamazepine, phenobarbital and phenytoin) on CL/F of MHD. Inclusion of ethnicity as a covariate in the final model, concluded no ethnic difference with respect to CL/F of MHD between Japanese and non-Japanese patients. Hence, oxcarbazepine can be generally applied using the same dosage and administration for the treatment of partial onset seizures in pediatric patients, regardless of ethnicity. Copyright © 2014 The Japanese Society for the Study of Xenobiotics. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrahigh temperature vapor core reactor-MHD system for space nuclear electric power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maya, Isaac; Anghaie, Samim; Diaz, Nils J.; Dugan, Edward T.

1991-01-01

The conceptual design of a nuclear space power system based on the ultrahigh temperature vapor core reactor with MHD energy conversion is presented. This UF4 fueled gas core cavity reactor operates at 4000 K maximum core temperature and 40 atm. Materials experiments, conducted with UF4 up to 2200 K, demonstrate acceptable compatibility with tungsten-molybdenum-, and carbon-based materials. The supporting nuclear, heat transfer, fluid flow and MHD analysis, and fissioning plasma physics experiments are also discussed.

The stability properties of cylindrical force-free fields - Effect of an external potential field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chiuderi, C.; Einaudi, G.; Ma, S. S.; Van Hoven, G.

1980-01-01

A large-scale potential field with an embedded smaller-scale force-free structure gradient x B equals alpha B is studied in cylindrical geometry. Cases in which alpha goes continuously from a constant value alpha 0 on the axis to zero at large r are considered. Such a choice of alpha (r) produces fields which are realistic (few field reversals) but not completely stable. The MHD-unstable wavenumber regime is found. Since the considered equilibrium field exhibits a certain amount of magnetic shear, resistive instabilities can arise. The growth rates of the tearing mode in the limited MHD-stable region of k space are calculated, showing time-scales much shorter than the resistive decay time.

A RADIATION TRANSFER SOLVER FOR ATHENA USING SHORT CHARACTERISTICS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davis, Shane W.; Stone, James M.; Jiang Yanfei

2012-03-01

We describe the implementation of a module for the Athena magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code that solves the time-independent, multi-frequency radiative transfer (RT) equation on multidimensional Cartesian simulation domains, including scattering and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) effects. The module is based on well known and well tested algorithms developed for modeling stellar atmospheres, including the method of short characteristics to solve the RT equation, accelerated Lambda iteration to handle scattering and non-LTE effects, and parallelization via domain decomposition. The module serves several purposes: it can be used to generate spectra and images, to compute a variable Eddington tensor (VET) for full radiationmore » MHD simulations, and to calculate the heating and cooling source terms in the MHD equations in flows where radiation pressure is small compared with gas pressure. For the latter case, the module is combined with the standard MHD integrators using operator splitting: we describe this approach in detail, including a new constraint on the time step for stability due to radiation diffusion modes. Implementation of the VET method for radiation pressure dominated flows is described in a companion paper. We present results from a suite of test problems for both the RT solver itself and for dynamical problems that include radiative heating and cooling. These tests demonstrate that the radiative transfer solution is accurate and confirm that the operator split method is stable, convergent, and efficient for problems of interest. We demonstrate there is no need to adopt ad hoc assumptions of questionable accuracy to solve RT problems in concert with MHD: the computational cost for our general-purpose module for simple (e.g., LTE gray) problems can be comparable to or less than a single time step of Athena's MHD integrators, and only few times more expensive than that for more general (non-LTE) problems.« less

Magnetohydrodynamic Oscillations in the Solar Corona and Earth's Magnetosphere: Towards Consolidated Understanding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakariakov, V. M.; Pilipenko, V.; Heilig, B.; Jelínek, P.; Karlický, M.; Klimushkin, D. Y.; Kolotkov, D. Y.; Lee, D.-H.; Nisticò, G.; Van Doorsselaere, T.; Verth, G.; Zimovets, I. V.

2016-04-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillatory processes in different plasma systems, such as the corona of the Sun and the Earth's magnetosphere, show interesting similarities and differences, which so far received little attention and remain under-exploited. The successful commissioning within the past ten years of THEMIS, Hinode, STEREO and SDO spacecraft, in combination with matured analysis of data from earlier spacecraft (Wind, SOHO, ACE, Cluster, TRACE and RHESSI) makes it very timely to survey the breadth of observations giving evidence for MHD oscillatory processes in solar and space plasmas, and state-of-the-art theoretical modelling. The paper reviews several important topics, such as Alfvénic resonances and mode conversion; MHD waveguides, such as the magnetotail, coronal loops, coronal streamers; mechanisms for periodicities produced in energy releases during substorms and solar flares, possibility of Alfvénic resonators along open field lines; possible drivers of MHD waves; diagnostics of plasmas with MHD waves; interaction of MHD waves with partly-ionised boundaries (ionosphere and chromosphere). The review is mainly oriented to specialists in magnetospheric physics and solar physics, but not familiar with specifics of the adjacent research fields.

The Impact of Comorbid Mental Health Disorders on Complications Following Cervical Spine Surgery with Minimum 2-Year Surveillance.

PubMed

Diebo, Bassel G; Lavian, Joshua D; Liu, Shian; Shah, Neil V; Murray, Daniel P; Beyer, George A; Segreto, Frank A; Maffucci, Fenizia; Poorman, Gregory W; Cherkalin, Denis; Torre, Barrett; Vasquez-Montes, Dennis; Yoshihara, Hiroyuki; Cukor, Daniel; Naziri, Qais; Passias, Peter G; Paulino, Carl B

2018-03-23

Retrospective Analysis OBJECTIVE.: To improve understanding of the impact of comorbid mental health disorders on long-term outcomes following cervical spinal fusion in cervical radiculopathy (CR) or cervical myelopathy (CM) patients. Subsets of patients with CR and CM have mental health disorders, and their impact on surgical complications is poorly understood. Patients admitted from 2009-2013 with CR or CM diagnoses who underwent cervical surgery with minimum 2-year surveillance were retrospectively reviewed using New York State's Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). Patients with a comorbid mental health disorder (MHD) were compared against those without (no-MHD). Univariate analysis compared demographics, complications, readmissions, and revisions between MHD and no-MHD cohorts. Multivariate binary logistic regression models identified independent predictors of outcomes (covariates: age, gender, Charlson/Deyo score, and surgical approach). 20,342 patients (MHD: n = 4,819; no-MHD: n = 15,523) were included. Mental health disorders identified: depressive (57.8%), anxiety (28.1%), sleep (25.2%), and stress (2.9%). CR patients had greater prevalence of comorbid MHD than CM patients (p = 0.015). Two years post-operatively, all MHD patients had significantly higher rates of complications (specifically: device-related, infection), readmission for any indication, and revision surgery (all p < 0.05); regression modeling corroborated these findings and revealed combined surgical approach as the strongest predictor for any complication (CR, Odds Ratio [OR]: 3.945, p < 0.001; CM, OR: 2.828, p < 0.001) and MHD as the strongest predictor for future revision (CR, OR: 1.269, p = 0.001; CM, OR: 1.248, p = 0.008) in both CR and CM cohorts. Nearly 25% of patients admitted for CR and CM carried comorbid mental health disorder and experienced greater rates of any complication, readmission, or revision, at minimum, two years following cervical spine surgery. Results must be confirmed with retrospective studies utilizing larger national databases and with prospective cohort studies. Patient counseling and psychological screening/support is recommended to complement surgical treatment. 3.

Effect of parallel electric fields on the ponderomotive stabilization of MHD instabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Litwin, C.; Hershkowitz, N.

The contribution of the wave electric field component E/sub parallel/, parallel to the magnetic field, to the ponderomotive stabilization of curvature driven instabilities is evaluated and compared to the transverse component contribution. For the experimental density range, in which the stability is primarily determined by the m = 1 magnetosonic wave, this contribution is found to be the dominant and stabilizing when the electron temperature is neglected. For sufficiently high electron temperatures the dominant fast wave is found to be axially evanescent. In the same limit, E/sub parallel/ becomes radially oscillating. It is concluded that the increased electron temperature nearmore » the plasma surface reduces the magnitude of ponderomotive effects.« less

AN MHD AVALANCHE IN A MULTI-THREADED CORONAL LOOP

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hood, A. W.; Cargill, P. J.; Tam, K. V.

For the first time, we demonstrate how an MHD avalanche might occur in a multithreaded coronal loop. Considering 23 non-potential magnetic threads within a loop, we use 3D MHD simulations to show that only one thread needs to be unstable in order to start an avalanche even when the others are below marginal stability. This has significant implications for coronal heating in that it provides for energy dissipation with a trigger mechanism. The instability of the unstable thread follows the evolution determined in many earlier investigations. However, once one stable thread is disrupted, it coalesces with a neighboring thread andmore » this process disrupts other nearby threads. Coalescence with these disrupted threads then occurs leading to the disruption of yet more threads as the avalanche develops. Magnetic energy is released in discrete bursts as the surrounding stable threads are disrupted. The volume integrated heating, as a function of time, shows short spikes suggesting that the temporal form of the heating is more like that of nanoflares than of constant heating.« less

Fluctuation driven EMFs in the Madison Dynamo Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaplan, Elliot; Brown, Ben; Clark, Mike; Nornberg, Mark; Rahbarnia, Kian; Rasmus, Alex; Taylor, Zane; Forest, Cary

2013-04-01

The Madison Dynamo Experiment is a 1 m diameter sphere filled with liquid Sodium designed to study MHD in a simply connected geometry. Two impellers drive a two-vortex flow, based on the calculations of Dudley and James, intended to excite system-scale dynamo instability. We present a collection of results from experiments measuring hydrodynamic fluctuations and their MHD effects. An equatorial baffle was added to the experiment in order to diminish the large-eddy hydrodynamic fluctuations by stabilizing the shear layer between the two counter-rotating flow cells. The change in the fluctuation levels was inferred from the change in the spatial spectrum of the induced magnetic field. This reduction correlated with a 2.4 times increase in the induced toroidal magnetic field (a proxy measure of the effective resistivity). Furthermore, the local velocity fluctuations were directly measured by the addition of a 3-d emf probe (a strong permanent magnet inserted into the flow with electrical leads to measure the induced voltage, and magnetic probes to determine the magnetic fluctuations). The measured emfs are consistent with the enhanced magnetic diffusivity interpretation of mean-field MHD.

Coupling extended magnetohydrodynamic fluid codes with radiofrequency ray tracing codes for fusion modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, Thomas G.; Held, Eric D.

2015-09-01

Neoclassical tearing modes are macroscopic (L ∼ 1 m) instabilities in magnetic fusion experiments; if unchecked, these modes degrade plasma performance and may catastrophically destroy plasma confinement by inducing a disruption. Fortunately, the use of properly tuned and directed radiofrequency waves (λ ∼ 1 mm) can eliminate these modes. Numerical modeling of this difficult multiscale problem requires the integration of separate mathematical models for each length and time scale (Jenkins and Kruger, 2012 [21]); the extended MHD model captures macroscopic plasma evolution while the RF model tracks the flow and deposition of injected RF power through the evolving plasma profiles. The scale separation enables use of the eikonal (ray-tracing) approximation to model the RF wave propagation. In this work we demonstrate a technique, based on methods of computational geometry, for mapping the ensuing RF data (associated with discrete ray trajectories) onto the finite-element/pseudospectral grid that is used to model the extended MHD physics. In the new representation, the RF data can then be used to construct source terms in the equations of the extended MHD model, enabling quantitative modeling of RF-induced tearing mode stabilization. Though our specific implementation uses the NIMROD extended MHD (Sovinec et al., 2004 [22]) and GENRAY RF (Smirnov et al., 1994 [23]) codes, the approach presented can be applied more generally to any code coupling requiring the mapping of ray tracing data onto Eulerian grids.

Magnetic control of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Strait, Edward J.

2014-11-24

Externally applied, non-axisymmetric magnetic fields form the basis of several relatively simple and direct methods to control magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in a tokamak, and most present and planned tokamaks now include a set of non-axisymmetric control coils for application of fields with low toroidal mode numbers. Non-axisymmetric applied fields are routinely used to compensate small asymmetries ( δB/B ~ 10 -3 to 10 -4) of the nominally axisymmetric field, which otherwise can lead to instabilities through braking of plasma rotation and through direct stimulus of tearing modes or kink modes. This compensation may be feedback-controlled, based on the magnetic responsemore » of the plasma to the external fields. Non-axisymmetric fields are used for direct magnetic stabilization of the resistive wall mode — a kink instability with a growth rate slow enough that feedback control is practical. Saturated magnetic islands are also manipulated directly with non-axisymmetric fields, in order to unlock them from the wall and spin them to aid stabilization, or position them for suppression by localized current drive. Several recent scientific advances form the foundation of these developments in the control of instabilities. Most fundamental is the understanding that stable kink modes play a crucial role in the coupling of non-axisymmetric fields to the plasma, determining which field configurations couple most strongly, how the coupling depends on plasma conditions, and whether external asymmetries are amplified by the plasma. A major advance for the physics of high-beta plasmas ( β = plasma pressure/magnetic field pressure) has been the understanding that drift-kinetic resonances can stabilize the resistive wall mode at pressures well above the ideal-MHD stability limit, but also that such discharges can be very sensitive to external asymmetries. The common physics of stable kink modes has brought significant unification to the topics of static error fields at low beta and resistive wall modes at high beta. Furthermore, these and other scientific advances, and their application to control of MHD instabilities, will be reviewed with emphasis on the most recent results and their applicability to ITER.« less

MHD Instabilities in Simple Plasma Configuration

DTIC Science & Technology

1984-01-01

current near the plasma boundary) which can be detected outside the plasma ring . A concept which has proved to b- of great significance for the stability...decrease in the major radius of the plasma ring , a significant loss of plasma energy and particles (from the core of the plasma) and a decrease in the

The Parametric Instability of Alfvén Waves: Effects of Temperature Anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tenerani, Anna; Velli, Marco; Hellinger, Petr

2017-12-01

We study the stability of large-amplitude, circularly polarized Alfvén waves in an anisotropic plasma described by the double-adiabatic/CGL closure, and in particular the effect of a background thermal pressure anisotropy on the well-known properties of Alfvén wave parametric decay in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Anisotropy allows instability over a much wider range of values of parallel plasma beta (β ∥) when ξ = p 0⊥/p 0∥ > 1. When the pressure anisotropy exceeds a critical value, ξ ≥ ξ* with ξ* ≃ 2.7, there is a new regime in which the parametric instability is no longer quenched at high β ∥, and in the limit β ∥ ≫ 1, the growth rate becomes independent of β ∥. In the opposite case of ξ < ξ*, the instability is strongly suppressed with increasing parallel plasma beta, similarly to the MHD case. We analyze marginal stability conditions for parametric decay in the (ξ, β ∥) parameter space and discuss possible implications for Alfvénic turbulence in the solar wind.

Advances in long pulse operation at high radio frequency power in Tore Supra

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goniche, M.; Dumont, R.; Bourdelle, C.

2014-06-15

The lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system of Tore Supra has been upgraded for long pulse operation at higher power (7–8 MW). The two launchers have coupled on plasma 3.8 MW and 2.7 MW separately. This new power capability allows extending the operational domain of Tore Supra for long pulses at higher current and density. 38 long (20 s –155 s) discharges with very low loop voltage (V{sub L} = 30-60 mV) were performed with combined LHCD (5-5.7 MW) and ICRH (1–3 MW) powers, with up to 1 GJ of injected energy. Higher LHCD efficiency, with respect to the previous long discharges, is reported. MHD stability of these discharges ismore » very sensitive to the LHCD power and parallel wave index, in particular in the preforming phase. For theses evanescent loop voltage plasmas, the ICRH power, in excess of 1 MW, is found to have a beneficial effect on the MHD stability.« less

Effect of toroidal rotation on resistive magnetohydrodynamic instability with a nonmonotonic q profile in cylindrical geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, J. Q.; Peng, X. D.

2018-04-01

The effect of plasma rotation on the linear stability of the resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities with a nonmonotonic q profile is investigated numerically in the cylindrical geometry. The results have shown that the plasma rotation has a stabilization effect on the double tearing modes (DTMs) depending on the magnitude of the velocity, while the velocity shear has a relatively weak effect. The effect of rotation on DTMs is determined by the velocity at each rational surface. A toroidal velocity imposed on the innermost rational surface has a weak effect on m > 1 DTMs. When the velocity is imposed on the outboard resonant surface, the growth rates of the DTMs are reduced for m > 1 modes; however, it has an obvious destabilizing effect on both m = 1 (with m the poloidal mode number) DTM and single tearing mode branches if the distance between the two rational surfaces is sufficiently small. It is shown that the effect of plasma rotation on the growth rates of the MHD instabilities is in phase with the integrated value of the coupling between potential fluctuation and magnetic flux perturbation.

Neoclassical tearing mode seeding by coupling with infernal modes in low-shear tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kleiner, A.; Graves, J. P.; Brunetti, D.; Cooper, W. A.; Halpern, F. D.; Luciani, J.-F.; Lütjens, H.

2016-09-01

A numerical and an analytical study of the triggering of resistive MHD modes in tokamak plasmas with low magnetic shear core is presented. Flat q profiles give rise to fast growing pressure driven MHD modes, such as infernal modes. It has been shown that infernal modes drive fast growing islands on neighbouring rational surfaces. Numerical simulations of such instabilities in a MAST-like configuration are performed with the initial value stability code XTOR-2F in the resistive frame. The evolution of magnetic islands are computed from XTOR-2F simulations and an analytical model is developed based on Rutherford’s theory in combination with a model of resistive infernal modes. The parameter {{Δ }\\prime} is extended from the linear phase to the non-linear phase. Additionally, the destabilising contribution due to a helically perturbed bootstrap current is considered. Comparing the numerical XTOR-2F simulations to the model, we find that coupling has a strong destabilising effect on (neoclassical) tearing modes and is able to seed 2/1 magnetic islands in situations when the standard NTM theory predicts stability.

Associations between mental health disorders and body mass index among military personnel.

PubMed

Smith, Tracey J; White, Alan; Hadden, Louise; Young, Andrew J; Marriott, Bernadette P

2014-07-01

To determine if overweight or obesity is associated with mental health disorder (MHD) symptoms among military personnel Methods: Secondary analysis using the 2005 Department of Defense Health Related Behaviors Survey (N = 15,195). Standard Body Mass Index (BMI) categories were used to classify participants' body composition. For women, obesity was associated with symptoms of serious psychological distress (SPD), post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. For men, obesity and overweight was associated with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder and SPD, respectively. Self-reported high personal stress was the strongest predictor of MHD symptoms and suicide attempts. Self-reported stress was a stronger predictor of MHD symptoms than BMI. There is potential value in screening personnel for personal stress as a MHD risk factor.

Effects of UGT1A9 genetic polymorphisms on monohydroxylated derivative of oxcarbazepine concentrations and oxcarbazepine monotherapeutic efficacy in Chinese patients with epilepsy.

PubMed

Lu, Yao; Fang, Youxin; Wu, Xunyi; Ma, Chunlai; Wang, Yue; Xu, Lan

2017-03-01

The human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase which is genetically polymorphic catalyzes glucuronidations of various drugs. The interactions among UGT1A4, UGT1A6, UGT1A9, and UGT2B15 genetic polymorphisms, monohydroxylated derivative (MHD) of oxcarbazepine (OXC) plasma concentrations, and OXC monotherapeutic efficacy were explored in 124 Chinese patients with epilepsy receiving OXC monotherapy. MHD is the major active metabolite of OXC, and its plasma concentration was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography when patients reached their maintenance dose of OXC. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood and SNP genotyping performed using PCR followed by dideoxy chain termination sequencing. We followed the patients for at least 1 year to evaluate the OXC monotherapy efficacy. Patients were divided into two groups according to their therapeutic outcome: group 1, seizure free; group 2, not seizure free. The data were analyzed using T test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, correlation analysis, and multivariate regression analysis. T test analysis showed that MHD plasma concentrations were significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.002). One-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc testing of four candidate SNPs revealed that carriers of the UGT1A9 variant allele I399 C > T (TT 13.28 ± 7.44 mg/L, TC 16.41 ± 6.53 mg/L) had significantly lower MHD plasma concentrations and poorer seizure control than noncarriers (CC 22.24 ± 8.49 mg/L, p < 0.05). In our study, we have demonstrated the effects of UGT1A9 genetic polymorphisms on MHD plasma concentrations and OXC therapeutic efficacy. Through MHD monitoring, we can predict OXC therapeutic efficacy, which may be useful for the personalization of OXC therapy in epileptic patients.

Connection between plasma response and resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) edge localized mode (ELM) suppression in DIII-D [Connection between plasma response and RMP ELM suppression in DIII-D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wingen, Andreas; Ferraro, Nathaniel M.; Shafer, Morgan W.

Calculations of the plasma response to applied non-axisymmetric fields in several DIII-D discharges show that predicted displacements depend strongly on the edge current density. This result is found using both a linear two-fluid-MHD model (M3D-C1) and a nonlinear ideal-MHD model (VMEC). Furthermore, it is observed that the probability of a discharge being edge localized mode (ELM)-suppressed is most closely related to the edge current density, as opposed to the pressure gradient. It is found that discharges with a stronger kink response are closer to the peeling–ballooning stability limit in ELITE simulations and eventually cross into the unstable region, causing ELMsmore » to reappear. Thus for effective ELM suppression, the RMP has to prevent the plasma from generating a large kink response, associated with ELM instability. Experimental observations are in agreement with the finding; discharges which have a strong kink response in the MHD simulations show ELMs or ELM mitigation during the RMP phase of the experiment, while discharges with a small kink response in the MHD simulations are fully ELM suppressed in the experiment by the applied resonant magnetic perturbation. The results are cross-checked against modeled 3D ideal MHD equilibria using the VMEC code. The procedure of constructing optimal 3D equilibria for diverted H-mode discharges using VMEC is presented. As a result, kink displacements in VMEC are found to scale with the edge current density, similar to M3D-C1, but the displacements are smaller. A direct correlation in the flux surface displacements to the bootstrap current is shown.« less

Connection between plasma response and resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) edge localized mode (ELM) suppression in DIII-D [Connection between plasma response and RMP ELM suppression in DIII-D

DOE PAGES

Wingen, Andreas; Ferraro, Nathaniel M.; Shafer, Morgan W.; ...

2015-09-03

Calculations of the plasma response to applied non-axisymmetric fields in several DIII-D discharges show that predicted displacements depend strongly on the edge current density. This result is found using both a linear two-fluid-MHD model (M3D-C1) and a nonlinear ideal-MHD model (VMEC). Furthermore, it is observed that the probability of a discharge being edge localized mode (ELM)-suppressed is most closely related to the edge current density, as opposed to the pressure gradient. It is found that discharges with a stronger kink response are closer to the peeling–ballooning stability limit in ELITE simulations and eventually cross into the unstable region, causing ELMsmore » to reappear. Thus for effective ELM suppression, the RMP has to prevent the plasma from generating a large kink response, associated with ELM instability. Experimental observations are in agreement with the finding; discharges which have a strong kink response in the MHD simulations show ELMs or ELM mitigation during the RMP phase of the experiment, while discharges with a small kink response in the MHD simulations are fully ELM suppressed in the experiment by the applied resonant magnetic perturbation. The results are cross-checked against modeled 3D ideal MHD equilibria using the VMEC code. The procedure of constructing optimal 3D equilibria for diverted H-mode discharges using VMEC is presented. As a result, kink displacements in VMEC are found to scale with the edge current density, similar to M3D-C1, but the displacements are smaller. A direct correlation in the flux surface displacements to the bootstrap current is shown.« less

Comparison of kinetic and extended magnetohydrodynamics computational models for the linear ion temperature gradient instability in slab geometry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schnack, D. D.; Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; Cheng, J.

We perform linear stability studies of the ion temperature gradient (ITG) instability in unsheared slab geometry using kinetic and extended magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) models, in the regime k{sub ∥}/k{sub ⊥}≪1. The ITG is a parallel (to B) sound wave that may be destabilized by finite ion Larmor radius (FLR) effects in the presence of a gradient in the equilibrium ion temperature. The ITG is stable in both ideal and resistive MHD; for a given temperature scale length L{sub Ti0}, instability requires that either k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub i} or ρ{sub i}/L{sub Ti0} be sufficiently large. Kinetic models capture FLR effects to all ordersmore » in either parameter. In the extended MHD model, these effects are captured only to lowest order by means of the Braginskii ion gyro-viscous stress tensor and the ion diamagnetic heat flux. We present the linear electrostatic dispersion relations for the ITG for both kinetic Vlasov and extended MHD (two-fluid) models in the local approximation. In the low frequency fluid regime, these reduce to the same cubic equation for the complex eigenvalue ω=ω{sub r}+iγ. An explicit solution is derived for the growth rate and real frequency in this regime. These are found to depend on a single non-dimensional parameter. We also compute the eigenvalues and the eigenfunctions with the extended MHD code NIMROD, and a hybrid kinetic δf code that assumes six-dimensional Vlasov ions and isothermal fluid electrons, as functions of k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub i} and ρ{sub i}/L{sub Ti0} using a spatially dependent equilibrium. These solutions are compared with each other, and with the predictions of the local kinetic and fluid dispersion relations. Kinetic and fluid calculations agree well at and near the marginal stability point, but diverge as k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub i} or ρ{sub i}/L{sub Ti0} increases. There is good qualitative agreement between the models for the shape of the unstable global eigenfunction for L{sub Ti0}/ρ{sub i}=30 and 20. The results quantify how far fluid calculations can be extended accurately into the kinetic regime. We conclude that for the linear ITG problem in slab geometry with unsheared magnetic field when k{sub ∥}/k{sub ⊥}≪1, the extended MHD model may be a reliable physical model for this problem when ρ{sub i}/L{sub Ti0}<10{sup −2} and k{sub ⊥}ρ{sub i}<0.2.« less

Plasma stability analysis using Consistent Automatic Kinetic Equilibrium reconstruction (CAKE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roelofs, Matthijs; Kolemen, Egemen; Eldon, David; Glasser, Alex; Meneghini, Orso; Smith, Sterling P.

2017-10-01

Presented here is the Consistent Automatic Kinetic Equilibrium (CAKE) code. CAKE is being developed to perform real-time kinetic equilibrium reconstruction, aiming to do a reconstruction in less than 100ms. This is achieved by taking, next to real-time Motional Stark Effect (MSE) and magnetics data, real-time Thomson Scattering (TS) and real-time Charge Exchange Recombination (CER, still in development) data in to account. Electron densities and temperature are determined by TS, while ion density and pressures are determined using CER. These form, together with the temperature and density of neutrals, the additional pressure constraints. Extra current constraints are imposed in the core by the MSE diagnostics. The pedestal current density is estimated using Sauters equation for the bootstrap current density. By comparing the behaviour of the ideal MHD perturbed potential energy (δW) and the linear stability index (Δ') of CAKE to magnetics-only reconstruction, it can be seen that the use of diagnostics to reconstruct the pedestal have a large effect on stability. Supported by U.S. DOE DE-SC0015878 and DE-FC02-04ER54698.

Development of a real-time simulation tool towards self-consistent scenario of plasma start-up and sustainment on helical fusion reactor FFHR-d1

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goto, T.; Miyazawa, J.; Sakamoto, R.; Suzuki, Y.; Suzuki, C.; Seki, R.; Satake, S.; Huang, B.; Nunami, M.; Yokoyama, M.; Sagara, A.; the FFHR Design Group

2017-06-01

This study closely investigates the plasma operation scenario for the LHD-type helical reactor FFHR-d1 in view of MHD equilibrium/stability, neoclassical transport, alpha energy loss and impurity effect. In 1D calculation code that reproduces the typical pellet discharges in LHD experiments, we identify a self-consistent solution of the plasma operation scenario which achieves steady-state sustainment of the burning plasma with a fusion gain of Q ~ 10 was found within the operation regime that has been already confirmed in LHD experiment. The developed calculation tool enables systematic analysis of the operation regime in real time.

The influence of cosmic rays on the stability and large-scale dynamics of the interstellar medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, V. D.

1986-06-01

The diffusion-convection formulation is used to study the influence of galactic cosmic rays on the stability and dynamics of the interstellar medium which is supposedly kept in equilibrium by the gravitational field of stars. It is shown that the influence of cosmic rays on the growth rate of MHD instability depends largely on a dimensionless parameter expressing the ratio of the characteristic acoustic time scale to the cosmic-ray diffusion time. If this parameter is small, the cosmic rays will decelerate the build-up of instabilities, thereby stabilizing the system; in contrast, if the parameter is large, the system will be destabilized.

On accelerated flow of MHD powell-eyring fluid via homotopy analysis method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salah, Faisal; Viswanathan, K. K.; Aziz, Zainal Abdul

2017-09-01

The aim of this article is to obtain the approximate analytical solution for incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow for Powell-Eyring fluid induced by an accelerated plate. Both constant and variable accelerated cases are investigated. Approximate analytical solution in each case is obtained by using the Homotopy Analysis Method (HAM). The resulting nonlinear analysis is carried out to generate the series solution. Finally, Graphical outcomes of different values of the material constants parameters on the velocity flow field are discussed and analyzed.

QUANTITATIVE TESTS OF ELMS AS INTERMEDIATE N PEELING-BALLOONING MODES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

LAO, LL; SNYDER, PB; LEONARD, AW

2002-07-01

OAK A271 QUANTITATIVE TESTS OF ELMS AS INTERMEDIATE N PEELING-BALLOONING MODES. Two of the major issues crucial for the design of the next generation tokamak burning plasma devices are the predictability of the edge pedestal height and control of the divertor heat load in H-mode configurations. Both of these are strongly impacted by edge localized modes (ELMs) and their size. A working model for ELMs is that they are intermediate toroidal mode number, n {approx} 5-30, peeling-ballooning modes driven by the large edge pedestal pressure gradient P{prime} and the associated large edge bootstrap current density J{sub BS}. the interplay betweenmore » P{prime} and J{sub BS} as a discharge evolves can excite peeling-ballooning modes over a wide spectrum of n. The pedestal current density plays a dual role by stabilizing the high n ballooning modes via opening access to second stability but providing free energy to drive the intermediate n peeling modes. This makes a systematic evaluation of this model particularly challenging. This paper describes recent quantitative tests of this model using experimental data from the DIII-D and the JT-60U tokamaks. These tests are made possible by recent improvements to the ELITE MHD stability code, which allow an efficient evaluation of the unstable peeling-ballooning modes, as well as by improvements to other diagnostic and analysis techniques. Some of the key testable features of this model are: (1) ELMs are triggered when the growth rates of intermediate n MHD modes become significantly large; (2) ELM sizes are related to the radial widths of the unstable modes; (3) the unstable modes have a strong ballooning character localized in the outboard bad curvature region; (4) at high collisionality, ELM size generally becomes smaller because J{sub BS} is reduced.« less

Magnetic evaluation of hydrogen pressures changes on MHD fluctuations in IR-T1 tokamak plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alipour, Ramin; Ghanbari, Mohamad R.

2018-04-01

Identification of tokamak plasma parameters and investigation on the effects of each parameter on the plasma characteristics is important for the better understanding of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activities in the tokamak plasma. The effect of different hydrogen pressures of 1.9, 2.5 and 2.9 Torr on MHD fluctuations of the IR-T1 tokamak plasma was investigated by using of 12 Mirnov coils, singular value decomposition and wavelet analysis. The parameters such as plasma current, loop voltage, power spectrum density, energy percent of poloidal modes, dominant spatial structures and temporal structures of poloidal modes at different plasma pressures are plotted. The results indicate that the MHD activities at the pressure of 2.5 Torr are less than them at other pressures. It also has been shown that in the stable area of plasma and at the pressure of 2.5 Torr, the magnetic force and the force of plasma pressure are in balance with each other and the MHD activities are at their lowest level.

Broken Ergodicity in Two-Dimensional Homogeneous Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shebalin, John V.

2010-01-01

Two-dimensional (2-D) homogeneous magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence has many of the same qualitative features as three-dimensional (3-D) homogeneous MHD turbulence.The se features include several ideal invariants, along with the phenomenon of broken ergodicity. Broken ergodicity appears when certain modes act like random variables with mean values that are large compared to their standard deviations, indicating a coherent structure or dynamo.Recently, the origin of broken ergodicity in 3-D MHD turbulence that is manifest in the lowest wavenumbers was explained. Here, a detailed description of the origins of broken ergodicity in 2-D MHD turbulence is presented. It will be seen that broken ergodicity in ideal 2-D MHD turbulence can be manifest in the lowest wavenumbers of a finite numerical model for certain initial conditions or in the highest wavenumbers for another set of initial conditions.T he origins of broken ergodicity in ideal 2-D homogeneous MHD turbulence are found through an eigen analysis of the covariance matrices of the modal probability density functions.It will also be shown that when the lowest wavenumber magnetic field becomes quasi-stationary, the higher wavenumber modes can propagate as Alfven waves on these almost static large-scale magnetic structures

Analytical and computational investigations of a magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) energy-bypass system for supersonic gas turbine engines to enable hypersonic flight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benyo, Theresa Louise

Historically, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has used rocket-powered vehicles as launch vehicles for access to space. A familiar example is the Space Shuttle launch system. These vehicles carry both fuel and oxidizer onboard. If an external oxidizer (such as the Earth's atmosphere) is utilized, the need to carry an onboard oxidizer is eliminated, and future launch vehicles could carry a larger payload into orbit at a fraction of the total fuel expenditure. For this reason, NASA is currently researching the use of air-breathing engines to power the first stage of two-stage-to-orbit hypersonic launch systems. Removing the need to carry an onboard oxidizer leads also to reductions in total vehicle weight at liftoff. This in turn reduces the total mass of propellant required, and thus decreases the cost of carrying a specific payload into orbit or beyond. However, achieving hypersonic flight with air-breathing jet engines has several technical challenges. These challenges, such as the mode transition from supersonic to hypersonic engine operation, are under study in NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program. One propulsion concept that is being explored is a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy- bypass generator coupled with an off-the-shelf turbojet/turbofan. It is anticipated that this engine will be capable of operation from takeoff to Mach 7 in a single flowpath without mode transition. The MHD energy bypass consists of an MHD generator placed directly upstream of the engine, and converts a portion of the enthalpy of the inlet flow through the engine into electrical current. This reduction in flow enthalpy corresponds to a reduced Mach number at the turbojet inlet so that the engine stays within its design constraints. Furthermore, the generated electrical current may then be used to power aircraft systems or an MHD accelerator positioned downstream of the turbojet. The MHD accelerator operates in reverse of the MHD generator, re-accelerating the exhaust flow from the engine by converting electrical current back into flow enthalpy to increase thrust. Though there has been considerable research into the use of MHD generators to produce electricity for industrial power plants, interest in the technology for flight-weight aerospace applications has developed only recently. In this research, electromagnetic fields coupled with weakly ionzed gases to slow hypersonic airflow were investigated within the confines of an MHD energy-bypass system with the goal of showing that it is possible for an air-breathing engine to transition from takeoff to Mach 7 without carrying a rocket propulsion system along with it. The MHD energy-bypass system was modeled for use on a supersonic turbojet engine. The model included all components envisioned for an MHD energy-bypass system; two preionizers, an MHD generator, and an MHD accelerator. A thermodynamic cycle analysis of the hypothesized MHD energy-bypass system on an existing supersonic turbojet engine was completed. In addition, a detailed thermodynamic, plasmadynamic, and electromagnetic analysis was combined to offer a single, comprehensive model to describe more fully the proper plasma flows and magnetic fields required for successful operation of the MHD energy bypass system. The unique contribution of this research involved modeling the current density, temperature, velocity, pressure, electric field, Hall parameter, and electrical power throughout an annular MHD generator and an annular MHD accelerator taking into account an external magnetic field within a moving flow field, collisions of electrons with neutral particles in an ionized flow field, and collisions of ions with neutral particles in an ionized flow field (ion slip). In previous research, the ion slip term has not been considered. The MHD energy-bypass system model showed that it is possible to expand the operating range of a supersonic jet engine from a maximum of Mach 3.5 to a maximum of Mach 7. The inclusion of ion slip within the analysis further showed that it is possible to 'drive' this system with maximum magnetic fields of 3 T and with maximum conductivity levels of 11 mhos/m. These operating parameters better the previous findings of 5 T and 10 mhos/m, and reveal that taking into account collisions between ions and neutral particles within a weakly ionized flow provides a more realistic model with added benefits of lower magnetic fields and conductivity levels especially at the higher Mach numbers. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Advanced lattice Boltzmann scheme for high-Reynolds-number magneto-hydrodynamic flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Rosis, Alessandro; Lévêque, Emmanuel; Chahine, Robert

2018-06-01

Is the lattice Boltzmann method suitable to investigate numerically high-Reynolds-number magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) flows? It is shown that a standard approach based on the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) collision operator rapidly yields unstable simulations as the Reynolds number increases. In order to circumvent this limitation, it is here suggested to address the collision procedure in the space of central moments for the fluid dynamics. Therefore, an hybrid lattice Boltzmann scheme is introduced, which couples a central-moment scheme for the velocity with a BGK scheme for the space-and-time evolution of the magnetic field. This method outperforms the standard approach in terms of stability, allowing us to simulate high-Reynolds-number MHD flows with non-unitary Prandtl number while maintaining accuracy and physical consistency.

Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX): Magnetic Reconnection in Linear Geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Intrator, T.; Sovinec, C.; Begay, D.; Wurden, G.; Furno, I.; Werley, C.; Fisher, M.; Vermare, L.; Fienup, W.

2001-10-01

The linear Reconnection Scaling Experiment (RSX) at LANL is a new experiment that can create MHD relevant plasmas to look at the physics of magnetic reconnection. This experiment can scale many relevant parameters because the guns that generate the plasma and current channels do not depend on equilibrium or force balance for startup. We describe the experiment and initial electrostatic and magnetic probe data. Two parallel current channels sweep down a long plasma column and probe data accumulated over many shots gives 3D movies of magnetic reconnection. Our first data tries to define an operating regime free from kink instabilities that might otherwise confuse the data and shot repeatability. We compare this with MHD 2 fluid NIMROD simulations of the single current channel kink stability boundary for a variety of experimental conditions.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Logan, B.G.

A recently completed two-year study of a commercial tandem mirror reactor design (Mirror Advanced Reactor Study (MARS)) is briefly reviewed. The end plugs are designed for trapped particle stability, MHD ballooning, balanced geodesic curvature, and small radial electric fields in the central cell. New technologies such as lithium-lead blankets, 24T hybrid coils, gridless direct converters and plasma halo vacuum pumps are highlighted.

Laser-energized MHD generator for hypersonic electric air-turborockets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Myrabo, L. N.; Rosa, R. J.; Moder, J. P.; Blandino, J. S.; Frazier, S. R.

1987-01-01

The analysis and design of an open cycle Faraday MHD generator suitable for use in an electric air-turborocket cycle, the MHD-fanjet, is presented. The working fluid for the generators is unseeded high temperature hydrogen, generated by a standing, laser-supported combustion wave. This study also examines the performance of an advanced combined-cycle engine, powered by beamed energy, proposed for use in future SSTO aerospacecraft. This innovative engine incorporates the MHD-fanjet for the acceleration role within the hypersonic flight regime, from about Mach 11 to above Mach 25. Performance results indicate that specific impulses could fall in the range of 10,000 to 16,000 seconds. This would enable propellant mass fractions as low as 6 percent to 9 percent for such advanced shuttlecraft flying SSTO missions to low earth orbit.

Effect of the relative shift between the electron density and temperature pedestal position on the pedestal stability in JET-ILW and comparison with JET-C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefanikova, E.; Frassinetti, L.; Saarelma, S.; Loarte, A.; Nunes, I.; Garzotti, L.; Lomas, P.; Rimini, F.; Drewelow, P.; Kruezi, U.; Lomanowski, B.; de la Luna, E.; Meneses, L.; Peterka, M.; Viola, B.; Giroud, C.; Maggi, C.; contributors, JET

2018-05-01

The electron temperature and density pedestals tend to vary in their relative radial positions, as observed in DIII-D (Beurskens et al 2011 Phys. Plasmas 18 056120) and ASDEX Upgrade (Dunne et al 2017 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 59 14017). This so-called relative shift has an impact on the pedestal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and hence on the pedestal height (Osborne et al 2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 063018). The present work studies the effect of the relative shift on pedestal stability of JET ITER-like wall (JET-ILW) baseline low triangularity (δ) unseeded plasmas, and similar JET-C discharges. As shown in this paper, the increase of the pedestal relative shift is correlated with the reduction of the normalized pressure gradient, therefore playing a strong role in pedestal stability. Furthermore, JET-ILW tends to have a larger relative shift compared to JET carbon wall (JET-C), suggesting a possible role of the plasma facing materials in affecting the density profile location. Experimental results are then compared with stability analysis performed in terms of the peeling-ballooning model and with pedestal predictive model EUROPED (Saarelma et al 2017 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion). Stability analysis is consistent with the experimental findings, showing an improvement of the pedestal stability, when the relative shift is reduced. This has been ascribed mainly to the increase of the edge bootstrap current, and to minor effects related to the increase of the pedestal pressure gradient and narrowing of the pedestal pressure width. Pedestal predictive model EUROPED shows a qualitative agreement with experiment, especially for low values of the relative shift.

Preface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alemany, A.; Lielausis, O.; Chopart, J.-P.

2003-09-01

PAMIR 2002 was organized in Ramatuelle, France, on September 16-20, 2002. The conference was attended by scientists working in various fields of magnetohydrodynamics and in this view has played an important role in the exchanges of ideas, promoting new scientific collaborations. The conference has managed about 160 oral and poster presentations regrouped in the form of specific topics. The audience of the conference has extended compared with PAMIR 2000 by considering that about 190 scientists, representing 22 countries, attended the Ramatuelle site. All scientific aspects of the liquid MHD were represented including: 1. Fundamental MHD enclosed all aspects of the MHD flows under various conditions of the magnetic Reynolds number. Problems involving steady, alternating or travelling magnetic field as well as the stability problems were considered. The specific problem of strong magnetic fields was also considered in this session. 2. Mettalurgical application of MHD. The communications have analyzed the possibilities offered by the magnetic fields in metallurgy to increase the quality of the product. The problems of interface stabilities, which control various industrial applications, have been also considered in this session as well as the transport of liquid metals by electromagnetic pumps. Some applications in electromagnetic filtration have been also reported. 3. Magnetoelectrolysis (poorly conducting fluids). The possibility to control the mass transfer phenomena in electrochemical systems by using the action of a magnetic field is one of the most promising and new applications of electromagnetism in Europe. The field of magnetoelectrolysis is extremely wide and provides, only for electrodeposition, the possibility to improve the quality, the structure, and to control the homogeneity and the rate of the deposit. Some particular applications for electrodeposition of magnetic materials have been also presented. 4. Magnetic fluids. This topic was announced for the second time in the conference program after its first presentation at PAMIR 2000. All aspects of the topic were presented, including applications for microelectronics and new possibilities in power engineering regarding the thermodynamic machine to produce electricity. 5. Cristal growth. The magnetic fields are used here to stabilize the interfaces between the crystal and the solution allowing to improve the quality of the crystals as well as to grow large-size single crystals. Various configurations with various types of magnetic fields (DC, AC or travelling, etc.) were reported. 6. Dynamo effect. The last day of the conference was devoted to the dynamo effect. This was a very important session, characterizing a very high level of activity in the European countries, especially in the domain of experiment. All the existing experiments in this field, using sodium as a liquid metal, with extremely important results for some of them considering the self-generation of magnetic fields, were examined. The next generation of dynamo experiments was also discussed, involving the papers devoted to the theoretical approach including turbulence. The conference was combined with the management committee of COST (COST P6 Magnetodynamics of Liquids) and with a meeting of the COST P6 working groups. They were devoted to metallurgical applications of MHD (person-in-charge - Prof. B. Nacke from Hannover, Germany), poorly conducting fluid (person-in-charge - Dr. G. Gerbeth from Dresden, Germany) and fundamental MHD (person-in-charge - Dr. J. Leorat from Paris, France). Additionally, a special meeting dedicated the Ampere program was organized to consider the second generation of dynamo experiments in Riga (Latvia), capable to reproduce the main mechanisms of the earth dynamo (reversion of polarity, for example). In this experiment, the Coriolis and Laplace forces will be combined. The proposed facility consists of a spherical container of 2 m in diameter, filled with liquid sodium and mounted on a rotating table. Therefore, Riga has a vocation to become a European center for the MHD studies at high magnetic Reynolds numbers. This project is a part of the construction of a scientific and technologic park in Riga, with the Ampere program being presented as an incubator of the project. A consensus about the program from different European partners interested in experimental dynamo has been achieved. The audience at the conference is extremely important, and new countries have participated for the first time, for example, China and some countries from North Africa. Magnetohydrodynamics moves forward in Europe. The vitality of MHD has been demonstrated from the diversity of the topics reported at PAMIR 2002. A new PAMIR conference will be organized in 2005.

H-mode pedestal stability and ELMs in Alcator C-Mod

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mossessian, Dmitri

2002-11-01

For steady state H-mode operation, a relaxation mechanism is required to limit build-up of the edge gradient and impurity accumulation. The major relaxation mechanism seen on most of the existing tokamaks - large type I ELMs - drive high particle and energy fluxes that present a significant power load on the divertor plates. On Alcator C-Mod, however, type I ELMs are not observed. Instead, more benign mechanisms - EDA and small grassy ELMs - appear to drive enhanced particle transport at the edge of H-mode plasmas. Both have good energy confinement, no impurity accumulation, and are steady state. In EDA the edge relaxation mechanism is provided by a quasicoherent electromagnetic mode localized in the outer part of the pedestal. Non-linear gyrofluid and linear gyrokinetic simulations, as well as real geometry fluctuation modeling based on fluid equations show the presence of a coherent mode. Based on those results the observed mode is tentatively identified as resistive ballooning. At higher edge pressure gradient the mode is replaced by broadband fluctuations and small irregular ELMs are observed. Based on ideal MHD calculations that include effects of bootstrap current, these ELMs are identified as medium n coupled ideal peeling/ballooning modes. The stability threshold and modes structure of these modes are studied with recently developed linear MHD stability code ELITE and the results are compared with the observed dependence of the ELMs' character on pedestal parameters and plasma shape.

Modified NASA-Lewis chemical equilibrium code for MHD applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sacks, R. A.; Geyer, H. K.; Grammel, S. J.; Doss, E. D.

1979-01-01

A substantially modified version of the NASA-Lewis Chemical Equilibrium Code was recently developed. The modifications were designed to extend the power and convenience of the Code as a tool for performing combustor analysis for MHD systems studies. The effect of the programming details is described from a user point of view.

Analysis of the Magneto-Hydrodynamic (MHD) Energy Bypass Engine for High-Speed Air-Breathing Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riggins, David W.

2002-01-01

The performance of the MHD energy bypass air-breathing engine for high-speed propulsion is analyzed in this investigation. This engine is a specific type of the general class of inverse cycle engines. In this paper, the general relationship between engine performance (specific impulse and specific thrust) and the overall total pressure ratio through an engine (from inlet plane to exit plane) is first developed and illustrated. Engines with large total pressure decreases, regardless of cause or source, are seen to have exponentially decreasing performance. The ideal inverse cycle engine (of which the MHD engine is a sub-set) is then demonstrated to have a significant total pressure decrease across the engine; this total pressure decrease is cycle-driven, degrades rapidly with energy bypass ratio, and is independent of any irreversibility. The ideal MHD engine (inverse cycle engine with no irreversibility other than that inherent in the MHD work interaction processes) is next examined and is seen to have an additional large total pressure decrease due to MHD-generated irreversibility in the decelerator and the accelerator. This irreversibility mainly occurs in the deceleration process. Both inherent total pressure losses (inverse cycle and MHD irreversibility) result in a significant narrowing of the performance capability of the MHD bypass engine. The fundamental characteristics of MHD flow acceleration and flow deceleration from the standpoint of irreversibility and second-law constraints are next examined in order to clarify issues regarding flow losses and parameter selection in the MM modules. Severe constraints are seen to exist in the decelerator in terms of allowable deceleration Mach numbers and volumetric (length) required for meaningful energy bypass (work interaction). Considerable difficulties are also encountered and discussed due to thermal/work choking phenomena associated with the deceleration process. Lastly, full engine simulations utilizing inlet shock systems, finite-rate chemistry, wall cooling with thermally balanced engine (fuel heat sink), fuel injection and mixing, friction, etc. are shown and discussed for both the MHD engine and the conventional scramjet. The MHD bypass engine has significantly lower performance in all categories across the Mach number range (8 to 12.2). The lower performance is attributed to the combined effects of 1) additional irreversibility and cooling requirements associated with the MHD components and 2) the total pressure decrease associated with the inverse cycle itself.

Nonlinear asymmetric tearing mode evolution in cylindrical geometry

DOE PAGES

Teng, Qian; Ferraro, N.; Gates, David A.; ...

2016-10-27

The growth of a tearing mode is described by reduced MHD equations. For a cylindrical equilibrium, tearing mode growth is governed by the modified Rutherford equation, i.e., the nonlinear Δ'(w). For a low beta plasma without external heating, Δ'(w) can be approximately described by two terms, Δ' ql(w), Δ'A(w). In this work, we present a simple method to calculate the quasilinear stability index Δ'ql rigorously, for poloidal mode number m ≥ 2. Δ' ql is derived by solving the outer equation through the Frobenius method. Δ'ql is composed of four terms proportional to: constant Δ' 0, w, wlnw, and w2.more » Δ' A is proportional to the asymmetry of island that is roughly proportional to w. The sum of Δ' ql and Δ' A is consistent with the more accurate expression calculated perturbatively. The reduced MHD equations are also solved numerically through a 3D MHD code M3D-C1. The analytical expression of the perturbed helical flux and the saturated island width agree with the simulation results. Lastly, it is also confirmed by the simulation that the Δ' A has to be considered in calculating island saturation.« less

MHD Simulations of Plasma Dynamics with Non-Axisymmetric Boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansen, Chris; Levesque, Jeffrey; Morgan, Kyle; Jarboe, Thomas

2015-11-01

The arbitrary geometry, 3D extended MHD code PSI-TET is applied to linear and non-linear simulations of MCF plasmas with non-axisymmetric boundaries. Progress and results from simulations on two experiments will be presented: 1) Detailed validation studies of the HIT-SI experiment with self-consistent modeling of plasma dynamics in the helicity injectors. Results will be compared to experimental data and NIMROD simulations that model the effect of the helicity injectors through boundary conditions on an axisymmetric domain. 2) Linear studies of HBT-EP with different wall configurations focusing on toroidal asymmetries in the adjustable conducting wall. HBT-EP studies the effect of active/passive stabilization with an adjustable ferritic wall. Results from linear verification and benchmark studies of ideal mode growth with and without toroidal asymmetries will be presented and compared to DCON predictions. Simulations of detailed experimental geometries are enabled by use of the PSI-TET code, which employs a high order finite element method on unstructured tetrahedral grids that are generated directly from CAD models. Further development of PSI-TET will also be presented including work to support resistive wall regions within extended MHD simulations. Work supported by DoE.

Advancing parabolic operators in thermodynamic MHD models: Explicit super time-stepping versus implicit schemes with Krylov solvers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caplan, R. M.; Mikić, Z.; Linker, J. A.; Lionello, R.

2017-05-01

We explore the performance and advantages/disadvantages of using unconditionally stable explicit super time-stepping (STS) algorithms versus implicit schemes with Krylov solvers for integrating parabolic operators in thermodynamic MHD models of the solar corona. Specifically, we compare the second-order Runge-Kutta Legendre (RKL2) STS method with the implicit backward Euler scheme computed using the preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) solver with both a point-Jacobi and a non-overlapping domain decomposition ILU0 preconditioner. The algorithms are used to integrate anisotropic Spitzer thermal conduction and artificial kinematic viscosity at time-steps much larger than classic explicit stability criteria allow. A key component of the comparison is the use of an established MHD model (MAS) to compute a real-world simulation on a large HPC cluster. Special attention is placed on the parallel scaling of the algorithms. It is shown that, for a specific problem and model, the RKL2 method is comparable or surpasses the implicit method with PCG solvers in performance and scaling, but suffers from some accuracy limitations. These limitations, and the applicability of RKL methods are briefly discussed.

Influence of Thermal Anisotropy on Equilibrium Stellarator Beta Limits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bechtel, T. A.; Hegna, C. C.; Sovinec, C. R.

2017-10-01

The effect of anisotropic heat conduction on the upper beta limit of stellarator plasmas is studied using the nonlinear, extended MHD code NIMROD. The configuration under investigation is an l=2, M=10 torsatron with vacuum rotational transform near unity. Finite-beta plasmas are created using a volumetric heating source and temperature dependent resistivity; modeled with 22 stellarator symmetric (integer multiples of M) toroidal modes. Extended MHD simulations are then performed to generate steady state solutions that represent 3D equilibria. With increased heating, Shafranov shifts occur, and the associated break up of edge magnetic surfaces limits the achievable beta. Due to the presence of finite parallel heat conduction, pressure profiles can exist in regions of magnetic stochasticity. Here, we present results of independently varying the parallel and perpendicular thermal anisotropy. In particular, simulations show that the attained stored energy is a function of the magnitude of parallel and perpendicular thermal conduction for a given heat source, indicating that equilibrium beta limits are sensitive to anisotropic transport properties. Preliminary studies of MHD stability with non-stellarator symmetric modes, near the highest achievable beta, are also presented. Research supported by US DOE under Grant No. DE-FG02-99ER54546.

Enhancing Understanding of Magnetized High Energy Density Plasmas from Solid Liner Implosions Using Fluid Modeling with Kinetic Closures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masti, Robert; Srinivasan, Bhuvana; King, Jacob; Stoltz, Peter; Hansen, David; Held, Eric

2017-10-01

Recent results from experiments and simulations of magnetically driven pulsed power liners have explored the role of early-time electrothermal instability in the evolution of the MRT (magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor) instability. Understanding the development of these instabilities can lead to potential stabilization mechanisms; thereby providing a significant role in the success of fusion concepts such as MagLIF (Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion). For MagLIF the MRT instability is the most detrimental instability toward achieving fusion energy production. Experiments of high-energy density plasmas from wire-array implosions have shown the requirement for more advanced physics modeling than that of ideal magnetohydrodynamics. The overall focus of this project is on using a multi-fluid extended-MHD model with kinetic closures for thermal conductivity, resistivity, and viscosity. The extended-MHD model has been updated to include the SESAME equation-of-state tables and numerical benchmarks with this implementation will be presented. Simulations of MRT growth and evolution for MagLIF-relevant parameters will be presented using this extended-MHD model with the SESAME equation-of-state tables. This work is supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science under Grant Number DE-SC0016515.

An Iterative Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Analysis Using Time-dependent 3-D MHD Models as Kernels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, B. V.; Yu, H. S.; Hick, P. P.; Buffington, A.; Odstrcil, D.; Kim, T. K.; Pogorelov, N. V.; Tokumaru, M.; Bisi, M. M.; Kim, J.; Yun, J.

2017-12-01

The University of California, San Diego has developed an iterative remote-sensing time-dependent three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction technique which provides volumetric maps of density, velocity, and magnetic field. We have applied this technique in near real time for over 15 years with a kinematic model approximation to fit data from ground-based interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations. Our modeling concept extends volumetric data from an inner boundary placed above the Alfvén surface out to the inner heliosphere. We now use this technique to drive 3-D MHD models at their inner boundary and generate output 3-D data files that are fit to remotely-sensed observations (in this case IPS observations), and iterated. These analyses are also iteratively fit to in-situ spacecraft measurements near Earth. To facilitate this process, we have developed a traceback from input 3-D MHD volumes to yield an updated boundary in density, temperature, and velocity, which also includes magnetic-field components. Here we will show examples of this analysis using the ENLIL 3D-MHD and the University of Alabama Multi-Scale Fluid-Kinetic Simulation Suite (MS-FLUKSS) heliospheric codes. These examples help refine poorly-known 3-D MHD variables (i.e., density, temperature), and parameters (gamma) by fitting heliospheric remotely-sensed data between the region near the solar surface and in-situ measurements near Earth.

Disruption avoidance by means of electron cyclotron waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esposito, B.; Granucci, G.; Maraschek, M.; Nowak, S.; Lazzaro, E.; Giannone, L.; Gude, A.; Igochine, V.; McDermott, R.; Poli, E.; Reich, M.; Sommer, F.; Stober, J.; Suttrop, W.; Treutterer, W.; Zohm, H.; ASDEX Upgrade, the; FTU Teams

2011-12-01

Disruptions are very challenging to ITER operation as they may cause damage to plasma facing components due to direct plasma heating, forces on structural components due to halo and eddy currents and the production of runaway electrons. Electron cyclotron (EC) waves have been demonstrated as a tool for disruption avoidance by a large set of recent experiments performed in ASDEX Upgrade and FTU using various disruption types, plasma operating scenarios and power deposition locations. The technique is based on the stabilization of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes (mainly m/n = 2/1) through the localized injection of EC power on the resonant surface. This paper presents new results obtained in ASDEX Upgrade regarding stable operation above the Greenwald density achieved after avoidance of density limit disruptions by means of ECRH and suitable density feedback control (L-mode ohmic plasmas, Ip = 0.6 MA, Bt = 2.5 T) and NTM-driven disruptions at high-β limit delayed/avoided by means of both co-current drive (co-ECCD) and pure heating (ECRH) with power <=1.7 MW (H-mode NBI-heated plasmas, PNBI ~ 7.5 MW, Ip = 1 MA, Bt = 2.1 T, q95 ~ 3.6). The localized perpendicular injection of ECRH/ECCD onto a resonant surface leads to the delay and/or complete avoidance of disruptions. The experiments indicate the existence of a power threshold for mode stabilization to occur. An analysis of the MHD mode evolution using the generalized Rutherford equation coupled to the frequency and phase evolution equations shows that control of the modes is due to EC heating close to the resonant surface. The ECRH contribution (Δ'H term) is larger than the co-ECCD one in the initial and more important phase when the discharge is 'saved'. Future research and developments of the disruption avoidance technique are also discussed.

A stepladder approach to a tokamak fusion power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zohm, H.; Träuble, F.; Biel, W.; Fable, E.; Kemp, R.; Lux, H.; Siccinio, M.; Wenninger, R.

2017-08-01

We present an approach to design in a consistent way a stepladder connecting ITER, DEMO and an FPP, starting from an attractive FPP and then locating DEMO such that main similarity parameters for the core scenario are constant. The approach presented suggests how to use ITER such that DEMO can be extrapolated with maximum confidence and a development path for plasma scenarios in ITER follows from our approach, moving from low β N and q typical for the present Q  =  10 scenario to higher values needed for steady state. A numerical example is given, indicative of the feasibility of the approach, and it is backed up by more detailed 1.5-D calculation using the ASTRA code. We note that ideal MHD stability analysis of the DEMO operating point indicates that it is located between the no-wall and the ideal wall β-limit, which may require active stabilization. The DEMO design could also be a pulsed fallback solution should a stationary operation turn out to be impossible.

Stability of plasma cylinder with current in a helical plasma flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leonovich, Anatoly S.; Kozlov, Daniil A.; Zong, Qiugang

2018-04-01

Stability of a plasma cylinder with a current wrapped by a helical plasma flow is studied. Unstable surface modes of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillations develop at the boundary of the cylinder enwrapped by the plasma flow. Unstable eigenmodes can also develop for which the plasma cylinder is a waveguide. The growth rate of the surface modes is much higher than that for the eigenmodes. It is shown that the asymmetric MHD modes in the plasma cylinder are stable if the velocity of the plasma flow is below a certain threshold. Such a plasma flow velocity threshold is absent for the symmetric modes. They are unstable in any arbitrarily slow plasma flows. For all surface modes there is an upper threshold for the flow velocity above which they are stable. The helicity index of the flow around the plasma cylinder significantly affects both the Mach number dependence of the surface wave growth rate and the velocity threshold values. The higher the index, the lower the upper threshold of the velocity jump above which the surface waves become stable. Calculations have been carried out for the growth rates of unstable oscillations in an equilibrium plasma cylinder with current serving as a model of the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) of the Earth's magnetic tail. A tangential discontinuity model is used to simulate the geomagnetic tail boundary. It is shown that the magnetopause in the geotail LLBL is unstable to a surface wave (having the highest growth rate) in low- and medium-speed solar wind flows, but becomes stable to this wave in high-speed flows. However, it can remain weakly unstable to the radiative modes of MHD oscillations.

Research and development studies for MHD/coal power flow train components. Part II. Diagnostics and instrumentation MHD channel combutor. Progres report. [Flow calculations for combustors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bloom, M.H.; Lederman, S.; Sforza, P.

1980-01-01

This is Part II of the Technical Progress Report on Tasks II-IV of the subject contract. It deals sequentially with Diagnostics and Instrumentation, the MHD Channel and the Combustor. During this period, a significant effort has gone into establishing a schematic design of a laser diagnostic system which can be applied to the flow-train of the MHD system, and to acquiring, assembling and shaking down a laboratory set-up upon which a prototype can be based. With further reference to the MHD Channel, a model analysis has been initiated of the two-dimensional MHD boundary layer between two electrodes in the limitmore » of small magnetic Reynolds numbers with negligible effect of the flow on the applied magnetic field. An objective of this model study is the assessment of variations in initial conditions on the boundary layer behavior. Finally, the problem of combustion modeling has been studied on an initial basis. The open reports on this subject depict a high degree of empiricism, centering attention on global behavior mainly. A quasi-one-dimensional model code has been set-up to check some of the existing estimates. Also a code for equilibrium combustion has been activated.« less

A First-Principles Analytical Theory for 2D Magnetic Reconnection in Electron and Hall Magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chacon, L.; Simakov, A. N.; Zocco, A.

2007-12-01

Although the relevance of two-fluid effects in fast magnetic reconnection is well-known, (J. Birn et al., J. Geophys. Res., 106 (A3), 3715 (2001) a first-principles theory -- akin to Sweet and Parker's in resistive MHD -- has been elusive. Here, we present such a first principles steady-state analytical theory for electron MHD, (L. Chacón, A. N. Simakov, A. Zocco, Phys. Rev. Lett., submitted) and its extension to Hall MHD. (A. N. Simakov, L. Chacón, in preparation) The theory discretizes the extended MHD equations at the reconnection site, leading to a set of time-dependent ODEs. Their steady-state analysis, which describes the system at or around the point of maximum reconnection rate, provides predictions for the scaling of relevant quantities with the dissipation coefficients (e.g, resistivity and hyper-resistivity) and other relevant parameters. In particular, we will show that EMHD admits both elongated and open-X point configurations of the reconnection region, and that the reconnection rate can be shown not to scale explicitly with the dissipation parameters. This result is, to our knowledge, the first analytical confirmation of the possibility of fast magnetic reconnection in EMHD. In Hall MHD, the transition between resistive MHD and EMHD is studied, and scalings with the ion inertial length are obtained.

Cloning and characterization of the SERK1 gene in triploid Pingyi Tiancha [Malus hupehensis (Pamp.) Rehd. var. pingyiensis Jiang] and a tetraploid hybrid strain.

PubMed

Zhang, L J; Dong, W X; Guo, S M; Wang, Y X; Wang, A D; Lu, X J

2015-11-19

This study aims to explore the roles of somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinase (SERK) in Malus hupehensis (Pingyi Tiancha). The full-length sequences of SERK1 in triploid Pingyi Tiancha (3n) and a tetraploid hybrid strain 33# (4n) were cloned, sequenced, and designated as MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1, respectively. Multiple alignments of amino acid sequences were conducted to identify similarity between MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1 and SERK sequences in other species, and a neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree was constructed to elucidate their phylogenetic relations. Expression levels of MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1 in different tissues and developmental stages were investigated using quantitative real-time PCR. The coding sequence lengths of MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1 were 1899 bp (encoding 632 amino acids) and 1881 bp (encoding 626 amino acids), respectively. Sequence analysis demonstrated that MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1 display high similarity to SERKs in other species, with a conserved intron/exon structure that is unique to members of the SERK family. Additionally, the phylogenetic tree showed that MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1 clustered with orange CitSERK (93%). Furthermore, MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1 were mainly expressed in the reproductive organs, in particular the ovary. Their expression levels were highest in young flowers and they differed among different tissues and organs. Our results suggest that MhSERK1 and MhdSERK1 are related to plant reproduction, and that MhSERK1 is related to apomixis in triploid Pingyi Tiancha.

Rocket-Induced Magnetohydrodynamic Ejector: A Single-Stage-to-Orbit Advanced Propulsion Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cole, John; Campbell, Jonathan; Robertson, Anthony

1995-01-01

During the atmospheric boost phase of a rocket trajectory, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) principles can be utilized to augment the thrust by several hundred percent without the input of additional energy. The concept is an MHD implementation of a thermodynamic ejector. Some ejector history is described and some test data showing the impressive thrust augmentation capabilities of thermodynamic ejectors are provided. A momentum and energy balance is used to derive the equations to predict the MHD ejector performance. Results of these equations are compared with the test data and then applied to a specific performance example. The rocket-induced MHD ejector (RIME) engine is described and a status of the technology and availability of the engine components is provided. A top level vehicle sizing analysis is performed by scaling existing MHD designs to the required flight vehicle levels. The vehicle can achieve orbit using conservative technology. Modest improvements are suggested using recently developed technologies, such as superconducting magnets, which can improve predicted performance well beyond those expected for current single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) designs.

MHD compressor---expander conversion system integrated with GCR inside a deployable reflector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tuninetti, G.; Botta, E.; Criscuolo, C.

1989-04-20

This work originates from the proposal MHD Compressor-Expander Conversion System Integrated with a GCR Inside a Deployable Reflector''. The proposal concerned an innovative concept of nuclear, closed-cycle MHD converter for power generation on space-based systems in the multi-megawatt range. The basic element of this converter is the Power Conversion Unit (PCU) consisting of a gas core reactor directly coupled to an MHD expansion channel. Integrated with the PCU, a deployable reflector provides reactivity control. The working fluid could be either uranium hexafluoride or a mixture of uranium hexafluoride and helium, added to enhance the heat transfer properties. The original Statementmore » of Work, which concerned the whole conversion system, was subsequently redirected and focused on the basic mechanisms of neutronics, reactivity control, ionization and electrical conductivity in the PCU. Furthermore, the study was required to be inherently generic such that the study was required to be inherently generic such that the analysis an results can be applied to various nuclear reactor and/or MHD channel designs''.« less

Pressure driven currents near magnetic islands in 3D MHD equilibria: Effects of pressure variation within flux surfaces and of symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reiman, Allan H.

2016-07-01

In toroidal, magnetically confined plasmas, the heat and particle transport is strongly anisotropic, with transport along the field lines sufficiently strong relative to cross-field transport that the equilibrium pressure can generally be regarded as constant on the flux surfaces in much of the plasma. The regions near small magnetic islands, and those near the X-lines of larger islands, are exceptions, having a significant variation of the pressure within the flux surfaces. It is shown here that the variation of the equilibrium pressure within the flux surfaces in those regions has significant consequences for the pressure driven currents. It is further shown that the consequences are strongly affected by the symmetry of the magnetic field if the field is invariant under combined reflection in the poloidal and toroidal angles. (This symmetry property is called "stellarator symmetry.") In non-stellarator-symmetric equilibria, the pressure-driven currents have logarithmic singularities at the X-lines. In stellarator-symmetric MHD equilibria, the singular components of the pressure-driven currents vanish. These equilibria are to be contrasted with equilibria having B ṡ∇p =0 , where the singular components of the pressure-driven currents vanish regardless of the symmetry. They are also to be contrasted with 3D MHD equilibrium solutions that are constrained to have simply nested flux surfaces, where the pressure-driven current goes like 1 /x near rational surfaces, where x is the distance from the rational surface, except in the case of quasi-symmetric flux surfaces. For the purpose of calculating the pressure-driven currents near magnetic islands, we work with a closed subset of the MHD equilibrium equations that involves only perpendicular force balance, and is decoupled from parallel force balance. It is not correct to use the parallel component of the conventional MHD force balance equation, B ṡ∇p =0 , near magnetic islands. Small but nonzero values of B ṡ∇p are important in this region, and small non-MHD contributions to the parallel force balance equation cannot be neglected there. Two approaches are pursued to solve our equations for the pressure driven currents. First, the equilibrium equations are applied to an analytically tractable magnetic field with an island, obtaining explicit expressions for the rotational transform and magnetic coordinates, and for the pressure-driven current and its limiting behavior near the X-line. The second approach utilizes an expansion about the X-line to provide a more general calculation of the pressure-driven current near an X-line and of the rotational transform near a separatrix. The study presented in this paper is motivated, in part, by tokamak experiments with nonaxisymmetric magnetic perturbations, where significant differences are observed between the behavior of stellarator-symmetric and non-stellarator-symmetric configurations with regard to stabilization of edge localized modes by resonant magnetic perturbations. Implications for the coupling between neoclassical tearing modes, and for magnetic island stability calculations, are also discussed.

Effect of fast electrons on the stability of resistive interchange modes in the TJ-II stellarator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

García, L.; Ochando, M. A.; Hidalgo, C.

2016-06-15

In this paper, we report on electromagnetic phenomena in low-β plasmas at the TJ-II stellarator, controlled by external heating. To understand the observations qualitatively, we introduce a simple modification of the standard resistive MHD equations, to include the potential impact of fast electrons on instabilities. The dominant instabilities of the modeling regime are resistive interchange modes, and calculations are performed in a configuration with similar characteristics as the TJ-II stellarator. The main effect of the trapping of fast electrons by magnetic islands induced by MHD instabilities is to increase the magnetic component of the fluctuations, changing the character of themore » instability to tearing-like and modifying the frequency of the modes. These effects seem to be consistent with some of the experimental observations.« less

The effect of plasma beta on high-n ballooning stability at low magnetic shear

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Connor, J. W.; Ham, C. J.; Hastie, R. J.

2016-08-01

An explanation of the observed improvement in H-mode pedestal characteristics with increasing core plasma pressure or poloidal beta, {β\\text{pol}} , as observed in MAST and JET, is sought in terms of the impact of the Shafranov shift, {{Δ }\\prime} , on ideal ballooning MHD stability. To illustrate this succinctly, a self-consistent treatment of the low magnetic shear region of the ‘s-α ’ stability diagram is presented using the large aspect ratio Shafranov equilibrium, but enhancing both α and {{Δ }\\prime} so that they compete with each other. The method of averaging, valid at low s, is used to simplify the calculation and demonstrates how α , {{Δ }\\prime} , plasma shaping and ‘average favourable curvature’ all contribute to stability.

Schlieren Technique Applied to Magnetohydrodynamic Generator Plasma Torch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chopra, Nirbhav; Pearcy, Jacob; Jaworski, Michael

2017-10-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generators are a promising augmentation to current hydrocarbon based combustion schemes for creating electrical power. In recent years, interest in MHD generators has been revitalized due to advances in a number of technologies such as superconducting magnets, solid-state power electronics and materials science as well as changing economics associated with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration. We use a multi-wavelength schlieren imaging system to evaluate electron density independently of gas density in a plasma torch under conditions relevant to MHD generators. The sensitivity and resolution of the optical system are evaluated alongside the development of an automated analysis and calibration program in Python. Preliminary analysis shows spatial resolutions less than 1mm and measures an electron density of ne = 1 ×1016 cm-3 in an atmospheric microwave torch. Work supported by DOE contract DE-AC02-09CH11466.

Study of radiatively sustained cesium plasmas for solar energy conversion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palmer, A. J.; Dunning, G. J.

1980-01-01

The results of a study aimed at developing a high temperature solar electric converter are reported. The converter concept is based on the use of an alkali plasma to serve as both an efficient high temperature collector of solar radiation as well as the working fluid for a high temperature working cycle. The working cycle is a simple magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Rankine cycle employing a solid electrode Faraday MHD channel. Research milestones include the construction of a theoretical model for coupling sunlight in a cesium plasma and the experimental demonstration of cesium plasma heating with a solar simulator in excellent agreement with the theory. Analysis of a solar MHD working cycle in which excimer laser power rather than electric power is extracted is also presented. The analysis predicts a positive gain coefficient on the cesium-xenon excimer laser transition.

Dynamic diagnostics of the error fields in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pustovitov, V. D.

2007-07-01

The error field diagnostics based on magnetic measurements outside the plasma is discussed. The analysed methods rely on measuring the plasma dynamic response to the finite-amplitude external magnetic perturbations, which are the error fields and the pre-programmed probing pulses. Such pulses can be created by the coils designed for static error field correction and for stabilization of the resistive wall modes, the technique developed and applied in several tokamaks, including DIII-D and JET. Here analysis is based on the theory predictions for the resonant field amplification (RFA). To achieve the desired level of the error field correction in tokamaks, the diagnostics must be sensitive to signals of several Gauss. Therefore, part of the measurements should be performed near the plasma stability boundary, where the RFA effect is stronger. While the proximity to the marginal stability is important, the absolute values of plasma parameters are not. This means that the necessary measurements can be done in the diagnostic discharges with parameters below the nominal operating regimes, with the stability boundary intentionally lowered. The estimates for ITER are presented. The discussed diagnostics can be tested in dedicated experiments in existing tokamaks. The diagnostics can be considered as an extension of the 'active MHD spectroscopy' used recently in the DIII-D tokamak and the EXTRAP T2R reversed field pinch.

Statistical evaluation of substorm strength and onset times in a global MHD model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haiducek, J. D.; Welling, D. T.; Morley, S.; Ganushkina, N. Y.

2016-12-01

Magnetospheric substorms are characterized by an explosive release of energy stored in the magnetotail, resulting in a tailward plasmoid release, magnetic field perturbations which reach the ground, and a brightening of the aurora. The basic energy release process has been reproduced in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models of the global magnetosphere, but previous studies of substorms using MHD have been limited to case studies covering one or a few events. The lack of large-scale validation studies, and the fact that most MHD models rely on numerical or ad-hoc resistivity to produce the reconnection necessary for substorms, has led some to question the suitability of MHD for studying substorms. However, MHD models are able to capture global implications of substorms, including magnetospheric and ionospheric current systems, dipolarizations, and magnetic field perturbations at the surface, providing a compelling motivation to understand and improve substorm physics in global MHD.The present work seeks to assess the capabilities and limitations of MHD with respect to capturing substorms. We identify substorms in long (one month of simulation time) simulations and compare these to observations during the same time period. To reduce the risk of mis-identifying other phenomena as substorms, we use multiple signatures for the identification, including ground-based magnetic field in mid and high latitudes, plasmoid releases, dipolarization signatures, particle injections, and auroral imagery. We evaluate the model in terms of substorm frequency, strength, location, and timing. We model the same time period using the Minimal Substorm Model, which solves an energy balance equation based on solar wind input. This model has been previously shown to produce substorms at a realistic frequency given solar wind conditions; by comparing it to the MHD we are able to assess the relative importance of MHD physics in terms of substorm timing and occurrence rate. We compute a superposed epoch analysis (SEA) of the substorm "hits" (events that occurred in both the model and observations), "misses" (events that occurred only in observations), and false positives. The SEA result serves as a representative scenario with which we evaluate new model configurations in terms of their ability to reproduce substorm dynamics.

Research and development studies for MHD/coal power flow train components. Technical progress report, 1 September 1979-31 August 1980

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bloom, M. H.

1980-01-01

The aim of this program is to contribute to certain facets of the development of the MHD/coal power system, and particularly the CDIF of DOE with regard to its flow train. Consideration is given specifically to the electrical power take-off, the diagnostic and instrumentation systems, the combustor and MHD channel technology, and electrode alternatives. Within the constraints of the program, high priorities were assigned to the problems of power take-off and the related characteristics of the MHD channel, and to the establishment of a non-intrusive, laser-based diagnostic system. The next priority was given to the combustor modeling and to amore » significantly improved analysis of particle combustion. Separate abstracts were prepared for nine of the ten papers included. One paper was previously included in the data base. (WHK)« less

Newtonian CAFE: a new ideal MHD code to study the solar atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González, J. J.; Guzmán, F.

2015-12-01

In this work we present a new independent code designed to solve the equations of classical ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in three dimensions, submitted to a constant gravitational field. The purpose of the code centers on the analysis of solar phenomena within the photosphere-corona region. In special the code is capable to simulate the propagation of impulsively generated linear and non-linear MHD waves in the non-isothermal solar atmosphere. We present 1D and 2D standard tests to demonstrate the quality of the numerical results obtained with our code. As 3D tests we present the propagation of MHD-gravity waves and vortices in the solar atmosphere. The code is based on high-resolution shock-capturing methods, uses the HLLE flux formula combined with Minmod, MC and WENO5 reconstructors. The divergence free magnetic field constraint is controlled using the Flux Constrained Transport method.

Studying Turbulence Using Numerical Simulation Databases - X Proceedings of the 2004 Summer Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moin, Parviz; Mansour, Nagi N.

2004-01-01

This Proceedings volume contains 32 papers that span a wide range of topics that reflect the ubiquity of turbulence. The papers have been divided into six groups: 1) Solar Simulations; 2) Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD); 3) Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Numerical Simulations; 4) Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) Modeling and Simulations; 5) Stability and Acoustics; 6) Combustion and Multi-Phase Flow.

Mechanism analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic heat shield system and optimization of externally applied magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kai; Liu, Jun; Liu, Weiqiang

2017-04-01

As a novel thermal protection technique for hypersonic vehicles, Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) heat shield system has been proved to be of great intrinsic value in the hypersonic field. In order to analyze the thermal protection mechanisms of such a system, a physical model is constructed for analyzing the effect of the Lorentz force components in the counter and normal directions. With a series of numerical simulations, the dominating Lorentz force components are analyzed for the MHD heat flux mitigation in different regions of a typical reentry vehicle. Then, a novel magnetic field with variable included angle between magnetic induction line and streamline is designed, which significantly improves the performance of MHD thermal protection in the stagnation and shoulder areas. After that, the relationships between MHD shock control and MHD thermal protection are investigated, based on which the magnetic field above is secondarily optimized obtaining better performances of both shock control and thermal protection. Results show that the MHD thermal protection is mainly determined by the Lorentz force's effect on the boundary layer. From the stagnation to the shoulder region, the flow deceleration effect of the counter-flow component is weakened while the flow deflection effect of the normal component is enhanced. Moreover, there is no obviously positive correlation between the MHD shock control and thermal protection. But once a good Lorentz force's effect on the boundary layer is guaranteed, the thermal protection performance can be further improved with an enlarged shock stand-off distance by strengthening the counter-flow Lorentz force right after shock.

Investigation of flow-induced numerical instability in a mixed semi-implicit, implicit leapfrog time discretization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Jacob; Kruger, Scott

2017-10-01

Flow can impact the stability and nonlinear evolution of range of instabilities (e.g. RWMs, NTMs, sawteeth, locked modes, PBMs, and high-k turbulence) and thus robust numerical algorithms for simulations with flow are essential. Recent simulations of DIII-D QH-mode [King et al., Phys. Plasmas and Nucl. Fus. 2017] with flow have been restricted to smaller time-step sizes than corresponding computations without flow. These computations use a mixed semi-implicit, implicit leapfrog time discretization as implemented in the NIMROD code [Sovinec et al., JCP 2004]. While prior analysis has shown that this algorithm is unconditionally stable with respect to the effect of large flows on the MHD waves in slab geometry [Sovinec et al., JCP 2010], our present Von Neumann stability analysis shows that a flow-induced numerical instability may arise when ad-hoc cylindrical curvature is included. Computations with the NIMROD code in cylindrical geometry with rigid rotation and without free-energy drive from current or pressure gradients qualitatively confirm this analysis. We explore potential methods to circumvent this flow-induced numerical instability such as using a semi-Lagrangian formulation instead of time-centered implicit advection and/or modification to the semi-implicit operator. This work is supported by the DOE Office of Science (Office of Fusion Energy Sciences).

Dynamo onset as a first-order transition: lessons from a shell model for magnetohydrodynamics.

PubMed

Sahoo, Ganapati; Mitra, Dhrubaditya; Pandit, Rahul

2010-03-01

We carry out systematic and high-resolution studies of dynamo action in a shell model for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence over wide ranges of the magnetic Prandtl number PrM and the magnetic Reynolds number ReM. Our study suggests that it is natural to think of dynamo onset as a nonequilibrium first-order phase transition between two different turbulent, but statistically steady, states. The ratio of the magnetic and kinetic energies is a convenient order parameter for this transition. By using this order parameter, we obtain the stability diagram (or nonequilibrium phase diagram) for dynamo formation in our MHD shell model in the (PrM-1,ReM) plane. The dynamo boundary, which separates dynamo and no-dynamo regions, appears to have a fractal character. We obtain a hysteretic behavior of the order parameter across this boundary and suggestions of nucleation-type phenomena.

Plasma sheet low-entropy flow channels and dipolarization fronts from macro to micro scales: Global MHD and PIC simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merkin, V. G.; Wiltberger, M. J.; Sitnov, M. I.; Lyon, J.

2016-12-01

Observations show that much of plasma and magnetic flux transport in the magnetotail occurs in the form of discrete activations such as bursty bulk flows (BBFs). These flow structures are typically associated with strong peaks of the Z-component of the magnetic field normal to the magnetotail current sheet (dipolarization fronts, DFs), as well as density and flux tube entropy depletions also called plasma bubbles. Extensive observational analysis of these structures has been carried out using data from Geotail spacecraft and more recently from Cluster, THEMIS, and MMS multi-probe missions. Global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the magnetosphere reveal similar plasma sheet flow bursts, in agreement with regional MHD and particle-in-cell (PIC) models. We present results of high-resolution simulations using the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global MHD model and analyze the properties of the bursty flows including their structure and evolution as they propagate from the mid-tail region into the inner magnetosphere. We highlight similarities and differences with the corresponding observations and discuss comparative properties of plasma bubbles and DFs in our global MHD simulations with their counterparts in 3D PIC simulations.

MHD Energy Bypass Scramjet Performance with Real Gas Effects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Park, Chul; Mehta, Unmeel B.; Bogdanoff, David W.

2000-01-01

The theoretical performance of a scramjet propulsion system incorporating an magneto-hydro-dynamic (MHD) energy bypass scheme is calculated. The one-dimensional analysis developed earlier, in which the theoretical performance is calculated neglecting skin friction and using a sudden-freezing approximation for the nozzle flow, is modified to incorporate the method of Van Driest for turbulent skin friction and a finite-rate chemistry calculation in the nozzle. Unlike in the earlier design, in which four ramp compressions occurred in the pitch plane, in the present design the first two ramp compressions occur in the pitch plane and the next two compressions occur in the yaw plane. The results for the simplified design of a spaceliner show that (1) the present design produces higher specific impulses than the earlier design, (2) skin friction substantially reduces thrust and specific impulse, and (3) the specific impulse of the MHD-bypass system is still better than the non-MHD system and typical rocket over a narrow region of flight speeds and design parameters. Results suggest that the energy management with MHD principles offers the possibility of improving the performance of the scramjet. The technical issues needing further studies are identified.

The effects of differential flow between rational surfaces on toroidal resistive MHD modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennan, Dylan; Halfmoon, Michael; Rhodes, Dov; Cole, Andrew; Okabayashi, Michio; Paz-Soldan, Carlos; Finn, John

2016-10-01

Differential flow between resonant surfaces can strongly affect the coupling and penetration of resonant components of resistive modes, and yet this mechanism is not yet fully understood. This study focuses on the evolution of tearing instabilities and the penetration of imposed resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) in tokamak configurations relevant to DIII-D and ITER, including equilibrium flow shear. It has been observed on DIII-D that the onset of tearing instabilities leading to disruption is often coincident with a loss of differential rotation between a higher m/n tearing surface (normally the 4/3 or 3/2) and a lower m/n tearing surface (normally the 2/1). Imposing RMPs can strongly affect this coupling and the torques between the modes. We apply the nonlinear 3-D resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code NIMROD to study the mechanisms by which these couplings occur. Reduced MHD analyses are applied to study the effects of differential flow between resonant surfaces in the simulations. Interaction between resonant modes can cause significant energy transfer between them, effectively stabilizing one mode while the other grows. The flow mitigates this transfer, but also affects the individual modes. The combination of these effects determines the nonlinear outcome. Supported by US DOE Grants DE-SC0014005 and DE-SC0014119.

MHD retrofit of steam power plants. Feasibility study. Summary and conclusions, Part I

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1979-07-01

The US Department of Energy Division of Magnetohydrodynamics (DOE/MHD) initiated this study to evaluate the feasibility of a retrofit option to reduce the time and cost of commercializing MHD. The MHD retrofit option will integrate a nominal 260 megawatt thermal (MWt) MHD topping cycle into an existing or scheduled private utility steam plant; this facility will test both the MHD system and the combined operation of the MHD/steam plant. The 260 MWt input level was determined to be the size which could most effectively demonstrate and verify the engineering design and operational characteristics of a coal-fired, open-cycle, MHD power plant.more » Details are presented. A goal of the MHD program is to have operational by the year 2003 a commercial size, fully integrated MHD plant. This would be accomplished by demonstrating commercial scale, baseload performance of a fully integrated, MHD/steam power plant. (WHK)« less

Metallurgical technologies, energy conversion, and magnetohydrodynamic flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Branover, Herman; Unger, Yeshajahu

The present volume discusses metallurgical applications of MHD, R&D on MHD devices employing liquid working medium for process applications, electromagnetic (EM) modulation of molten metal flow, EM pump performance of superconducting MHD devices, induction EM alkali-metal pumps, a physical model for EM-driven flow in channel-induction furnaces, grain refinement in Al alloys via EM vibrational method, dendrite growth of solidifying metal in dc magnetic field, MHD for mass and heat transfer in single-crystal melt growth, inverse EM shaping, and liquid-metal MHD development in Israel. Also discussed are the embrittlement of steel by lead, an open cycle MHD disk generator, the acceleration of gas-liquid piston flows for molten-metal MHD generators, MHD flow around a cylinder, new MHD drag coefficients, liquid-metal MHD two-phase flow, and two-phase liquid gas mixers for MHD energy conversion. (No individual items are abstracted in this volume)

Off-design performance analysis of MHD generator channels

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, D. R.; Williams, T. S.

1980-01-01

A computer code for performing parametric design point calculations, and evaluating the off-design performance of MHD generators has been developed. The program is capable of analyzing Faraday, Hall, and DCW channels, including the effect of electrical shorting in the gas boundary layers and coal slag layers. Direct integration of the electrode voltage drops is included. The program can be run in either the design or off-design mode. Details of the computer code, together with results of a study of the design and off-design performance of the proposed ETF MHD generator are presented. Design point variations of pre-heat and stoichiometry were analyzed. The off-design study included variations in mass flow rate and oxygen enrichment.

Self-consistent modeling of CFETR baseline scenarios for steady-state operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Jiale; Jian, Xiang; Chan, Vincent S.; Li, Zeyu; Deng, Zhao; Li, Guoqiang; Guo, Wenfeng; Shi, Nan; Chen, Xi; CFETR Physics Team

2017-07-01

Integrated modeling for core plasma is performed to increase confidence in the proposed baseline scenario in the 0D analysis for the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The steady-state scenarios are obtained through the consistent iterative calculation of equilibrium, transport, auxiliary heating and current drives (H&CD). Three combinations of H&CD schemes (NB + EC, NB + EC + LH, and EC + LH) are used to sustain the scenarios with q min > 2 and fusion power of ˜70-150 MW. The predicted power is within the target range for CFETR Phase I, although the confinement based on physics models is lower than that assumed in 0D analysis. Ideal MHD stability analysis shows that the scenarios are stable against n = 1-10 ideal modes, where n is the toroidal mode number. Optimization of RF current drive for the RF-only scenario is also presented. The simulation workflow for core plasma in this work provides a solid basis for a more extensive research and development effort for the physics design of CFETR.

Analysis of Alfvén eigenmode destabilization by energetic particles in Large Helical Device using a Landau-closure model

DOE PAGES

Varela, Jacobo Rodriguez; Spong, D. A.; Garcia, L.

2017-03-06

Here, energetic particle populations in nuclear fusion experiments can destabilize the Alfvén Eigenmodes through inverse Landau damping and couplings with gap modes in the shear Alfvén continua. We use the reduced MHD equations to describe the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles. We add the Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects using a closure relation. We apply the model to study the Alfvén mode stability in the inward-shifted configurations of the Large Helical Device (LHD), performing a parametric analysis of the energetic particle β (more » $${{\\beta}_{f}}$$ ) in a range of realistic values, the ratios of the energetic particle thermal/Alfvén velocities ($${{V}_{\\text{th}}}/{{V}_{A0}}$$ ), the magnetic Lundquist numbers (S) and the toroidal modes (n). The n = 1 and n = 2 TAEs are destabilized, although the n = 3 and n = 4 TAEs are weakly perturbed. The most unstable configurations are associated with the density gradients of energetic particles in the plasma core: the TAEs are destabilized, even for small energetic particle populations, if their thermal velocity is lower than 0.4 times the Alfvén velocity. The frequency range of MHD bursts measured in the LHD are 50–70 kHz for the n = 1 and 60–80 kHz for the n = 2 TAE, which is consistent with the model predictions.« less

Well-posedness of the plasma-vacuum interface problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Secchi, Paolo; Trakhinin, Yuri

2014-01-01

We consider the free-boundary problem for the plasma-vacuum interface in ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). In the plasma region the flow is governed by the usual compressible MHD equations, while in the vacuum region we consider the pre-Maxwell dynamics for the magnetic field. At the free interface, driven by the plasma velocity, the total pressure is continuous and the magnetic field on both sides is tangent to the boundary. The plasma-vacuum system is not isolated from the outside world, because of a given surface current on the fixed boundary that forces oscillations. Under a suitable stability condition satisfied at each point of the initial interface, stating that the magnetic fields on either side of the interface are not collinear, we show the existence and uniqueness of the solution to the nonlinear plasma-vacuum interface problem in suitable anisotropic Sobolev spaces. The proof is based on the results proved in the companion paper (Secchi and Trakhinin 2013 Interfaces Free Boundaries 15 323-57), about the well-posedness of the homogeneous linearized problem and the proof of a basic a priori energy estimate. The proof of the resolution of the nonlinear problem given in the present paper follows from the analysis of the elliptic system for the vacuum magnetic field, a suitable tame estimate in Sobolev spaces for the full linearized equations, and a Nash-Moser iteration.

Leucine disposal rate for assessment of amino acid metabolism in maintenance hemodialysis patients

PubMed Central

Denny, Gerald B.; Deger, Serpil M.; Chen, Guanhua; Bian, Aihua; Sha, Feng; Booker, Cindy; Kesler, Jaclyn T.; David, Sthuthi; Ellis, Charles D.; Ikizler, T. Alp

2016-01-01

Background Protein energy wasting (PEW) is common in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) and closely associated with poor outcomes. Insulin resistance and associated alterations in amino acid metabolism are potential pathways leading to PEW. We hypothesized that the measurement of leucine disposal during a hyperinsulinemic- euglycemic-euaminoacidemic clamp (HEAC) procedure would accurately measure the sensitivity to insulin for its actions on concomitant carbohydrate and protein metabolism in MHD patients. Methods We examined 35 MHD patients and 17 control subjects with normal kidney function by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp (HEGC) followed by HEAC clamp procedure to obtain leucine disposal rate (LDR) along with isotope tracer methodology to assess whole body protein turnover. Results The glucose disposal rate (GDR) by HEGC was 5.1 ± 2.1 mg/kg/min for the MHD patients compared to 6.3 ± 3.9 mg/kg/min for the controls (p = 0.38). The LDR during HEAC was 0.09 ± 0.03 mg/kg/min for the MHD patients compared to 0.11 ± 0.05 mg/kg/min for the controls (p = 0.009). The LDR level was correlated with whole body protein synthesis (r = 0.25; p = 0.08), with whole body protein breakdown (r = −0.38 p = 0.01) and net protein balance (r = 0.85; p < 0.001) in the overall study population. Correlations remained significant in subgroup analysis. The GDR derived by HEGC and LDR correlated well in the controls (r = 0.79, p < 0.001), but less so in the MHD patients (r = 0.58, p < 0.001). Conclusions Leucine disposal rate reliably measures amino acid utilization in MHD patients and controls in response to high dose insulin. PMID:27413537

Leucine disposal rate for assessment of amino acid metabolism in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

PubMed

Denny, Gerald B; Deger, Serpil M; Chen, Guanhua; Bian, Aihua; Sha, Feng; Booker, Cindy; Kesler, Jaclyn T; David, Sthuthi; Ellis, Charles D; Ikizler, T Alp

Protein energy wasting (PEW) is common in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) and closely associated with poor outcomes. Insulin resistance and associated alterations in amino acid metabolism are potential pathways leading to PEW. We hypothesized that the measurement of leucine disposal during a hyperinsulinemic- euglycemic-euaminoacidemic clamp (HEAC) procedure would accurately measure the sensitivity to insulin for its actions on concomitant carbohydrate and protein metabolism in MHD patients. We examined 35 MHD patients and 17 control subjects with normal kidney function by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp (HEGC) followed by HEAC clamp procedure to obtain leucine disposal rate (LDR) along with isotope tracer methodology to assess whole body protein turnover. The glucose disposal rate (GDR) by HEGC was 5.1 ± 2.1 mg/kg/min for the MHD patients compared to 6.3 ± 3.9 mg/kg/min for the controls ( p = 0.38). The LDR during HEAC was 0.09 ± 0.03 mg/kg/min for the MHD patients compared to 0.11 ± 0.05 mg/kg/min for the controls ( p = 0.009). The LDR level was correlated with whole body protein synthesis ( r = 0.25; p = 0.08), with whole body protein breakdown ( r = -0.38 p = 0.01) and net protein balance ( r = 0.85; p < 0.001) in the overall study population. Correlations remained significant in subgroup analysis. The GDR derived by HEGC and LDR correlated well in the controls ( r = 0.79, p < 0.001), but less so in the MHD patients ( r = 0.58, p < 0.001). Leucine disposal rate reliably measures amino acid utilization in MHD patients and controls in response to high dose insulin.

Optimization of DIII-D discharges to avoid AE destabilization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varela, Jacobo; Spong, Donald; Garcia, Luis; Huang, Juan; Murakami, Masanori

2017-10-01

The aim of the study is to analyze the stability of Alfven Eigenmodes (AE) perturbed by energetic particles (EP) during DIII-D operation. We identify the optimal NBI operational regimes that avoid or minimize the negative effects of AE on the device performance. We use the reduced MHD equations to describe the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles, including the effect of the acoustic modes. We add the Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects using a closure relation. We perform parametric studies of the MHD and AE stability, taking into account the experimental profiles of the thermal plasma and EP, also using a range of values of the energetic particles β, density and velocity as well the effect of the toroidal couplings. We reproduce the AE activity observed in high poloidal β discharge at the pedestal and reverse shear discharges. This material based on work is supported both by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. Research sponsored in part by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain under the project.

A Compact Torus Fusion Reactor Utilizing a Continuously Generated Strings of CT's. The CT String Reactor, CTSR.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hartman, C W; Reisman, D B; McLean, H S

2007-05-30

A fusion reactor is described in which a moving string of mutually repelling compact toruses (alternating helicity, unidirectional Btheta) is generated by repetitive injection using a magnetized coaxial gun driven by continuous gun current with alternating poloidal field. An injected CT relaxes to a minimum magnetic energy equilibrium, moves into a compression cone, and enters a conducting cylinder where the plasma is heated to fusion-producing temperature. The CT then passes into a blanketed region where fusion energy is produced and, on emergence from the fusion region, the CT undergoes controlled expansion in an exit cone where an alternating poloidal fieldmore » opens the flux surfaces to directly recover the CT magnetic energy as current which is returned to the formation gun. The CT String Reactor (CTSTR) reactor satisfies all the necessary MHD stability requirements and is based on extrapolation of experimentally achieved formation, stability, and plasma confinement. It is supported by extensive 2D, MHD calculations. CTSTR employs minimal external fields supplied by normal conductors, and can produce high fusion power density with uniform wall loading. The geometric simplicity of CTSTR acts to minimize initial and maintenance costs, including periodic replacement of the reactor first wall.« less

Electromagnetic Torque in Tokamaks with Toroidal Asymmetries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Logan, Nikolas Christopher

Toroidal rotation and rotation shear strongly influences stability and confinement in tokamaks. Breaking of the toroidal symmetry by fields orders of magnitude smaller than the axisymmetric field can, however, produce electromagnetic torques that significantly affect the plasma rotation, stability and confinement. These electromagnetic torques are the study of this thesis. There are two typical types of electromagnetic torques in tokamaks: 1) "resonant torques" for which a plasma current defined by a single toroidal and single poloidal harmonic interact with external currents and 2) "nonresonant torques" for which the global plasma response to nonaxisymmetric fields is phase shifted by kinetic effects that drive the rotation towards a neoclassical offset. This work describes the diagnostics and analysis necessary to evaluate the torque by measuring the rate of momentum transfer per unit area in the vacuum region between the plasma and external currents using localized magnetic sensors to measure the Maxwell stress. These measurements provide model independent quantification of both the resonant and nonresonant electromagnetic torques, enabling direct verification of theoretical models. Measured values of the nonresonant torque are shown to agree well with the perturbed equilibrium nonambipolar transport (PENT) code calculation of torque from cross field transport in nonaxisymmetric equilibria. A combined neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) theory, valid across a wide range of kinetic regimes, is fully implemented for the first time in general aspect ratio and shaped plasmas. The code captures pitch angle resonances, reproducing previously inaccessible collisionality limits in the model. The complete treatment of the model enables benchmarking to the hybrid kinetic MHD stability codes MARS-K and MISK, confirming the energy-torque equivalency principle in perturbed equilibria. Experimental validations of PENT results confirm the torque applied by nonaxisymmetric coils is often proportional to the energy put into the dominant ideal MHD kink mode. This reduces the control of nonresonant torque to a single mode model, enabling efficient feed forward optimization of applied fields. Initial results including the anisotropic kinetic pressure tensor directly in the plasma eigenmode calculations are presented here, and may eventually provide accurate metrics for multimodal coupling similar to the established single mode metrics.

Efficacy of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate supplementation in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

PubMed

Fitschen, Peter J; Biruete, Annabel; Jeong, Jinny; Wilund, Kenneth R

2017-01-01

Maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients suffer from a number of co-morbidities including declines in muscle mass and physical function. Beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) is a metabolite of the amino acid leucine that has been shown to improve lean mass and physical function in elderly and clinical populations, but had not been studied in MHD patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of HMB in this population. We performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial to assess the effects of daily HMB supplementation on co-morbidities in MHD patients. MHD patients were recruited and assigned to either daily supplementation with HMB (n = 16) or placebo (n = 17) for 6 months. Measurements of body composition, bone density, strength, physical function, fall risk, quality of life, and blood parameters were measured at baseline and 6 months. Blood was drawn at baseline, 3, and 6 months to measure compliance. No significant effects of HMB on body composition, bone density, strength, physical function, fall risk, quality of life, or blood parameters were observed. On analysis of plasma HMB concentrations, 5 of 16 patients (31%) in the HMB group were found to be noncompliant at 3 or 6 months. Therefore, we performed a per-protocol analysis with compliant participants only and observed no significant differences in our outcomes of interest. These results do not support the efficacy of HMB to attenuate co-morbid conditions in MHD patients. Moreover, this highlights the need for future interventions targeted at reducing pill burden and improving pill compliance in this population. © 2016 International Society for Hemodialysis.

Vitamin E and selenium levels are within normal range in pigs diagnosed with mulberry heart disease and evidence for viral involvement in the syndrome is lacking.

PubMed

Shen, H; Thomas, P R; Ensley, S M; Kim, W-I; Loynachan, A T; Halbur, P G; Opriessnig, T

2011-12-01

Mulberry heart disease (MHD) in pigs is characterized by lesions of acute haemorrhagic myocarditis and myocardial necrosis. The objectives of this study were to determine the levels of vitamin E and selenium and 13 other trace minerals in heart and liver tissues and to determine the prevalence of certain viral infections in heart tissues from MHD-affected and MHD-unaffected pigs and the vitamin E and selenium concentration in feed samples from selected farms with MHD. Based on the pathological examination, 114 pigs were separated into MHD lesion-negative (L-NEG) (n = 57) and MHD lesion-positive (L-POS) (n = 57) groups. Seventy-three samples (40 L-NEG and 33 L-POS) were subjected to chemical analysis, and 66 (32 L-NEG and 34 L-POS) were subjected to PCR detection for viral pathogens. Lower (P < 0.05) levels of myocardial copper, lower (P < 0.05) levels of hepatic magnesium and higher (P < 0.05) levels of myocardial and hepatic sodium were detected in the L-POS cases. Although lower (P < 0.05) levels of hepatic selenium were detected in L-POS group, all were within the normal range. Analysis of feed samples (n = 22) revealed that selenium levels in all the samples were above the legal limit (0.3 ppm) for pigs. Vitamin E levels in all feed samples were above 20 IU/kg. Among the 66 pigs subjected to PCR detection, there were 19, 4, 13, 8, 2 and 1 animals positive for porcine circovirus type 2, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, pan-herpes virus, porcine enterovirus, pan-pestivirus and porcine parvovirus, respectively. Clear evidence of viral association with L-POS was lacking. © 2011 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Enhanced Spectral Anisotropies Near the Proton-Cyclotron Scale: Possible Two-Component Structure in Hall-FLR MHD Turbulence Simulations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghosh, Sanjoy; Goldstein, Melvyn L.

2011-01-01

Recent analysis of the magnetic correlation function of solar wind fluctuations at 1 AU suggests the existence of two-component structure near the proton-cyclotron scale. Here we use two-and-one-half dimensional and three-dimensional compressible MHD models to look for two-component structure adjacent the proton-cyclotron scale. Our MHD system incorporates both Hall and Finite Larmor Radius (FLR) terms. We find that strong spectral anisotropies appear adjacent the proton-cyclotron scales depending on selections of initial condition and plasma beta. These anisotropies are enhancements on top of related anisotropies that appear in standard MHD turbulence in the presence of a mean magnetic field and are suggestive of one turbulence component along the inertial scales and another component adjacent the dissipative scales. We compute the relative strengths of linear and nonlinear accelerations on the velocity and magnetic fields to gauge the relative influence of terms that drive the system with wave-like (linear) versus turbulent (nonlinear) dynamics.

Pressure distribution with surface roughness for effect between porous infinitely long rectangular plates with MHD couple stress squeeze film lubrication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sangeetha, S.; Kesavan, Sundarammal

2018-04-01

This investigation is an analysis of MHD couple stress squeeze film performance with a rough surface between porous infinitely long rectangular plates. The pressure equation for the magnetic field is mathematically derived using Christensen’s stochastic equation. Therefore, the upshot of this magnetic effect reveals the enhanced performance of the pressure which is compared to the Newtonian instance.

Parametric analysis of closed cycle magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Owens, W.; Berg, R.; Murthy, R.; Patten, J.

1981-01-01

A parametric analysis of closed cycle MHD power plants was performed which studied the technical feasibility, associated capital cost, and cost of electricity for the direct combustion of coal or coal derived fuel. Three reference plants, differing primarily in the method of coal conversion utilized, were defined. Reference Plant 1 used direct coal fired combustion while Reference Plants 2 and 3 employed on site integrated gasifiers. Reference Plant 2 used a pressurized gasifier while Reference Plant 3 used a ""state of the art' atmospheric gasifier. Thirty plant configurations were considered by using parametric variations from the Reference Plants. Parametric variations include the type of coal (Montana Rosebud or Illinois No. 6), clean up systems (hot or cold gas clean up), on or two stage atmospheric or pressurized direct fired coal combustors, and six different gasifier systems. Plant sizes ranged from 100 to 1000 MWe. Overall plant performance was calculated using two methodologies. In one task, the channel performance was assumed and the MHD topping cycle efficiencies were based on the assumed values. A second task involved rigorous calculations of channel performance (enthalpy extraction, isentropic efficiency and generator output) that verified the original (task one) assumptions. Closed cycle MHD capital costs were estimated for the task one plants; task two cost estimates were made for the channel and magnet only.

An introduction to Space Weather Integrated Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, D.; Feng, X.

2012-12-01

The need for a software toolkit that integrates space weather models and data is one of many challenges we are facing with when applying the models to space weather forecasting. To meet this challenge, we have developed Space Weather Integrated Modeling (SWIM) that is capable of analysis and visualizations of the results from a diverse set of space weather models. SWIM has a modular design and is written in Python, by using NumPy, matplotlib, and the Visualization ToolKit (VTK). SWIM provides data management module to read a variety of spacecraft data products and a specific data format of Solar-Interplanetary Conservation Element/Solution Element MHD model (SIP-CESE MHD model) for the study of solar-terrestrial phenomena. Data analysis, visualization and graphic user interface modules are also presented in a user-friendly way to run the integrated models and visualize the 2-D and 3-D data sets interactively. With these tools we can locally or remotely analysis the model result rapidly, such as extraction of data on specific location in time-sequence data sets, plotting interplanetary magnetic field lines, multi-slicing of solar wind speed, volume rendering of solar wind density, animation of time-sequence data sets, comparing between model result and observational data. To speed-up the analysis, an in-situ visualization interface is used to support visualizing the data 'on-the-fly'. We also modified some critical time-consuming analysis and visualization methods with the aid of GPU and multi-core CPU. We have used this tool to visualize the data of SIP-CESE MHD model in real time, and integrated the Database Model of shock arrival, Shock Propagation Model, Dst forecasting model and SIP-CESE MHD model developed by SIGMA Weather Group at State Key Laboratory of Space Weather/CAS.

Liquid-metal flows: Magnetohydrodynamics and applications; Proceedings of the Fifth Beersheba International Seminar on Magnetohydrodynamic Flows and Turbulence, University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel, Mar. 2-6, 1987

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Branover, H.; Mond, M.; Unger, Y.

The present collection of papers on MHD-related uses of liquid metal flows and their applications discusses topics in laminar MHD flows, MHD power generation, metallurgical MHD applications, and two-phase MHD flows. Attention is given to MHD flows with closed streamlines, nonlinear waves in liquid metals under a transverse magnetic field, liquid-metal MHD conversion of nuclear energy to electricity, the testing of optimized MHD conversion (OMACON) systems, and aspects of a liquid-metal induction generator. Also discussed are MHD effects in liquid-metal breeder reactors, a plasma-driven MHD powerplant, modeling the recirculating flows in channel-induction surfaces, the hydrodynamics of aluminum reduction cells, free-surfacemore » determination in a levitation-melting process, the parametric interactions of waves in bubbly liquid metals, and the occurrence of cavitation in water jets.« less

PREFACE: Theory of Fusion Plasmas, 13th Joint Varenna-Lausanne International Workshop (2012)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garbet, Xavier; Sauter, Olivier

2012-12-01

The 2012 joint Varenna-Lausanne international workshop on the theory of fusion plasmas has been very fruitful. A broad variety of topics were addressed, as usual covering turbulence, MHD, edge physic, RF wave heating and a taste of astrophysics. Moreover the scope of the meeting was extended this year to include the physics of materials and diagnostics for burning plasmas. This evolution reflects the complexity of problems at hand in fusion, in particular in the context of ITER construction. Long-standing problems without immediate consequences have sometimes become an urgent matter in that context. One may quote for instance the choice of plasma facing components or the design of control systems. Another characteristic of the meeting is the interplay between various domains of plasma physics. For instance MHD modes are now currently investigated with gyrokinetic codes, kinetic effects are more and more included in MHD stability analysis, and turbulence is now accounted for in wave propagation problems. This is the proof of cross-fertilization and it is certainly a healthy sign in our community. Finally introducing some novelty in the programme does not prevent us from respecting the traditions of the meeting. As usual a good deal of the presentations were dedicated to numerical simulations. Combining advanced numerical techniques with elaborated analytical theory is certainly a trademark of the Varenna-Lausanne conference, which was respected again this year. The quality and size of the scientific production is illustrated by the 26 papers which appear in the present volume of Journal of Physics: Conference Series, all refereed. We would also like to mention another set of 20 papers to be published in Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. We hope the readers will enjoy this special issue of JPCS and the one to come in PPCF. Xavier Garbet and Olivier Sauter October 26, 2012

Long-term effects of low calcium dialysates on the serum calcium levels during maintenance hemodialysis treatments: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Yoshikawa, Masahiro; Takase, Osamu; Tsujimura, Taro; Sano, Etsuko; Hayashi, Matsuhiko; Takato, Tsuyoshi; Hishikawa, Keiichi

2018-03-28

Hypercalcemia and hyperparathyroidism in patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) can cause the progression of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and mineral bone disorders (MBD). The KDIGO recommends the dialysates with a calcium (Ca) concentration of 1.25-1.5 mmol/L for MHD treatments, but the optimal concentration remains controversial. Here, we conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials examining a total of 622 patients to investigate the optimal concentration for MHD for 6 months or longer. The dialysates with a low Ca concentration (1.125 or 1.25 mmol/L) significantly lowered the serum Ca and raised the intact parathyroid hormone levels by 0.52 mg/dL (95% confidence interval, 0.20-0.85) and 39.59 pg/mL (14.80-64.38), respectively, compared with a high Ca concentration (1.50 or 1.75 mmol/L). Three studies showed that a low concentration was preferred for lowering arterial calcifications or atherosclerosis in different arteries, but one study showed that coronary arterial calcifications increased with a low concentration. Two studies showed contradictory outcomes in terms of MBD. Our meta-analysis showed that a dialysate with a low Ca concentration lowered the serum Ca levels in patients receiving long-term MHD, but further studies are needed to determine the optimal Ca concentration in terms of CVD and MBD.

Von Neumann stability analysis of globally divergence-free RKDG schemes for the induction equation using multidimensional Riemann solvers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balsara, Dinshaw S.; Käppeli, Roger

2017-05-01

In this paper we focus on the numerical solution of the induction equation using Runge-Kutta Discontinuous Galerkin (RKDG)-like schemes that are globally divergence-free. The induction equation plays a role in numerical MHD and other systems like it. It ensures that the magnetic field evolves in a divergence-free fashion; and that same property is shared by the numerical schemes presented here. The algorithms presented here are based on a novel DG-like method as it applies to the magnetic field components in the faces of a mesh. (I.e., this is not a conventional DG algorithm for conservation laws.) The other two novel building blocks of the method include divergence-free reconstruction of the magnetic field and multidimensional Riemann solvers; both of which have been developed in recent years by the first author. Since the method is linear, a von Neumann stability analysis is carried out in two-dimensions to understand its stability properties. The von Neumann stability analysis that we develop in this paper relies on transcribing from a modal to a nodal DG formulation in order to develop discrete evolutionary equations for the nodal values. These are then coupled to a suitable Runge-Kutta timestepping strategy so that one can analyze the stability of the entire scheme which is suitably high order in space and time. We show that our scheme permits CFL numbers that are comparable to those of traditional RKDG schemes. We also analyze the wave propagation characteristics of the method and show that with increasing order of accuracy the wave propagation becomes more isotropic and free of dissipation for a larger range of long wavelength modes. This makes a strong case for investing in higher order methods. We also use the von Neumann stability analysis to show that the divergence-free reconstruction and multidimensional Riemann solvers are essential algorithmic ingredients of a globally divergence-free RKDG-like scheme. Numerical accuracy analyses of the RKDG-like schemes are presented and compared with the accuracy of PNPM schemes. It is found that PNPM retrieve much of the accuracy of the RKDG-like schemes while permitting a larger CFL number.

Nonlinear stability of Halley comethosheath with transverse plasma motion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Srivastava, Krishna M.; Tsurutani, Bruce T.

1994-01-01

Weakly nonlinear Magneto Hydrodynamic (MHD) stability of the Halley cometosheath determined by the balance between the outward ion-neutral drag force and the inward Lorentz force is investigated including the transverse plasma motion as observed in the flanks with the help of the method of multiple scales. The eigenvalues and the eigenfunctions are obtained for the linear problem and the time evolution of the amplitude is obtained using the solvability condition for the solution of the second order problem. The diamagnetic cavity boundary and the adjacent layer of about 100 km thickness is found unstable for the travelling waves of certain wave numbers. Halley ionopause has been observed to have strong ripples with a wavelength of several hundred kilometers. It is found that nonlinear effects have stabilizing effect.

Reduced critical rotation for resistive-wall mode stabilization in a near-axisymmetric configuration.

PubMed

Reimerdes, H; Garofalo, A M; Jackson, G L; Okabayashi, M; Strait, E J; Chu, M S; In, Y; La Haye, R J; Lanctot, M J; Liu, Y Q; Navratil, G A; Solomon, W M; Takahashi, H; Groebner, R J

2007-02-02

Recent DIII-D experiments with reduced neutral beam torque and minimum nonaxisymmetric perturbations of the magnetic field show a significant reduction of the toroidal plasma rotation required for the stabilization of the resistive-wall mode (RWM) below the threshold values observed in experiments that apply nonaxisymmetric magnetic fields to slow the plasma rotation. A toroidal rotation frequency of less than 10 krad/s at the q=2 surface (measured with charge exchange recombination spectroscopy using C VI) corresponding to 0.3% of the inverse of the toroidal Alfvén time is sufficient to sustain the plasma pressure above the ideal MHD no-wall stability limit. The low-rotation threshold is found to be consistent with predictions by a kinetic model of RWM damping.

A first-principles analytical theory for 2D magnetic reconnection in electron and Hall MHD.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zocco, A.; Simakov, A. N.; Chacon, L.

2007-11-01

While the relevance of two-fluid effects in fast magnetic reconnection is well-known,ootnotetextJ. Birn et al., J. Geophys. Res., 106 (A3), pp. 3715--3719 (2001) a first-principles theory --akin to Sweet and Parker's in resistive MHD-- has been elusive. Here, we present such a first principles steady-state theory for electron MHD,ootnotetextL. Chac'on, A. N. Simakov, A. Zocco, Phys. Rev. Lett., submitted and its extension to Hall.ootnotetextA. N. Simakov, L. Chac'on, in preparation The theory discretizes the extended MHD equations at the reconnection site, leading to a set of time-dependent ODEs. Their steady-state analysis provides predictions for the scaling of relevant quantities with the dissipation coefficients (e.g, resistivity and hyper-resistivity) and other relevant parameters. In particular, we will show that EMHD admits both elongated and open-X point configurations of the reconnection region, and that the reconnection rate Ez can be shown not to scale explicitly with the dissipation parameters. This analytic result confirms earlier computational work on the possibility of fast (dissipation-independent) magnetic reconnection in EMHD. We have extended the EMHD results to Hall MHD, and have found a general scaling law for the reconnection rate (and associated length scales) that bridges the gap between resistive and EMHD.

Numerical analysis of MHD Carreau fluid flow over a stretching cylinder with homogenous-heterogeneous reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Imad; Ullah, Shafquat; Malik, M. Y.; Hussain, Arif

2018-06-01

The current analysis concentrates on the numerical solution of MHD Carreau fluid flow over a stretching cylinder under the influences of homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions. Modelled non-linear partial differential equations are converted into ordinary differential equations by using suitable transformations. The resulting system of equations is solved with the aid of shooting algorithm supported by fifth order Runge-Kutta integration scheme. The impact of non-dimensional governing parameters on the velocity, temperature, skin friction coefficient and local Nusselt number are comprehensively delineated with the help of graphs and tables.

Weakly inhomogeneous MHD turbulence and transport of solar wind fluctuations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matthaeus, W. H.; Zhou, Y.; Oughton, S.; Zank, G. P.

1992-01-01

An evaluation is conducted of recent theories of small-scale MHD turbulence transport in an inhomogeneous background that are pertinent to the evolution of solar wind turbulence. Attention is given to the WKB formalism that has been used in many solar wind-related physics applications, with a view to its shortcomings. Also discussed are the structure of two-scale transport theories, and their relationship to WKB theory in light of multiple-scales analysis.

Introduction to Plasma Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurnett, Donald A.; Bhattacharjee, Amitava

2017-03-01

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Characteristic parameters of a plasma; 3. Single particle motions; 4. Waves in a cold plasma; 5. Kinetic theory and the moment equations; 6. Magnetohydrodynamics; 7. MHD equilibria and stability; 8. Discontinuities and shock waves; 9. Electrostatic waves in a hot unmagnetized plasma; 10. Waves in a hot magnetized plasma; 11. Nonlinear effects; 12. Collisional processes; Appendix A. Symbols; Appendix B. Useful trigonometric identities; Appendix C. Vector differential operators; Appendix D. Vector calculus identities; Index.

Simulation of Alpha Particles in Rotating Plasma Interacting with a Stationary Ripple

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abraham J. Fetterman and Nathaniel J. Fisch

Superthermal ExB rotation can provide magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and enhanced confinement to axisymmetric mirrors. However, the rotation speed has been limited by phenomena at end electrodes. A new prediction is that rotation might instead be produced using a magnetic ripple and alpha particle kinetic energy, in an extension of the alpha channeling concept. The interaction of alpha particles with the ripple results in visually interesting and practically useful orbits.

An Analysis of Processes in the Solar Wind in a Thin Layer Adjacent to the Front of the Shock Wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molotkov, I. A.; Atamaniuk, B.

2018-05-01

A two-dimensional stationary system of nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations in a thin layer adjoining the front of the interplanetary shock wave has been solved. Previously, any available publications relied on linear transport equations. But the presence of high-energy particles in the solar wind (SW) requires taking into account the processes of self-interaction. Our analysis examines the nonlinear terms in the MHD equations. A solution has been constructed for three cases: (1) in the absence of magnetic reconnections; (2) for magnetic reconnections; and (3) with the simultaneous action of reconnections and junction of magnetic islands. In all three cases, expressions were found for the main parameters of the SW. The results obtained on the basis of the solution of the MHD equations are consistent with the conclusions based on the investigation of the particle velocity distribution functions. This makes it possible to confirm the previously established fraction of particles excited to energies above 1 MeV.

A non-ideal MHD model for structure formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karmakar, Pralay Kumar; Sarma, Pankaj

2018-02-01

The evolutionary initiation dynamics of triggered planetary structure formation is indeed a complex process yet to be well understood. We herein develop a theoretical classical model to see the gravitational fragmentation kinetics of the viscoelastic non-ideal magneto-hydro-dynamic (MHD) fabric. The inhomogeneous planetary disk is primarily composed of heavier dust grains (strongly correlated) together with relatively lighter electrons, ions and neutrals (weakly correlated) in a mean-fluidic approximation. A normal harmonic mode analysis results in a quadratic dispersion relation of a unique shape. It is demonstrated that the growth rate of the MHD fluctuations (magnetosonic) contributing to the planet formation rate, apart from the wave vector and its projection orientation, has a pure explicit dependency on the viscoelastic parameters. The analysis specifically shows that the effective generalized viscosity (χ) , viscoelastic relaxation time (τm) , and K-orientation (θ) play as destabilizing agencies against the non-local gravitational disk collapse. The relevancy is briefly indicated in the real astronomical context of bounded planetary structure formation and evolution.

Laboratory Plasma Source as an MHD Model for Astrophysical Jets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayo, Robert M.

1997-01-01

The significance of the work described herein lies in the demonstration of Magnetized Coaxial Plasma Gun (MCG) devices like CPS-1 to produce energetic laboratory magneto-flows with embedded magnetic fields that can be used as a simulation tool to study flow interaction dynamic of jet flows, to demonstrate the magnetic acceleration and collimation of flows with primarily toroidal fields, and study cross field transport in turbulent accreting flows. Since plasma produced in MCG devices have magnetic topology and MHD flow regime similarity to stellar and extragalactic jets, we expect that careful investigation of these flows in the laboratory will reveal fundamental physical mechanisms influencing astrophysical flows. Discussion in the next section (sec.2) focuses on recent results describing collimation, leading flow surface interaction layers, and turbulent accretion. The primary objectives for a new three year effort would involve the development and deployment of novel electrostatic, magnetic, and visible plasma diagnostic techniques to measure plasma and flow parameters of the CPS-1 device in the flow chamber downstream of the plasma source to study, (1) mass ejection, morphology, and collimation and stability of energetic outflows, (2) the effects of external magnetization on collimation and stability, (3) the interaction of such flows with background neutral gas, the generation of visible emission in such interaction, and effect of neutral clouds on jet flow dynamics, and (4) the cross magnetic field transport of turbulent accreting flows. The applicability of existing laboratory plasma facilities to the study of stellar and extragalactic plasma should be exploited to elucidate underlying physical mechanisms that cannot be ascertained though astrophysical observation, and provide baseline to a wide variety of proposed models, MHD and otherwise. The work proposed herin represents a continued effort on a novel approach in relating laboratory experiments to astrophysical jet observation. There exists overwhelming similarity among these flows that has already produced some fascinating results and is expected to continue a high pay off in future flow similarity studies.

Correlation of serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 23 and Klotho protein levels with bone mineral density in maintenance hemodialysis patients.

PubMed

Zheng, Shubei; Chen, Yan; Zheng, Yu; Zhou, Zhihong; Li, Zhanyuan

2018-04-17

The correlation of serum fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) and Klotho protein levels with bone mineral density (BMD) in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients was analyzed. Between January 2015 and November 2015, 125 MHD patients in our hospital were enrolled. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to examine the BMD in the femoral neck and lumbar spine of MHD patients. The patients were divided into three groups: a normal bone mass group, an osteopenia group, and an osteoporosis group. An ELISA was performed to measure serum FGF-23, Klotho protein, and 1,25(OH) 2 VitD 3 levels. Other parameters, including calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and parathyroid hormone, were also measured. Of the 125 MHD patients, 82.40% of patients had femoral neck osteopenia, and 56.00% of patients had lumbar spinal osteopenia. The serum FGF-23 level was highest in the osteoporosis group. However, there was no significant difference in serum FGF-23 levels among the three groups, depending on femoral neck and lumbar spinal BMD (P > 0.05). Spearman's correlation analysis also pointed to a lack of correlation between serum FGF-23 levels and BMD. Among the three groups, there were significant differences in serum Klotho protein levels and femoral neck BMD (P < 0.05). Serum Klotho protein levels in the osteoporosis group were clearly lower than those in the normal bone mass group and osteopenia group (P < 0.05). Similarly, serum Klotho protein levels were significantly lower in those with lumbar spinal osteopenia as compared with those in the normal group. There was a positive correlation between serum Klotho protein levels and BMD and T values for the femoral neck and lumbar spine. The results of a multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the serum Klotho protein level was one of the main factors affecting BMD in MHD patients. The serum level of FGF-23 was not correlated with a change in BMD of MHD patients, whereas the serum Klotho protein level was associated with the degree of BMD. A high Klotho protein level may decrease the severity of chronic kidney disease and mineral bone disorder (CKD-MBD) in MHD patients with low BMD.

The linear tearing instability in three dimensional, toroidal gyro-kinetic simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hornsby, W. A., E-mail: william.hornsby@ipp.mpg.de; Migliano, P.; Buchholz, R.

2015-02-15

Linear gyro-kinetic simulations of the classical tearing mode in three-dimensional toroidal geometry were performed using the global gyro-kinetic turbulence code, GKW. The results were benchmarked against a cylindrical ideal MHD and analytical theory calculations. The stability, growth rate, and frequency of the mode were investigated by varying the current profile, collisionality, and the pressure gradients. Both collisionless and semi-collisional tearing modes were found with a smooth transition between the two. A residual, finite, rotation frequency of the mode even in the absence of a pressure gradient is observed, which is attributed to toroidal finite Larmor-radius effects. When a pressure gradientmore » is present at low collisionality, the mode rotates at the expected electron diamagnetic frequency. However, the island rotation reverses direction at high collisionality. The growth rate is found to follow a η{sup 1∕7} scaling with collisional resistivity in the semi-collisional regime, closely following the semi-collisional scaling found by Fitzpatrick. The stability of the mode closely follows the stability analysis as performed by Hastie et al. using the same current and safety factor profiles but for cylindrical geometry, however, here a modification due to toroidal coupling and pressure effects is seen.« less

MHD simulation of relaxation transition to a flipped relaxed state in spherical torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanki, Takashi; Nagata, Masayoshi; Kagei, Yasuhiro

2008-11-01

Recently, it has been demonstrated in the HIST device that in spite of the violation of the Kruskal-Shafranov stability condition, a normal spherical torus (ST) plasma has relaxed to a flipped ST state through a transient reversed-field pinch-like state when the vacuum toroidal field is decreased and its direction is reversed [1]. It has been also observed during this relaxation transition process that not only the toroidal field but also the poloidal field reverses polarity spontaneously and that the ion flow velocity is strongly fluctuated and abruptly increased up to > 50 km/s. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the plasma flows and the relevant MHD relaxation phenomena to elucidate this transition mechanism by using three-dimensional MHD simulations [2]. It is found from the numerical results that the magnetic reconnection between the open and closed field lines occurs due to the non-linear growth of the n=1 kink instability of the central open flux, generating the toroidal flow ˜ 60 km/s in the direction of the toroidal current. The n=1 kink instability and the plasma flows driven by the magnetic reconnection are consider to be responsible for the self-reversal of the magnetic fields. [1] M. Nagata el al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 225001 (2003). [2] Y. Kagei el al., Plasma. Phys. Control. Fusion 45, L17 (2003).

HBT-EP Program: MHD Dynamics and Active Control through 3D Fields and Currents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navratil, G. A.; Bialek, J.; Brooks, J. W.; Byrne, P. J.; Desanto, S.; Levesque, J. P.; Mauel, M. E.; Stewart, I. G.; Hansen, C. J.

2017-10-01

The HBT-EP active mode control research program aims to: (i) advance understanding of the effects of 3D shaping on advanced tokamak fusion performance, (ii) resolve important MHD issues associated with disruptions, and (iii) measure and mitigate the effects of 3D scrape-off layer (SOL) currents through active and passive control of the plasma edge and conducting boundary structures. Comparison of kink mode structure and RMP response in circular versus diverted plasmas shows good agreement with DCON modeling. SOL current measurements have been used to study SOL current dynamics and current-sharing with the vacuum vessel wall during kink-mode growth and disruptions. A multi-chord extreme UV/soft X-ray array is being installed to provide detailed internal mode structure information. Internal local electrodes were used to apply local bias voltage at two radial locations to study the effect of rotation profile on MHD mode rotation and stability and radial current flow through the SOL. A GPU-based low latency control system using 96 inputs and 64 outputs to apply magnetic perturbations for active control of kink modes is extended to directly control the SOL currents for kink-mode control. An extensive array of SOL current monitors and edge drive electrodes are being installed for pioneering studies of helical edge current control. Supported by U.S. DOE Grant DE-FG02-86ER53222.

Extended-MHD Studies of Flow-Profile Effects on Edge Harmonic Oscillations in QH-mode Discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, J. R.; Burrell, K. H.; Garofalo, A. M.; Jenkins, T. G.; Kruger, S. E.; Snyder, P. B.

2012-10-01

It is desirable to have an ITER H-mode regime that is quiescent to edge-localized modes (ELMs). ELMs deposit large, localized, impulsive, surface heat loads that can damage the divertor. One such quiescent regime with edge harmonic oscillations (EHO) is observed on DIII-D, JET, JT-60U, and ASDEX-U [1]. The physical mechanisms of EHO are not fully understood, but linear MHD calculations suggest EHO may be a saturated kink-peeling mode partially driven by flow-profile shear [2]. We present preliminary EHO computations using the extended-MHD NIMROD code. The model incorporates first-order FLR effects and parallel heat flows. Using reconstructed DIII-D profiles from discharges with EHO, we scan the ExB and polodial flow profiles and compute linear stability. The aim is to ascertain the role of the ExB flow shear, as motivated by experimental results [3], and to compare with theoretical predictions where the growth rate is enhanced at intermediate wavenumbers and cut-off at large wavenumbers by diamagnetic effects [4]. Initial nonlinear computations exploring the EHO saturation mechanism are presented.[4pt] [1] Phys. Plasmas, v19, p056117, 2012 (and refs. within).[0pt] [2] Nucl. Fusion, v47, p961, 2007.[0pt] [3] Nucl. Fusion, v51, p083018, 2011.[0pt] [4] Phys. Plasmas v10, p4405, 2003.

Conceptual design study of the moderate size superconducting spherical tokamak power plant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gi, Keii; Ono, Yasushi; Nakamura, Makoto; Someya, Youji; Utoh, Hiroyasu; Tobita, Kenji; Ono, Masayuki

2015-06-01

A new conceptual design of the superconducting spherical tokamak (ST) power plant was proposed as an attractive choice for tokamak fusion reactors. We reassessed a possibility of the ST as a power plant using the conservative reactor engineering constraints often used for the conventional tokamak reactor design. An extensive parameters scan which covers all ranges of feasible superconducting ST reactors was completed, and five constraints which include already achieved plasma magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and confinement parameters in ST experiments were established for the purpose of choosing the optimum operation point. Based on comparison with the estimated future energy costs of electricity (COEs) in Japan, cost-effective ST reactors can be designed if their COEs are smaller than 120 mills kW-1 h-1 (2013). We selected the optimized design point: A = 2.0 and Rp = 5.4 m after considering the maintenance scheme and TF ripple. A self-consistent free-boundary MHD equilibrium and poloidal field coil configuration of the ST reactor were designed by modifying the neutral beam injection system and plasma profiles. The MHD stability of the equilibrium was analysed and a ramp-up scenario was considered for ensuring the new ST design. The optimized moderate-size ST power plant conceptual design realizes realistic plasma and fusion engineering parameters keeping its economic competitiveness against existing energy sources in Japan.

Edge-localized mode avoidance and pedestal structure in I-mode plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walk, J. R., E-mail: jrwalk@psfc.mit.edu; Hughes, J. W.; Hubbard, A. E.

I-mode is a high-performance tokamak regime characterized by the formation of a temperature pedestal and enhanced energy confinement, without an accompanying density pedestal or drop in particle and impurity transport. I-mode operation appears to have naturally occurring suppression of large Edge-Localized Modes (ELMs) in addition to its highly favorable scalings of pedestal structure and overall performance. Extensive study of the ELMy H-mode has led to the development of the EPED model, which utilizes calculations of coupled peeling-ballooning MHD modes and kinetic-ballooning mode (KBM) stability limits to predict the pedestal structure preceding an ELM crash. We apply similar tools to themore » structure and ELM stability of I-mode pedestals. Analysis of I-mode discharges prepared with high-resolution pedestal data from the most recent C-Mod campaign reveals favorable pedestal scalings for extrapolation to large machines—pedestal temperature scales strongly with power per particle P{sub net}/n{sup ¯}{sub e}, and likewise pedestal pressure scales as the net heating power (consistent with weak degradation of confinement with heating power). Matched discharges in current, field, and shaping demonstrate the decoupling of energy and particle transport in I-mode, increasing fueling to span nearly a factor of two in density while maintaining matched temperature pedestals with consistent levels of P{sub net}/n{sup ¯}{sub e}. This is consistent with targets for increased performance in I-mode, elevating pedestal β{sub p} and global performance with matched increases in density and heating power. MHD calculations using the ELITE code indicate that I-mode pedestals are strongly stable to edge peeling-ballooning instabilities. Likewise, numerical modeling of the KBM turbulence onset, as well as scalings of the pedestal width with poloidal beta, indicates that I-mode pedestals are not limited by KBM turbulence—both features identified with the trigger for large ELMs, consistent with the observed suppression of large ELMs in I-mode.« less

Edge-localized mode avoidance and pedestal structure in I-mode plasmasa)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walk, J. R.; Hughes, J. W.; Hubbard, A. E.; Terry, J. L.; Whyte, D. G.; White, A. E.; Baek, S. G.; Reinke, M. L.; Theiler, C.; Churchill, R. M.; Rice, J. E.; Snyder, P. B.; Osborne, T.; Dominguez, A.; Cziegler, I.

2014-05-01

I-mode is a high-performance tokamak regime characterized by the formation of a temperature pedestal and enhanced energy confinement, without an accompanying density pedestal or drop in particle and impurity transport. I-mode operation appears to have naturally occurring suppression of large Edge-Localized Modes (ELMs) in addition to its highly favorable scalings of pedestal structure and overall performance. Extensive study of the ELMy H-mode has led to the development of the EPED model, which utilizes calculations of coupled peeling-ballooning MHD modes and kinetic-ballooning mode (KBM) stability limits to predict the pedestal structure preceding an ELM crash. We apply similar tools to the structure and ELM stability of I-mode pedestals. Analysis of I-mode discharges prepared with high-resolution pedestal data from the most recent C-Mod campaign reveals favorable pedestal scalings for extrapolation to large machines—pedestal temperature scales strongly with power per particle Pnet/n ¯e, and likewise pedestal pressure scales as the net heating power (consistent with weak degradation of confinement with heating power). Matched discharges in current, field, and shaping demonstrate the decoupling of energy and particle transport in I-mode, increasing fueling to span nearly a factor of two in density while maintaining matched temperature pedestals with consistent levels of Pnet/n ¯e. This is consistent with targets for increased performance in I-mode, elevating pedestal βp and global performance with matched increases in density and heating power. MHD calculations using the ELITE code indicate that I-mode pedestals are strongly stable to edge peeling-ballooning instabilities. Likewise, numerical modeling of the KBM turbulence onset, as well as scalings of the pedestal width with poloidal beta, indicates that I-mode pedestals are not limited by KBM turbulence—both features identified with the trigger for large ELMs, consistent with the observed suppression of large ELMs in I-mode.

Investigation of fast ion pressure effects in ASDEX Upgrade by spectral MSE measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reimer, René; Dinklage, Andreas; Wolf, Robert; Dunne, Mike; Geiger, Benedikt; Hobirk, Jörg; Reich, Matthias; ASDEX Upgrade Team; McCarthy, Patrick J.

2017-04-01

High precision measurements of fast ion effects on the magnetic equilibrium in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak have been conducted in a high-power (10 MW) neutral-beam injection discharge. An improved analysis of the spectral motional Stark effect data based on forward-modeling, including the Zeeman effect, fine-structure and non-statistical sub-level distribution, revealed changes in the order of 1% in |B| . The results were found to be consistent with results from the equilibrium solver CLISTE. The measurements allowed us to derive the fast ion pressure fraction to be Δ {{p}\\text{FI}}/{{p}\\text{mhd}}≈ 10 % and variations of the fast ion pressure are consistent with calculations of the transport code TRANSP. The results advance the understanding of fast ion confinement and magneto-hydrodynamic stability in the presence of fast ions.

2010 August 1–2 Sympathetic Eruptions. II. Magnetic Topology of the MHD Background Field

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Titov, Viacheslav S.; Mikić, Zoran; Török, Tibor

Using a potential field source-surface (PFSS) model, we recently analyzed the global topology of the background coronal magnetic field for a sequence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred on 2010 August 1–2. Here we repeat this analysis for the background field reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that incorporates plasma thermodynamics. As for the PFSS model, we find that all three CME source regions contain a coronal hole (CH) that is separated from neighboring CHs by topologically very similar pseudo-streamer structures. However, the two models yield very different results for the size, shape, and flux of the CHs. Wemore » find that the helmet-streamer cusp line, which corresponds to a source-surface null line in the PFSS model, is structurally unstable and does not form in the MHD model. Our analysis indicates that, generally, in MHD configurations, this line instead consists of a multiple-null separator passing along the edge of disconnected-flux regions. Some of these regions are transient and may be the origin of the so-called streamer blobs. We show that the core topological structure of such blobs is a three-dimensional “plasmoid” consisting of two conjoined flux ropes of opposite handedness, which connect at a spiral null point of the magnetic field. Our analysis reveals that such plasmoids also appear in pseudo-streamers on much smaller scales. These new insights into the coronal magnetic topology provide some intriguing implications for solar energetic particle events and for the properties of the slow solar wind.« less

2010 August 1-2 Sympathetic Eruptions. II. Magnetic Topology of the MHD Background Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titov, Viacheslav S.; Mikić, Zoran; Török, Tibor; Linker, Jon A.; Panasenco, Olga

2017-08-01

Using a potential field source-surface (PFSS) model, we recently analyzed the global topology of the background coronal magnetic field for a sequence of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that occurred on 2010 August 1-2. Here we repeat this analysis for the background field reproduced by a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model that incorporates plasma thermodynamics. As for the PFSS model, we find that all three CME source regions contain a coronal hole (CH) that is separated from neighboring CHs by topologically very similar pseudo-streamer structures. However, the two models yield very different results for the size, shape, and flux of the CHs. We find that the helmet-streamer cusp line, which corresponds to a source-surface null line in the PFSS model, is structurally unstable and does not form in the MHD model. Our analysis indicates that, generally, in MHD configurations, this line instead consists of a multiple-null separator passing along the edge of disconnected-flux regions. Some of these regions are transient and may be the origin of the so-called streamer blobs. We show that the core topological structure of such blobs is a three-dimensional “plasmoid” consisting of two conjoined flux ropes of opposite handedness, which connect at a spiral null point of the magnetic field. Our analysis reveals that such plasmoids also appear in pseudo-streamers on much smaller scales. These new insights into the coronal magnetic topology provide some intriguing implications for solar energetic particle events and for the properties of the slow solar wind.

MHD modeling of DIII-D QH-mode discharges and comparison to observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Jacob

2016-10-01

MHD modeling of DIII-D QH-mode discharges and comparison to observations Nonlinear NIMROD simulations, initialized from a reconstruction of a DIII-D QH-mode discharge with broadband MHD, saturate into a turbulent state, but do not saturate when flow is not included. This is consistent with the experimental results of the quiescent regime observed on DIII-D with broadband MHD activity [Garofalo et al., PoP (2015) and refs. within]. These ELM-free discharges have the normalized pedestal-plasma confinement necessary for burning-plasma operation on ITER. Relative to QH-mode operation with more coherent MHD activity, operation with broadband MHD tends to occur at higher densities and lower rotation and thus may be more relevant to ITER. The nonlinear NIMROD simulations require highly accurate equilibrium reconstructions. Our equilibrium reconstructions include the scrape-off-layer profiles and the measured toroidal and poloidal rotation profiles. The simulation develops into a saturated turbulent state and the n=1 and 2 modes become dominant through an inverse cascade. Each toroidal mode in the range of n=1-5 is dominant at a different time. The perturbations are advected and sheared apart in the counter-clockwise direction consistent with the direction of the poloidal flow inside the LCFS. Work towards validation through comparison to magnetic coil and Doppler reflectometry measurements is presented. Consistent with experimental observations during QH-mode, the simulated state leads to large particle transport relative to the thermal transport. Analysis shows that the phase of the density and temperature perturbations differ resulting in greater convective particle transport relative to the convective thermal transport. This work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science and the SciDAC Center for Extended MHD Modeling under Contract Numbers DE-FC02-06ER54875, DE-FC02-08ER54972 and DE-FC02-04ER54698.

A randomized controlled trial of long term effect of BCM guided fluid management in MHD patients (BOCOMO study): rationales and study design

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) has been reported as helpful in identifying hypervolemia. Observation data showed that hypervolemic maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients identified using BIA methods have higher mortality risk. However, it is not known if BIA-guided fluid management can improve MHD patients’ survival. The objectives of the BOCOMO study are to evaluate the outcome of BIA guided fluid management compared with standard care. Methods This is a multicenter, prospective, randomized, controlled trial. More than 1300 participants from 16 clinical sites will be included in the study. The enrolment period will last 6 months, and minimum length of follow-up will be 36 months. MHD patients aged between 18 years and 80 years who have been on MHD for at least 3 months and meet eligibility criteria will be invited to participate in the study. Participants will be randomized to BIA arm or control arm in a 1:1 ratio. A portable whole body bioimpedance spectroscopy device (BCM—Fresenius Medical Care D GmbH) will be used for BIA measurement at baseline for both arms of the study. In the BIA arm, additional BCM measurements will be performed every 2 months. The primary intent-to-treat analysis will compare outcomes for a composite endpoint of death, acute myocardial infarction, stroke or incident peripheral arterial occlusive disease between groups. Secondary endpoints will include left ventricular wall thickness, blood pressure, medications, and incidence and length of hospitalization. Discussions Previous results regarding the benefit of strict fluid control are conflicting due to small sample sizes and unstable dry weight estimating methods. To our knowledge this is the first large-scale, multicentre, prospective, randomized controlled trial to assess whether BIS-guided volume management improves outcomes of MHD patients. The endpoints of the BOCOMO study are of utmost importance to health care providers. In order to obtain that aim, the study was designed with very careful important considerations related to the endpoints, sample size, inclusion criteria, exclusion criteria and so on. For example, annual mortality of Beijing MHD patients was around 10%. To reach statistical significance, the sample size will be very large. By using composite endpoint, the sample size becomes reasonable and feasible. Limiting inclusion to patients with urine volume less than 800 ml/day the day before dialysis session will limit confounding due to residual renal function effects on the measured parameters. Patients who had received BIS measurement within 3 months prior to enrolment are excluded as data from such measurements might lead to protocol violation. Although not all patients enrolled will be incident patients, we will record the vintage of dialysis in the multivariable analysis. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials NCT01509937 PMID:23006960

Coronal magnetohydrodynamic waves and oscillations: observations and quests.

PubMed

Aschwanden, Markus J

2006-02-15

Coronal seismology, a new field of solar physics that emerged over the last 5 years, provides unique information on basic physical properties of the solar corona. The inhomogeneous coronal plasma supports a variety of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) wave modes, which manifest themselves as standing waves (MHD oscillations) and propagating waves. Here, we briefly review the physical properties of observed MHD oscillations and waves, including fast kink modes, fast sausage modes, slow (acoustic) modes, torsional modes, their diagnostics of the coronal magnetic field, and their physical damping mechanisms. We discuss the excitation mechanisms of coronal MHD oscillations and waves: the origin of the exciter, exciter propagation, and excitation in magnetic reconnection outflow regions. Finally, we consider the role of coronal MHD oscillations and waves for coronal heating, the detectability of various MHD wave types, and we estimate the energies carried in the observed MHD waves and oscillations: Alfvénic MHD waves could potentially provide sufficient energy to sustain coronal heating, while acoustic MHD waves fall far short of the required coronal heating rates.

Hybrid parallelization of the XTOR-2F code for the simulation of two-fluid MHD instabilities in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marx, Alain; Lütjens, Hinrich

2017-03-01

A hybrid MPI/OpenMP parallel version of the XTOR-2F code [Lütjens and Luciani, J. Comput. Phys. 229 (2010) 8130] solving the two-fluid MHD equations in full tokamak geometry by means of an iterative Newton-Krylov matrix-free method has been developed. The present work shows that the code has been parallelized significantly despite the numerical profile of the problem solved by XTOR-2F, i.e. a discretization with pseudo-spectral representations in all angular directions, the stiffness of the two-fluid stability problem in tokamaks, and the use of a direct LU decomposition to invert the physical pre-conditioner at every Krylov iteration of the solver. The execution time of the parallelized version is an order of magnitude smaller than the sequential one for low resolution cases, with an increasing speedup when the discretization mesh is refined. Moreover, it allows to perform simulations with higher resolutions, previously forbidden because of memory limitations.

Rotation profile flattening and toroidal flow shear reversal due to the coupling of magnetic islands in tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Tobias, B.; Chen, M.; Classen, I. G. J.; ...

2016-04-15

The electromagnetic coupling of helical modes, including those having different toroidal mode numbers, modifies the distribution of toroidal angular momentum in tokamak discharges. This can have deleterious effects on other transport channels as well as on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and disruptivity. At low levels of externally injected momentum, the coupling of core-localized modes initiates a chain of events, whereby flattening of the core rotation profile inside successive rational surfaces leads to the onset of a large m/n = 2/1 tearing mode and locked-mode disruption. Furthermore, with increased torque from neutral beam injection, neoclassical tearing modes in the core may phase-lockmore » to each other without locking to external fields or structures that are stationary in the laboratory frame. The dynamic processes observed in these cases are in general agreement with theory, and detailed diagnosis allows for momentum transport analysis to be performed, revealing a significant torque density that peaks near the 2/1 rational surface. However, as the coupled rational surfaces are brought closer together by reducing q95, additional momentum transport in excess of that required to attain a phase-locked state is sometimes observed. Rather than maintaining zero differential rotation (as is predicted to be dynamically stable by single-fluid, resistive MHD theory), these discharges develop hollow toroidal plasma fluid rotation profiles with reversed plasma flow shear in the region between the m/n = 3/2 and 2/1 islands. Additional forces expressed in this state are not readily accounted for, and therefore, analysis of these data highlights the impact of mode coupling on torque balance and the challenges associated with predicting the rotation dynamics of a fusion reactor-a key issue for ITER. Published by AIP Publishing.« less

Analysis of Alfvén eigenmode destabilization by energetic particles in Large Helical Device using a Landau-closure model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varela, J.; Spong, D. A.; Garcia, L.

2017-04-01

Energetic particle populations in nuclear fusion experiments can destabilize the Alfvén Eigenmodes through inverse Landau damping and couplings with gap modes in the shear Alfvén continua. We use the reduced MHD equations to describe the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles. We add the Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects using a closure relation. We apply the model to study the Alfvén mode stability in the inward-shifted configurations of the Large Helical Device (LHD), performing a parametric analysis of the energetic particle β ({βf} ) in a range of realistic values, the ratios of the energetic particle thermal/Alfvén velocities ({{V}\\text{th}}/{{V}A0} ), the magnetic Lundquist numbers (S) and the toroidal modes (n). The n  =  1 and n  =  2 TAEs are destabilized, although the n  =  3 and n  =  4 TAEs are weakly perturbed. The most unstable configurations are associated with the density gradients of energetic particles in the plasma core: the TAEs are destabilized, even for small energetic particle populations, if their thermal velocity is lower than 0.4 times the Alfvén velocity. The frequency range of MHD bursts measured in the LHD are 50-70 kHz for the n  =  1 and 60-80 kHz for the n  =  2 TAE, which is consistent with the model predictions. ).

Rotation profile flattening and toroidal flow shear reversal due to the coupling of magnetic islands in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tobias, B.; Grierson, B. A.; Okabayashi, M.

2016-05-15

The electromagnetic coupling of helical modes, even those having different toroidal mode numbers, modifies the distribution of toroidal angular momentum in tokamak discharges. This can have deleterious effects on other transport channels as well as on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and disruptivity. At low levels of externally injected momentum, the coupling of core-localized modes initiates a chain of events, whereby flattening of the core rotation profile inside successive rational surfaces leads to the onset of a large m/n = 2/1 tearing mode and locked-mode disruption. With increased torque from neutral beam injection, neoclassical tearing modes in the core may phase-lock to each othermore » without locking to external fields or structures that are stationary in the laboratory frame. The dynamic processes observed in these cases are in general agreement with theory, and detailed diagnosis allows for momentum transport analysis to be performed, revealing a significant torque density that peaks near the 2/1 rational surface. However, as the coupled rational surfaces are brought closer together by reducing q{sub 95}, additional momentum transport in excess of that required to attain a phase-locked state is sometimes observed. Rather than maintaining zero differential rotation (as is predicted to be dynamically stable by single-fluid, resistive MHD theory), these discharges develop hollow toroidal plasma fluid rotation profiles with reversed plasma flow shear in the region between the m/n = 3/2 and 2/1 islands. The additional forces expressed in this state are not readily accounted for, and therefore, analysis of these data highlights the impact of mode coupling on torque balance and the challenges associated with predicting the rotation dynamics of a fusion reactor—a key issue for ITER.« less

Discharge start-up and ramp-up development for NSTX-U and MAST-U

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battaglia, D. J.; Boyer, M. D.; Gerhardt, S. P.; Menard, J. E.; Mueller, D.; Cunningham, G.; Kirk, A.; Kogan, L.; McArdle, G.; Pangione, L.; Thornton, A. J.; Ren, E.

2017-10-01

A collaborative modeling effort is underway to develop robust inductive start-up and ramp-up scenarios for NSTX-U and MAST-U. These complementary spherical tokamak devices aim to generate the physics basis for achieving steady-state, high-beta and high-confinement plasma discharges with a self-consistent solution for managing the divertor heat flux. High-performance discharges in these devices require sufficient plasma elongation (κ = 2.4 - 2.8) to maximize the bootstrap and beam-driven current drive, increase MHD stability at high Ip and high βN, and realize advanced divertor geometries such as the snowflake and super-X. Achieving the target elongation on NSTX-U is enabled by an L-H transition in the current ramp-up that slows the current diffusion and maintains a low internal inductance (li <= 0.8). Modeling focuses on developing scenarios that achieve a suitable field null for breakdown and discharge conditions conducive to an early L-H transition while maintaining vertical and MHD stability, with appropriate margin for variation in experimental conditions. The toroidal currents induced in conducting structures and the specifications of the real-time control and power supply systems are unique constraints for the two devices. Work Supported by U.S. DOE Contract No. DE-AC02-09CH11466 and the RCUK Energy Programme [Grant Number EP/P012450/1].

Weak stability of the plasma-vacuum interface problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Catania, Davide; D'Abbicco, Marcello; Secchi, Paolo

2016-09-01

We consider the free boundary problem for the two-dimensional plasma-vacuum interface in ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). In the plasma region, the flow is governed by the usual compressible MHD equations, while in the vacuum region we consider the Maxwell system for the electric and the magnetic fields. At the free interface, driven by the plasma velocity, the total pressure is continuous and the magnetic field on both sides is tangent to the boundary. We study the linear stability of rectilinear plasma-vacuum interfaces by computing the Kreiss-Lopatinskiĭ determinant of an associated linearized boundary value problem. Apart from possible resonances, we obtain that the piecewise constant plasma-vacuum interfaces are always weakly linearly stable, independently of the size of tangential velocity, magnetic and electric fields on both sides of the characteristic discontinuity. We also prove that solutions to the linearized problem obey an energy estimate with a loss of regularity with respect to the source terms, both in the interior domain and on the boundary, due to the failure of the uniform Kreiss-Lopatinskiĭ condition, as the Kreiss-Lopatinskiĭ determinant associated with this linearized boundary value problem has roots on the boundary of the frequency space. In the proof of the a priori estimates, a crucial part is played by the construction of symmetrizers for a reduced differential system, which has poles at which the Kreiss-Lopatinskiĭ condition may fail simultaneously.

Non-stationarity and cross-correlation effects in the MHD solar activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demin, S. A.; Nefedyev, Y. A.; Andreev, A. O.; Demina, N. Y.; Timashev, S. F.

2018-01-01

The analysis of turbulent processes in sunspots and pores which are self-organizing long-lived magnetic structures is a complicated and not yet solved problem. The present work focuses on studying such magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) formations on the basis of flicker-noise spectroscopy using a new method of multi-parametric analysis. The non-stationarity and cross-correlation effects taking place in solar activity dynamics are considered. The calculated maximum values of non-stationarity factor may become precursors of significant restructuring in solar magnetic activity. The introduced cross-correlation functions enable us to judge synchronization effects between the signals of various solar activity indicators registered simultaneously.

C-2W Magnetic Measurement Suite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roche, T.; Thompson, M. C.; Griswold, M.; Knapp, K.; Koop, B.; Ottaviano, A.; Tobin, M.; TAE, Tri Alpha Energy, Inc. Team

2017-10-01

Commissioning and early operations are underway on C-2W, Tri Alpha Energy's new FRC experiment. The increased complexity level of this machine requires an equally enhanced diagnostic capability. A fundamental component of any magnetically confined fusion experiment is a firm understanding of the magnetic field itself. C-2W is outfitted with over 700 magnetic field probes, 550 internal and 150 external. Innovative in-vacuum annular flux loop / B-dot combination probes will provide information about plasma shape, size, pressure, energy, total temperature, and trapped flux when coupled with establish theoretical interpretations. The massive Mirnov array, consisting of eight rings of eight 3D probes, will provide detailed information about plasma motion, stability, and MHD modal content with the aid of singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis. Internal Rogowski probes will detect the presence of axial currents flowing in the plasma jet in multiple axial locations. Initial data from this array of diagnostics will be presented along with some interpretation and discussion of the analysis techniques used.

MHD biconvective flow of Powell Eyring nanofluid over stretched surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naseem, Faiza; Shafiq, Anum; Zhao, Lifeng; Naseem, Anum

2017-06-01

The present work is focused on behavioral characteristics of gyrotactic microorganisms to describe their role in heat and mass transfer in the presence of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) forces in Powell-Eyring nanofluids. Implications concerning stretching sheet with respect to velocity, temperature, nanoparticle concentration and motile microorganism density were explored to highlight influential parameters. Aim of utilizing microorganisms was primarily to stabilize the nanoparticle suspension due to bioconvection generated by the combined effects of buoyancy forces and magnetic field. Influence of Newtonian heating was also analyzed by taking into account thermophoretic mechanism and Brownian motion effects to insinuate series solutions mediated by homotopy analysis method (HAM). Mathematical model captured the boundary layer regime that explicitly involved contemporary non linear partial differential equations converted into the ordinary differential equations. To depict nanofluid flow characteristics, pertinent parameters namely bioconvection Lewis number Lb, traditional Lewis number Le, bioconvection Péclet number Pe, buoyancy ratio parameter Nr, bioconvection Rayleigh number Rb, thermophoresis parameter Nt, Hartmann number M, Grashof number Gr, and Eckert number Ec were computed and analyzed. Results revealed evidence of hydromagnetic bioconvection for microorganism which was represented by graphs and tables. Our findings further show a significant effect of Newtonian heating over a stretching plate by examining the coefficient values of skin friction, local Nusselt number and the local density number. Comparison was made between Newtonian fluid and Powell-Eyring fluid on velocity field and temperature field. Results are compared of with contemporary studies and our findings are found in excellent agreement with these studies.

Magnetohydrodynamic power generation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, J. L.

1984-01-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Power Generation is a concise summary of MHD theory, history, and future trends. Results of the major international MHD research projects are discussed. Data from MHD research is included. Economics of initial and operating costs are considered.

Kinetically Stabilized Axisymmetric Tandem Mirrors: Summary of Studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Post, R F

2005-02-08

The path to practical fusion power through plasma confinement in magnetic fields, if it is solely based on the present front-runner, the tokamak, is clearly long, expensive, and arduous. The root causes for this situation lie in the effects of endemic plasma turbulence and in the complexity the tokamak's ''closed'' field geometry. The studies carried out in the investigations described in the attached reports are aimed at finding an approach that does not suffer from these problems. This goal is to be achieved by employing an axisymmetric ''open'' magnetic field geometry, i.e. one generated by a linear array of circularmore » magnet coils, and employing the magnetic mirror effect in accomplishing the plugging of end leakage. More specifically, the studies were aimed at utilizing the tandem-mirror concept in an axisymmetric configuration to achieve performance superior to the tokamak, and in a far simpler system, one for which the cost and development time could be much lower than that for the tokamak, as exemplified by ITER and its follow-ons. An important stimulus for investigating axisymmetric versions of the tandem mirror is the fact that, beginning from early days in fusion research there have been examples of axisymmetric mirror experiments where the plasma exhibited crossfield transport far below the turbulence-enhanced rates characteristic of tokamaks, in specific cases approaching the ''classical'' rate. From the standpoint of theory, axisymmetric mirror-based systems have special characteristics that help explain the low levels of turbulence that have been observed. Among these are the facts that there are no parallel currents in the equilibrium state, and that the drift surfaces of all of the trapped particles are closed surfaces, as shown early on by Teller and Northrop. In addition, in such systems it is possible to arrange that the radial boundary of the confined plasma terminates without contact with the chamber wall. This possibility reduces the probability of so-called ''temperature-gradient'' instabilities, known to be endemic to closed systems. Finally, the open-ended nature of the field readily allows the control of the radial potential distribution, a circumstance that has been shown, for example in the Gamma 10 tandem-mirror experiment at Tsukuba Japan, to suppress drift-type instability modes. Standing against all of these attractive properties of axisymmetric mirror-based systems is the fact, shown early on, that such systems are prone to MHD ''interchange'' instabilities, one in which the plasma column drifts transversely, at a rate far above classical transport. Observed early on, the ''cure'' that was universally adopted, as first demonstrated in the famous ''Ioffe experiment'', was to abandon axisymmetry and employ so-called ''magnetic-well'' fields, ones in which the field increases radially and axially from its interior, strongly suppressing the MHD interchange mode, up to plasma ''beta'' values approaching unity, observed in the 2X2B experiment. When the tandem mirror concept was introduced in 1976 every experiment that was constructed employed various combinations of non-axisymmetric coil configurations (''Baseball,'' and ''Yin-Yang'' coils) to create the magnetic fields. But it came at a heavy price: non-axisymmetric fields gave rise to new non-classical loss channels, and the complexity of the fields introduced difficult engineering problems. It was well recognized at the time that it would be highly advantageous to preserve axisymmetry of the tandem mirror coils, but there was no apparent way to stabilize the ubiquitous MHD interchange mode. A decade later a way to accomplish this end was analyzed theoretically, and, a few years later successfully demonstrated experimentally, in the Gas Dynamic Trap (GDT) experiment at Novosibirsk. The concept: the presence of a sufficient amount of plasma on the expanding field lines outside the end mirrors of a mirror machine can act as an ''anchor,'' MHD stabilizing the interior, confined, plasma. Moreover, Ryutov's theory showed that the pressure of this anchor plasma could be orders of magnitude smaller than that of the confined plasma, and still be able to stabilize it. In the GDT, which operates in a collision-dominated region (as opposed to the near-collisionless mode of a tandem mirror), the effluent plasma, though much lower in density than that of the confined plasma, is sufficient to stabilize the central plasma, up to plasma beta values of 40 percent. Furthermore, once MHD stabilized, the confined plasma in the GDT exhibited no signs of plasma turbulence or enhanced cross-field transport, even in the presence of a substantial population of high energy ions produced by neutral-beam injection.« less

Results from conceptual design study of potential early commercial MHD/steam power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hals, F.; Kessler, R.; Swallom, D.; Westra, L.; Zar, J.; Morgan, W.; Bozzuto, C.

1981-01-01

This paper presents conceptual design information for a potential early MHD power plant developed in the second phase of a joint study of such plants. Conceptual designs of plant components and equipment with performance, operational characteristics and costs are reported on. Plant economics and overall performance including full and part load operation are reviewed. Environmental aspects and the methods incorporated in plant design for emission control of sulfur and nitrogen oxides are reviewed. Results from reliability/availability analysis conducted are also included.

Optimization of Kink Stability in High-Beta Quasi-axisymmetric Stellarators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, G. Y.; Ku, L.-P.; Manickam, J.; Cooper, W. A.

1998-11-01

A key issue for design of Quasi-axisymmetric stellarators( A. Reiman et al, this conference.) (QAS) is the stability of external kink modes driven by pressure-induced bootstrap current. In this work, the 3D MHD stability code TERPSICHORE(W.A. Cooper, Phys. Plasmas 3), 275(1996). is used to calculate the stability of low-n external kink modes in a high-beta QAS. The kink stability is optimized by adjusting plasma boundary shape (i.e., external coil configuration) as well as plasma pressure and current profiles. For this purpose, the TERPSICHORE code has been implemented successfully in an optimizer which maximizes kink stability as well as quasi-symmetry. A key factor for kink stability is rotational transform profile. It is found that the edge magnetic shear is strongly stabilizing. The amount of the shear needed for complete stabilization increases with edge transform. It is also found that the plasma boundary shape plays an important role in the kink stability besides transform profile. The physics mechanisms for the kink stability are being studied by examining the contributions of individual terms in δ W of the energy principle: the field line bending term, the current-driven term, the pressure-driven term, and the vacuum term. Detailed results will be reported.

Magnetohydrodynamic pressure drop and flow balancing of liquid metal flow in a prototypic fusion blanket manifold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhodes, Tyler J.; Smolentsev, Sergey; Abdou, Mohamed

2018-05-01

Understanding magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) phenomena associated with the flow of electrically conducting fluids in complex geometry ducts subject to a strong magnetic field is required to effectively design liquid metal (LM) blankets for fusion reactors. Particularly, accurately predicting the 3D MHD pressure drop and flow distribution is important. To investigate these topics, we simulate a LM MHD flow through an electrically non-conducting prototypic manifold for a wide range of flow and geometry parameters using a 3D MHD solver, HyPerComp incompressible MHD solver for arbitrary geometry. The reference manifold geometry consists of a rectangular feeding duct which suddenly expands such that the duct thickness in the magnetic field direction abruptly increases by a factor rexp. Downstream of the sudden expansion, the LM is distributed into several parallel channels. As a first step in qualifying the flow, a magnitude of the curl of the induced Lorentz force was used to distinguish between inviscid, irrotational core flows and boundary and internal shear layers where inertia and/or viscous forces are important. Scaling laws have been obtained which characterize the 3D MHD pressure drop and flow balancing as a function of the flow parameters and the manifold geometry. Associated Hartmann and Reynolds numbers in the computations were ˜103 and ˜101-103, respectively, while rexp was varied from 4 to 12. An accurate model for the pressure drop was developed for the first time for inertial-electromagnetic and viscous-electromagnetic regimes based on 96 computed cases. Analysis shows that flow balance can be improved by lengthening the distance between the manifold inlet and the entrances of the parallel channels by utilizing the effect of flow transitioning to a quasi-two-dimensional state in the expansion region of the manifold.

Trigger mechanism for the abrupt loss of energetic ions in magnetically confined plasmas.

PubMed

Ida, K; Kobayashi, T; Yoshinuma, M; Akiyama, T; Tokuzawa, T; Tsuchiya, H; Itoh, K; Itoh, S-I

2018-02-12

Interaction between a quasi-stable stationary MHD mode and a tongue-shaped deformation is observed in the toroidal plasma with energetic particle driven MHD bursts. The quasi-stable stationary 1/1 MHD mode with interchange parity appears near the resonant rational surface of q = 1 between MHD bursts. The tongue-shaped deformation rapidly appears at the non-resonant non-rational surface as a localized large plasma displacement and then collapses (tongue event). It curbs the stationary 1/1 MHD mode and then triggers the collapse of energetic particle and magnetic field reconnection. The rotating 1/1 MHD mode with tearing parity at the q = 1 resonant surface, namely, the MHD burst, is excited after the tongue event.

Investigation of MHD instabilities and control in KSTAR preparing for high beta operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Y. S.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Bialek, J. M.; Berkery, J. W.; Lee, S. G.; Ko, W. H.; Bak, J. G.; Jeon, Y. M.; Park, J. K.; Kim, J.; Hahn, S. H.; Ahn, J.-W.; Yoon, S. W.; Lee, K. D.; Choi, M. J.; Yun, G. S.; Park, H. K.; You, K.-I.; Bae, Y. S.; Oh, Y. K.; Kim, W.-C.; Kwak, J. G.

2013-08-01

Initial H-mode operation of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) is expanded to higher normalized beta and lower plasma internal inductance moving towards design target operation. As a key supporting device for ITER, an important goal for KSTAR is to produce physics understanding of MHD instabilities at long pulse with steady-state profiles, at high normalized beta, and over a wide range of plasma rotation profiles. An advance from initial plasma operation is a significant increase in plasma stored energy and normalized beta, with Wtot = 340 kJ, βN = 1.9, which is 75% of the level required to reach the computed ideal n = 1 no-wall stability limit. The internal inductance was lowered to 0.9 at sustained H-mode duration up to 5 s. In ohmically heated plasmas, the plasma current reached 1 MA with prolonged pulse length up to 12 s. Rotating MHD modes are observed in the device with perturbations having tearing rather than ideal parity. Modes with m/n = 3/2 are triggered during the H-mode phase but are relatively weak and do not substantially reduce Wtot. In contrast, 2/1 modes to date only appear when the plasma rotation profiles are lowered after H-L back-transition. Subsequent 2/1 mode locking creates a repetitive collapse of βN by more than 50%. Onset behaviour suggests the 3/2 mode is close to being neoclassically unstable. A correlation between the 2/1 mode amplitude and local rotation shear from an x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer suggests that the rotation shear at the mode rational surface is stabilizing. As a method to access the ITER-relevant low plasma rotation regime, plasma rotation alteration by n = 1, 2 applied fields and associated neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) induced torque is presently investigated. The net rotation profile change measured by a charge exchange recombination diagnostic with proper compensation of plasma boundary movement shows initial evidence of non-resonant rotation damping by the n = 1, 2 applied field configurations. The result addresses perspective on access to low rotation regimes for MHD instability studies applicable to ITER. Computation of active RWM control using the VALEN-3D code examines control performance using midplane locked mode detection sensors. The LM sensors are found to be strongly affected by mode and control coil-induced vessel current, and consequently lead to limited control performance theoretically.

Experiments and models of MHD jets and their relevance to astrophysics and solar physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellan, Paul M.

2018-05-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)-driven jets involve poloidal and toroidal magnetic fields, finite pressure gradients, and unbalanced forces. The mechanism driving these jets is first discussed qualitatively by decomposing the magnetic force into a curvature and a gradient component. The mechanism is then considered quantitatively by consideration of all terms in the three components of the MHD equation of motion and in addition, the implications of Ampere's law, Faraday's law, the ideal Ohm's law, and the equation of continuity. The analysis shows that jets are self-collimating with the tip of the jet moving more slowly than the main column of the jet so there is a continuous stagnation near the tip in the jet frame. Experiments supporting these conclusions are discussed and it is shown how this mechanism relates to jets in astrophysical and solar corona contexts.

Magnetohydrodynamic Augmented Propulsion Experiment: I. Performance Analysis and Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litchford, R. J.; Cole, J. W.; Lineberry, J. T.; Chapman, J. N.; Schmidt, H. J.; Lineberry, C. W.

2003-01-01

The performance of conventional thermal propulsion systems is fundamentally constrained by the specific energy limitations associated with chemical fuels and the thermal limits of available materials. Electromagnetic thrust augmentation represents one intriguing possibility for improving the fuel composition of thermal propulsion systems, thereby increasing overall specific energy characteristics; however, realization of such a system requires an extremely high-energy-density electrical power source as well as an efficient plasma acceleration device. This Technical Publication describes the development of an experimental research facility for investigating the use of cross-field magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) accelerators as a possible thrust augmentation device for thermal propulsion systems. In this experiment,a 1.5-MW(sub e) Aerotherm arc heater is used to drive a 2-MW(sub e) MHD accelerator. The heatsink MHD accelerator is configured as an externally diagonalized, segmented channel, which is inserted into a large-bore, 2-T electromagnet. The performance analysis and engineering design of the flow path are described as well as the parameter measurements and flow diagnostics planned for the initial series of test runs.

Efficient Low Dissipative High Order Schemes for Multiscale MHD Flows, I: Basic Theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sjoegreen, Bjoern; Yee, H. C.

2003-01-01

The objective of this paper is to extend our recently developed highly parallelizable nonlinear stable high order schemes for complex multiscale hydrodynamic applications to the viscous MHD equations. These schemes employed multiresolution wavelets as adaptive numerical dissipation controls t o limit the amount of and to aid the selection and/or blending of the appropriate types of dissipation to be used. The new scheme is formulated for both the conservative and non-conservative form of the MHD equations in curvilinear grids. The four advantages of the present approach over existing MHD schemes reported in the open literature are as follows. First, the scheme is constructed for long-time integrations of shock/turbulence/combustion MHD flows. Available schemes are too diffusive for long-time integrations and/or turbulence/combustion problems. Second, unlike exist- ing schemes for the conservative MHD equations which suffer from ill-conditioned eigen- decompositions, the present scheme makes use of a well-conditioned eigen-decomposition obtained from a minor modification of the eigenvectors of the non-conservative MHD equations t o solve the conservative form of the MHD equations. Third, this approach of using the non-conservative eigensystem when solving the conservative equations also works well in the context of standard shock-capturing schemes for the MHD equations. Fourth, a new approach to minimize the numerical error of the divergence-free magnetic condition for high order schemes is introduced. Numerical experiments with typical MHD model problems revealed the applicability of the newly developed schemes for the MHD equations.

MHD Turbulence Sheared in Fixed and Rotating Frames

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kassinos, S. C.; Knaepen, B.; Wray, A.

2004-01-01

We consider homogeneous turbulence in a conducting fluid that is exposed to a uniform external magnetic field while being sheared in fixed and rotating frames. We take both the frame-rotation axis and the applied magnetic field to be aligned in the direction normal to the plane of the mean shear. Here a systematic parametric study is carried out in a series of Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) in order to clarify the main effects determining the structural anisotropy and stability of the flow.

Conservation Laws and Ponderomotive Force for Non-WKB, MHD Waves in the Solar Wind

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKenzie, J. F.; Webb, G. M.; Zank, G. P.; Kaghashvili, E. K.; Ratkiewicz, R. E.

2004-12-01

The interaction of non-WKB Alfvén waves in the Solar Wind was investigated by Heinemann and Olbert (1980), MacGregor and Charbonneau (1994) and others. MacGregor and Charbonneau (1994) investigated non-WKB Alfvén wave driven winds. We discuss both the canonical and physical wave stress energy tensors for non-WKB, MHD waves and the ponderomotive force exerted by the waves on the wind for the case where both compressible (magneto-acoustic type waves) and incompressible waves (Alfvén waves) are present. The equations for the waves include the effects of wave mixing (i.e. the interaction of the waves with each other via gradients in the background flow). Wave mixing is known to be an important element of turbulence theory in the Solar Wind. However, only the wave mixing of Alfvénic type disturbances have been accounted for in present models of Solar Wind turbulence (e.g. Zhou and Matthaeus, 1990), which use Elssässer variables to describe the perturbations. The relationship between the present analysis and nearly incompressible MHD (reduced MHD) is at present unclear. Also unclear is the relationship between the present analysis and theories using wave-mean field interactions (e.g. Grimshaw (1984), Holm (1999)). The analysis is based on a theory for wave and background stress-energy tensors developed by Webb et al. (2004a,b) using a Lagrangian formulation of the total system of waves and background plasma (see e.g. Dewar (1970) for the WKB case). Conservation laws for the total system of waves and background plasma result from application of Noether's theorems relating Lie symmetries of the action to conservation laws.

Lower hybrid current drive in experiments for transport barriers at high βN of JET (Joint European Torus)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cesario, R. C.; Castaldo, C.; Fonseca, A.; De Angelis, R.; Parail, V.; Smeulders, P.; Beurskens, M.; Brix, M.; Calabrò, G.; De Vries, P.; Mailloux, J.; Pericoli, V.; Ravera, G.; Zagorski, R.

2007-09-01

LHCD has been used in JET experiments aimed at producing internal transport barriers (ITBs) in highly triangular plasmas (δ≈0.4) at high βN (up to 3) for steady-state application. The LHCD is a potentially valuable tool for (i) modifying the target q-profile, which can help avoid deleterious MHD modes and favour the formation of ITBs, and (ii) contributing to the non-inductive current drive required to prolong such plasma regimes. The q-profile evolution has been simulated during the current ramp-up phase for such a discharge (B0 = 2.3 T, IP = 1.5 MA) where 2 MW of LHCD has been coupled. The JETTO code was used taking measured plasma profiles, and the LHCD profile modeled by the LHstar code. The results are in agreement with MSE measurements and indicate the importance of the elevated electron temperature due to LHCD, as well as the driven current. During main heating with 18 MW of NBI and 3 MW of ICRH the bootstrap current density at the edge also becomes large, consistently with the observed reduction of the local turbulence and of the MHD activity. JETTO modelling suggests that the bootstrap current can reduce the magnetic shear (sh) at large radius, potentially affecting the MHD stability and turbulence behaviour in this region. Keywords: lower hybrid current drive (LHCD), bootstrap current, q (safety factor) and shear (sh) profile evolutions.

The Statistical Mechanics of Ideal MHD Turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shebalin, John V.

2003-01-01

Turbulence is a universal, nonlinear phenomenon found in all energetic fluid and plasma motion. In particular. understanding magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence and incorporating its effects in the computation and prediction of the flow of ionized gases in space, for example, are great challenges that must be met if such computations and predictions are to be meaningful. Although a general solution to the "problem of turbulence" does not exist in closed form, numerical integrations allow us to explore the phase space of solutions for both ideal and dissipative flows. For homogeneous, incompressible turbulence, Fourier methods are appropriate, and phase space is defined by the Fourier coefficients of the physical fields. In the case of ideal MHD flows, a fairly robust statistical mechanics has been developed, in which the symmetry and ergodic properties of phase space is understood. A discussion of these properties will illuminate our principal discovery: Coherent structure and randomness co-exist in ideal MHD turbulence. For dissipative flows, as opposed to ideal flows, progress beyond the dimensional analysis of Kolmogorov has been difficult. Here, some possible future directions that draw on the ideal results will also be discussed. Our conclusion will be that while ideal turbulence is now well understood, real turbulence still presents great challenges.

Exploring reconnection, current sheets, and dissipation in a laboratory MHD turbulence experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaffner, D. A.

2015-12-01

The Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment (SSX) can serve as a testbed for studying MHD turbulence in a controllable laboratory setting, and in particular, explore the phenomena of reconnection, current sheets and dissipation in MHD turbulence. Plasma with turbulently fluctuating magnetic and velocity fields can be generated using a plasma gun source and launched into a flux-conserving cylindrical tunnel. No background magnetic field is applied so internal fields are allowed to evolve dynamically. Point measurements of magnetic and velocity fluctuations yield broadband power-law spectra with a steepening breakpoint indicative of the onset of a dissipation scale. The frequency range at which this steepening occurs can be correlated to the ion inertial scale of the plasma, a length which is characteristic of the size of current sheets in MHD plasmas and suggests a connection to dissipation. Observation of non-Gaussian intermittent jumps in magnetic field magnitude and angle along with measurements of ion temperature bursts suggests the presence of current sheets embedded within the turbulent plasma, and possibly even active reconnection sites. Additionally, structure function analysis coupled with appeals to fractal scaling models support the hypothesis that current sheets are associated with dissipation in this system.

Generation and characterization of gas bubbles in liquid metals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eckert, S.; Gerbeth, G.; Witke, W.

1996-06-01

There is an ongoing research performed in the RCR on local transport phenomena in turbulent liquid metal (LM) duct flows exposed to external magnetic fields. In this context so-called MHD flow phenomena can be observed, which are unknown in usual hydraulic engineering. The field of interest covers also the influence of magnetic fields on the behaviour of liquid metal - gas mixtures. Profound knowledge on these LMMHD two-phase flow plays an important role in a variety of technological applications, in particular, in the design of Liquid-Metal MHD generators or for several metallurgical processes employing gas-stirred reactors. However, the highly empiricalmore » nature of two-phase flow analysis gives little hope for the prediction of MHD two-phase flows without extensive experimental data. A summary is given about the authors research activities focussing on two directions: (a) Momentum transfer between gas and liquid metal in a bubbly flow regime to investigate the influence of the external magnetic field on the velocity slip ration S (b) Peculiarities of the MHD turbulence to use small gas bubbles as local tracers in order to study the turbulent mass transfer.« less

Effects of variable electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity on unsteady MHD free convection flow past an exponential accelerated inclined plate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rana, B. M. Jewel; Ahmed, Rubel; Ahmmed, S. F.

2017-06-01

An analysis is carried out to investigate the effects of variable viscosity, thermal radiation, absorption of radiation and cross diffusion past an inclined exponential accelerated plate under the influence of variable heat and mass transfer. A set of suitable transformations has been used to obtain the non-dimensional coupled governing equations. Explicit finite difference technique has been used to solve the obtained numerical solutions of the present problem. Stability and convergence of the finite difference scheme have been carried out for this problem. Compaq Visual Fortran 6.6a has been used to calculate the numerical results. The effects of various physical parameters on the fluid velocity, temperature, concentration, coefficient of skin friction, rate of heat transfer, rate of mass transfer, streamlines and isotherms on the flow field have been presented graphically and discussed in details.

Impact of ideal MHD stability limits on high-beta hybrid operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piovesan, P.; Igochine, V.; Turco, F.; Ryan, D. A.; Cianciosa, M. R.; Liu, Y. Q.; Marrelli, L.; Terranova, D.; Wilcox, R. S.; Wingen, A.; Angioni, C.; Bock, A.; Chrystal, C.; Classen, I.; Dunne, M.; Ferraro, N. M.; Fischer, R.; Gude, A.; Holcomb, C. T.; Lebschy, A.; Luce, T. C.; Maraschek, M.; McDermott, R.; Odstrčil, T.; Paz-Soldan, C.; Reich, M.; Sertoli, M.; Suttrop, W.; Taylor, N. Z.; Weiland, M.; Willensdorfer, M.; The ASDEX Upgrade Team; The DIII-D Team; The EUROfusion MST1 Team

2017-01-01

The hybrid scenario is a candidate for stationary high-fusion gain tokamak operation in ITER and DEMO. To obtain such performance, the energy confinement and the normalized pressure {βN} must be maximized, which requires operating near or above ideal MHD no-wall limits. New experimental findings show how these limits can affect hybrid operation. Even if hybrids are mainly limited by tearing modes, proximity to the no-wall limit leads to 3D field amplification that affects plasma profiles, e.g. rotation braking is observed in ASDEX Upgrade throughout the plasma and peaks in the core. As a result, even the small ASDEX Upgrade error fields are amplified and their effects become visible. To quantify such effects, ASDEX Upgrade measured the response to 3D fields applied by 8× 2 non-axisymmetric coils as {βN} approaches the no-wall limit. The full n  =  1 response profile and poloidal structure were measured by a suite of diagnostics and compared with linear MHD simulations, revealing a characteristic feature of hybrids: the n  =  1 response is due to a global, marginally-stable n  =  1 kink characterized by a large m  =  1, n  =  1 core harmonic due to q min being just above 1. A helical core distortion of a few cm forms and affects various core quantities, including plasma rotation, electron and ion temperature, and intrinsic W density. In similar experiments, DIII-D also measured the effect of this helical core on the internal current profile, providing information useful to understanding of the physics of magnetic flux pumping, i.e. anomalous current redistribution by MHD modes that keeps {{q}\\text{min}}>1 . Thanks to flux pumping, a broad current profile is maintained in DIII-D even with large on-axis current drive, enabling fully non-inductive operation at high {βN} up to 3.5-4.

Impact of ideal MHD stability limits on high-beta hybrid operation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Piovesan, Paolo; Igochine, V.; Turco, F.

Here, the hybrid scenario is a candidate for stationary high-fusion gain tokamak operation in ITER and DEMO. To obtain such performance, the energy confinement and the normalized pressuremore » $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ must be maximized, which requires operating near or above ideal MHD no-wall limits. New experimental findings show how these limits can affect hybrid operation. Even if hybrids are mainly limited by tearing modes, proximity to the no-wall limit leads to 3D field amplification that affects plasma profiles, e.g. rotation braking is observed in ASDEX Upgrade throughout the plasma and peaks in the core. As a result, even the small ASDEX Upgrade error fields are amplified and their effects become visible. To quantify such effects, ASDEX Upgrade measured the response to 3D fields applied by $$8\\times 2$$ non-axisymmetric coils as $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ approaches the no-wall limit. The full n = 1 response profile and poloidal structure were measured by a suite of diagnostics and compared with linear MHD simulations, revealing a characteristic feature of hybrids: the n = 1 response is due to a global, marginally-stable n = 1 kink characterized by a large m = 1, n = 1 core harmonic due to q min being just above 1. A helical core distortion of a few cm forms and affects various core quantities, including plasma rotation, electron and ion temperature, and intrinsic W density. In similar experiments, DIII-D also measured the effect of this helical core on the internal current profile, providing information useful to understanding of the physics of magnetic flux pumping, i.e. anomalous current redistribution by MHD modes that keeps $${{q}_{\\text{min}}}>1$$ . Thanks to flux pumping, a broad current profile is maintained in DIII-D even with large on-axis current drive, enabling fully non-inductive operation at high $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ up to 3.5–4.« less

Impact of ideal MHD stability limits on high-beta hybrid operation

DOE PAGES

Piovesan, Paolo; Igochine, V.; Turco, F.; ...

2016-10-27

Here, the hybrid scenario is a candidate for stationary high-fusion gain tokamak operation in ITER and DEMO. To obtain such performance, the energy confinement and the normalized pressuremore » $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ must be maximized, which requires operating near or above ideal MHD no-wall limits. New experimental findings show how these limits can affect hybrid operation. Even if hybrids are mainly limited by tearing modes, proximity to the no-wall limit leads to 3D field amplification that affects plasma profiles, e.g. rotation braking is observed in ASDEX Upgrade throughout the plasma and peaks in the core. As a result, even the small ASDEX Upgrade error fields are amplified and their effects become visible. To quantify such effects, ASDEX Upgrade measured the response to 3D fields applied by $$8\\times 2$$ non-axisymmetric coils as $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ approaches the no-wall limit. The full n = 1 response profile and poloidal structure were measured by a suite of diagnostics and compared with linear MHD simulations, revealing a characteristic feature of hybrids: the n = 1 response is due to a global, marginally-stable n = 1 kink characterized by a large m = 1, n = 1 core harmonic due to q min being just above 1. A helical core distortion of a few cm forms and affects various core quantities, including plasma rotation, electron and ion temperature, and intrinsic W density. In similar experiments, DIII-D also measured the effect of this helical core on the internal current profile, providing information useful to understanding of the physics of magnetic flux pumping, i.e. anomalous current redistribution by MHD modes that keeps $${{q}_{\\text{min}}}>1$$ . Thanks to flux pumping, a broad current profile is maintained in DIII-D even with large on-axis current drive, enabling fully non-inductive operation at high $${{\\beta}_{N}}$$ up to 3.5–4.« less

Dynamics of energetic particle driven modes and MHD modes in wall-stabilized high-β plasmas on JT-60U and DIII-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsunaga, G.; Okabayashi, M.; Aiba, N.; Boedo, J. A.; Ferron, J. R.; Hanson, J. M.; Hao, G. Z.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Holcomb, C. T.; In, Y.; Jackson, G. L.; Liu, Y. Q.; Luce, T. C.; McKee, G. R.; Osborne, T. H.; Pace, D. C.; Shinohara, K.; Snyder, P. B.; Solomon, W. M.; Strait, E. J.; Turnbull, A. D.; Van Zeeland, M. A.; Watkins, J. G.; Zeng, L.; the DIII-D Team; the JT-60 Team

2013-12-01

In the wall-stabilized high-β plasmas in JT-60U and DIII-D, interactions between energetic particle (EP) driven modes (EPdMs) and edge localized modes (ELMs) have been observed. The interaction between the EPdM and ELM are reproducibly observed. Many EP diagnostics indicate a strong correlation between the distorted waveform of the EPdM and the EP transport to the edge. The waveform distortion is composed of higher harmonics (n ⩾ 2) and looks like a density snake near the plasma edge. According to statistical analyses, ELM triggering by the EPdMs requires a finite level of waveform distortion and pedestal recovery. ELM pacing by the EPdMs occurs when the repetition frequency of the EPdMs is higher than the natural ELM frequency. EPs transported by EPdMs are thought to contribute to change the edge stability.

Influence of toroidal rotation on resistive tearing modes in tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S.; Ma, Z. W.

2015-12-01

Influence of toroidal equilibrium plasma rotation on m/n = 2/1 resistive tearing modes is studied numerically using a 3D toroidal MHD code (CLT). It is found that the toroidal rotation with or without shear can suppress the tearing instability and the Coriolis effect in the toroidal geometry plays a dominant role on the rotation induced stabilization. For a high viscosity plasma (τR/τV ≫ 1, where τR and τV represent resistive and viscous diffusion time, respectively), the effect of the rotation shear combined with the viscosity appears to be stabilizing. For a low viscosity plasmas (τR/τV ≪ 1), the rotation shear shows a destabilizing effect when the rotation is large.

Numerical analysis of real gas MHD flow on two-dimensional self-field MPD thrusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xisto, Carlos M.; Páscoa, José C.; Oliveira, Paulo J.

2015-07-01

A self-field magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster is a low-thrust electric propulsion space-system that enables the usage of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) principles for accelerating a plasma flow towards high speed exhaust velocities. It can produce an high specific impulse, making it suitable for long duration interplanetary space missions. In this paper numerical results obtained with a new code, which is being developed at C-MAST (Centre for Mechanical and Aerospace Technologies), for a two-dimensional self-field MPD thruster are presented. The numerical model is based on the macroscopic MHD equations for compressible and electrically resistive flow and is able to predict the two most important thrust mechanisms that are associated with this kind of propulsion system, namely the thermal thrust and the electromagnetic thrust. Moreover, due to the range of very high temperatures that could occur during the operation of the MPD, it also includes a real gas model for argon.

Gas Core Reactor Numerical Simulation Using a Coupled MHD-MCNP Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kazeminezhad, F.; Anghaie, S.

2008-01-01

Analysis is provided in this report of using two head-on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks to achieve supercritical nuclear fission in an axially elongated cylinder filled with UF4 gas as an energy source for deep space missions. The motivation for each aspect of the design is explained and supported by theory and numerical simulations. A subsequent report will provide detail on relevant experimental work to validate the concept. Here the focus is on the theory of and simulations for the proposed gas core reactor conceptual design from the onset of shock generations to the supercritical state achieved when the shocks collide. The MHD model is coupled to a standard nuclear code (MCNP) to observe the neutron flux and fission power attributed to the supercritical state brought about by the shock collisions. Throughout the modeling, realistic parameters are used for the initial ambient gaseous state and currents to ensure a resulting supercritical state upon shock collisions.

Newtonian CAFE: a new ideal MHD code to study the solar atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Avilés, J. J.; Cruz-Osorio, A.; Lora-Clavijo, F. D.; Guzmán, F. S.

2015-12-01

We present a new code designed to solve the equations of classical ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in three dimensions, submitted to a constant gravitational field. The purpose of the code centres on the analysis of solar phenomena within the photosphere-corona region. We present 1D and 2D standard tests to demonstrate the quality of the numerical results obtained with our code. As solar tests we present the transverse oscillations of Alfvénic pulses in coronal loops using a 2.5D model, and as 3D tests we present the propagation of impulsively generated MHD-gravity waves and vortices in the solar atmosphere. The code is based on high-resolution shock-capturing methods, uses the Harten-Lax-van Leer-Einfeldt (HLLE) flux formula combined with Minmod, MC, and WENO5 reconstructors. The divergence free magnetic field constraint is controlled using the Flux Constrained Transport method.

Magnetic field effects on electrochemical metal depositions.

PubMed

Bund, Andreas; Ispas, Adriana; Mutschke, Gerd

2008-04-01

This paper discusses recent experimental and numerical results from the authors' labs on the effects of moderate magnetic (B) fields in electrochemical reactions. The probably best understood effect of B fields during electrochemical reactions is the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effect. In the majority of cases it manifests itself in increased mass transport rates which are a direct consequence of Lorentz forces in the bulk of the electrolyte. This enhanced mass transport can directly affect the electrocrystallization. The partial currents for the nucleation of nickel in magnetic fields were determined using an in situ micro-gravimetric technique and are discussed on the basis of the nucleation model of Heerman and Tarallo. Another focus of the paper is the numerical simulation of MHD effects on electrochemical metal depositions. A careful analysis of the governing equations shows that many MHD problems must be treated in a 3D geometry. In most cases there is a complex interplay of natural and magnetically driven convection.

Performance optimization of an MHD generator with physical constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pian, C. C. P.; Seikel, G. R.; Smith, J. M.

1979-01-01

A technique has been described which optimizes the power out of a Faraday MHD generator operating under a prescribed set of electrical and magnetic constraints. The method does not rely on complicated numerical optimization techniques. Instead the magnetic field and the electrical loading are adjusted at each streamwise location such that the resultant generator design operates at the most limiting of the cited stress levels. The simplicity of the procedure makes it ideal for optimizing generator designs for system analysis studies of power plants. The resultant locally optimum channel designs are, however, not necessarily the global optimum designs. The results of generator performance calculations are presented for an approximately 2000 MWe size plant. The difference between the maximum power generator design and the optimal design which maximizes net MHD power are described. The sensitivity of the generator performance to the various operational parameters are also presented.

Anisotropy of MHD Turbulence at Low Magnetic Reynolds Number

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zikanov, O.; Vorobev, A.; Thess, A.; Davidson, P. A.; Knaepen, B.

2004-01-01

Turbulent fluctuations in MHD flows are known to become dimensionally anisotropic under the action of a sufficiently strong magnetic field. We consider the technologically relevant case of low magnetic Reynolds number and apply the method of DNS of forced flow in a periodic box to generate velocity fields. The analysis based on different anisotropy characteristics shows that the dimensional anisotropy is virtually scale-independent. We also find that, except for the case of very strong magnetic field, the flow is componentally isotropic. Its kinetic energy is practically uniformly distributed among the velocity components.

Determining the Importance of Energy Transfer between Magnetospheric Regions via MHD Waves using Constellations of Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cattell, Cynthia A.

2004-01-01

This grant was focused on research in two specific areas: (1) development of new techniques and software for assimilation, analysis and visualization of data from multiple satellites making in-situ measurements; and (2) determination of the role of MHD waves in energy transport during storms and substorms. Results were obtained in both areas and presented at national meetings and in publications. The talks and papers that were supported in part or fully by this grant are listed in this paper.

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a twisting solar polar coronal hole jet observed by SDO/AIA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhelyazkov, I.; Zaqarashvili, T. V.; Ofman, L.; Chandra, R.

2018-01-01

We investigate the conditions under which the fluting (m = 2), m = 3 , and m = 12 magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes in a uniformly twisted flux tube moving along its axis become unstable in order to model the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability in a twisting solar coronal hole jet near the northern pole of the Sun. We employed the dispersion relations of MHD modes derived from the linearized MHD equations. We assumed real wavenumbers and complex angular wave frequencies, namely complex wave phse velocities. The dispersion relations were solved numerically at fixed input parameters (taken from observational data) and varying degrees of torsion of the internal magnetic field. It is shown that the stability of the modes depends upon five parameters: the density contrast between the flux tube and its environment, the ratio of the external and internal axial magnetic fields, the twist of the magnetic field lines inside the tube, the ratio of transverse and axial jet's velocities, and the value of the Alfvén Mach number (the ratio of the tube axial velocity to Alfvén speed inside the flux tube). Using a twisting jet of 2010 August 21 by SDO/AIA and other observations of coronal jets we set the parameters of our theoretical model and have obtained that in a twisted magnetic flux tube of radius of 9.8 Mm, at a density contrast of 0.474 and fixed Alfvén Mach number of ≅ 0.76 , for the three MHD modes there exist instability windows whose width crucially depends upon the internal magnetic field twist. It is found that for the considered modes an azimuthal magnetic field of 1.3 - 1.4 G (computed at the tube boundary) makes the width of the instability windows equal to zero, that is, it suppress the KH instability onset. On the other hand, the times for developing KH instability of the m = 12 MHD mode at instability wavelengths between 15 and 12 Mm turn out to be in the range of 1.9 - 4.7 min that is in agreement with the growth rates estimated from the temporal evolution of the observed unstable jet's blobs in their initial stage.

Magnetic islands and singular currents at rational surfaces in three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equilibria

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Loizu, J., E-mail: joaquim.loizu@ipp.mpg.de; Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton New Jersey 08543; Hudson, S.

2015-02-15

Using the recently developed multiregion, relaxed MHD (MRxMHD) theory, which bridges the gap between Taylor's relaxation theory and ideal MHD, we provide a thorough analytical and numerical proof of the formation of singular currents at rational surfaces in non-axisymmetric ideal MHD equilibria. These include the force-free singular current density represented by a Dirac δ-function, which presumably prevents the formation of islands, and the Pfirsch-Schlüter 1/x singular current, which arises as a result of finite pressure gradient. An analytical model based on linearized MRxMHD is derived that can accurately (1) describe the formation of magnetic islands at resonant rational surfaces, (2)more » retrieve the ideal MHD limit where magnetic islands are shielded, and (3) compute the subsequent formation of singular currents. The analytical results are benchmarked against numerical simulations carried out with a fully nonlinear implementation of MRxMHD.« less

Multi-physics simulations of space weather

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gombosi, Tamas; Toth, Gabor; Sokolov, Igor; de Zeeuw, Darren; van der Holst, Bart; Cohen, Ofer; Glocer, Alex; Manchester, Ward, IV; Ridley, Aaron

Presently magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models represent the "workhorse" technology for simulating the space environment from the solar corona to the ionosphere. While these models are very successful in describing many important phenomena, they are based on a low-order moment approximation of the phase-space distribution function. In the last decade our group at the Center for Space Environment Modeling (CSEM) has developed the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) that efficiently couples together different models describing the interacting regions of the space environment. Many of these domain models (such as the global solar corona, the inner heliosphere or the global magnetosphere) are based on MHD and are represented by our multiphysics code, BATS-R-US. BATS-R-US can solve the equations of "standard" ideal MHD, but it can also go beyond this first approximation. It can solve resistive MHD, Hall MHD, semi-relativistic MHD (that keeps the displacement current), multispecies (different ion species have different continuity equations) and multifluid (all ion species have separate continuity, momentum and energy equations) MHD. Recently we added two-fluid Hall MHD (solving the electron and ion energy equations separately) and are working on extended magnetohydrodynamics with anisotropic pressures. This talk will show the effects of added physics and compare space weather simulation results to "standard" ideal MHD.

Characterization of peeling modes in a low aspect ratio tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bongard, M. W.; Thome, K. E.; Barr, J. L.; Burke, M. G.; Fonck, R. J.; Hinson, E. T.; Redd, A. J.; Schlossberg, D. J.

2014-11-01

Peeling modes are observed at the plasma edge in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment under conditions of high edge current density (Jedge ˜ 0.1 MA m-2) and low magnetic field (B ˜ 0.1 T) present at near-unity aspect ratio. Their macroscopic properties are measured using external Mirnov coil arrays, Langmuir probes and high-speed visible imaging. The modest edge parameters and short pulse lengths of Pegasus discharges permit direct measurement of the internal magnetic field structure with an insertable array of Hall-effect sensors, providing the current profile and its temporal evolution. Peeling modes generate coherent, edge-localized electromagnetic activity with low toroidal mode numbers n ⩽ 3 and high poloidal mode numbers, in agreement with theoretical expectations of a low-n external kink structure. Coherent MHD fluctuation amplitudes are found to be strongly dependent on the experimentally measured Jedge/B peeling instability drive, consistent with theory. Peeling modes nonlinearly generate ELM-like, field-aligned filamentary structures that detach from the edge and propagate radially outward. The KFIT equilibrium code is extended with an Akima spline profile parameterization and an improved model for induced toroidal wall current estimation to obtain a reconstruction during peeling activity with its current profile constrained by internal Hall measurements. It is used to test the analytic peeling stability criterion and numerically evaluate ideal MHD stability. Both approaches predict instability, in agreement with experiment, with the latter identifying an unstable external kink.

A GDT-based fusion neutron source for academic and industrial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, J. K.; Forest, C. B.; Mirnov, V. V.; Peterson, E. E.; Waleffe, R.; Wallace, J.; Harvey, R. W.

2017-10-01

The design of a fusion neutron source based on the gas dynamic trap (GDT) configuration is underway. The motivation is both the ends and the means. There are immediate applications for neutrons including medical isotope production and actinide burners. Taking the next step in the magnetic mirror path will leverage advances in high-temperature superconducting magnets and additive manufacturing in confining a fusion plasma, and both the technological and physics bases exist. Recent breakthrough results at the GDT facility in Russia demonstrate stable confinement of a beta 60% mirror plasma at high Te ( 1 keV). These scale readily to a fusion neutron source with an increase in magnetic field, mirror ratio, and ion energy. Studies of a next-step compact device focus on calculations of MHD equilibrium and stability, and Fokker-Planck modeling to optimize the heating scenario. The conceptualized device uses off-the-shelf MRI magnets for a 1 T central field, REBCO superconducting mirror coils (which can currently produce fields in excess of 30T), and existing 75 keV NBI and 140 GHz ECRH. High harmonic fast wave injection is damped on beam ions, dramatically increasing the fusion reactivity for an incremental bump in input power. MHD stability is achieved with the vortex confinement scheme, where a biasing profile imposes optimal ExB rotation of the plasma. Liquid metal divertors are being considered in the end cells. Work supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

Proposed Approach to Stable High Beta Plasmas in ET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, R. J.; Carter, T. A.; Gauvreau, J.-L.; Gourdain, P.-A.; Grossman, A.; Lafonteese, D. J.; Pace, D. C.; Schmitz, L. W.

2003-10-01

Five second long plasmas have been produced in ET with ease. We need these long pulses to evolve high beta equilibria under controlled conditions. However, equilibrium control is lost to internal disruptions due to the development of giant sawteeth on the 1 second time scale. This time scale is approximately the central energy confinement time, while the central particle confinement time is much longer than 1 second. This persistent limitation is present in ohmic and ICRF heated discharges. MHD stable current profiles have been found using DCON(A.H. Glasser, private communication) but transport related phenomena like giant sawteeth and uncontrolled transport barrier evolution are not yet part of a simple stability study. We are advocating avoiding the evolution of giant sawtooth and conditions responsible for MHD instabilities as opposed to exploring their stabilization. This is equivalent to the statement that self-organized plasmas are in fact not welcome in long pulse tokamaks. We intend to prevent self-organization by the application of a multi-faceted ICRF strategy. The in house technology is ready but the approach needs to be artful and not preconceived. The flexibility built into the ET hardware is likely to help us to find a way to achieve global plasma control. It is essential that this work be pursued geared towards parameter performance and configuration control. Both require a significant commitment to understanding the device physics AND delivering on the engineering required for control and performance.

Impact of velocity space distribution on hybrid kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the (1,1) mode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Charlson C.

2008-07-15

Numeric studies of the impact of the velocity space distribution on the stabilization of (1,1) internal kink mode and excitation of the fishbone mode are performed with a hybrid kinetic-magnetohydrodynamic model. These simulations demonstrate an extension of the physics capabilities of NIMROD[C. R. Sovinec et al., J. Comput. Phys. 195, 355 (2004)], a three-dimensional extended magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code, to include the kinetic effects of an energetic minority ion species. Kinetic effects are captured by a modification of the usual MHD momentum equation to include a pressure tensor calculated from the {delta}f particle-in-cell method [S. E. Parker and W. W. Lee,more » Phys. Fluids B 5, 77 (1993)]. The particles are advanced in the self-consistent NIMROD fields. We outline the implementation and present simulation results of energetic minority ion stabilization of the (1,1) internal kink mode and excitation of the fishbone mode. A benchmark of the linear growth rate and real frequency is shown to agree well with another code. The impact of the details of the velocity space distribution is examined; particularly extending the velocity space cutoff of the simulation particles. Modestly increasing the cutoff strongly impacts the (1,1) mode. Numeric experiments are performed to study the impact of passing versus trapped particles. Observations of these numeric experiments suggest that assumptions of energetic particle effects should be re-examined.« less

Development and Application of Predictive Tools for MHD Stability Limits in Tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brennan, Dylan; Miller, G. P.

This is a project to develop and apply analytic and computational tools to answer physics questions relevant to the onset of non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in toroidal magnetic confinement plasmas. The focused goal of the research is to develop predictive tools for these instabilities, including an inner layer solution algorithm, a resistive wall with control coils, and energetic particle effects. The production phase compares studies of instabilities in such systems using analytic techniques, PEST- III and NIMROD. Two important physics puzzles are targeted as guiding thrusts for the analyses. The first is to form an accurate description of the physicsmore » determining whether the resistive wall mode or a tearing mode will appear first as β is increased at low rotation and low error fields in DIII-D. The second is to understand the physical mechanism behind recent NIMROD results indicating strong damping and stabilization from energetic particle effects on linear resistive modes. The work seeks to develop a highly relevant predictive tool for ITER, advance the theoretical description of this physics in general, and analyze these instabilities in experiments such as ASDEX Upgrade, DIII-D, JET, JT-60U and NTSX. The awardee on this grant is the University of Tulsa. The research efforts are supervised principally by Dr. Brennan. Support is included for two graduate students, and a strong collaboration with Dr. John M. Finn of LANL. The work includes several ongoing collaborations with General Atomics, PPPL, and the NIMROD team, among others.« less

Non-Inductively Driven Tokamak Plasmas at Near-Unity Toroidal Beta in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reusch, Joshua

2017-10-01

A major goal of the spherical tokamak research program is accessing a state of low internal inductance li, high elongation κ, high toroidal and normalized beta (βt and βN) , and low collisionality without solenoidal current drive. A new local helicity injection (LHI) system in the lower divertor region of the ultra-low aspect ratio Pegasus ST provides non-solenoidally driven plasmas that exhibit most of these characteristics. LHI utilizes compact, edge-localized current sources (Ainj 4 cm2, Iinj 8 kA, Vinj 1.5 kV) for plasma startup and sustainment, and can sustain more than 200 kA of plasma current. Plasma growth via LHI is enhanced by a transition from a regime of high kink-like MHD activity to one of reduced MHD activity at higher frequencies and presumably shorter wavelengths. The strong edge current drive provided by LHI results in a hollow current density profile with low li. The low aspect ratio (R0 / a 1.2) of Pegasus allows ready access to high κ and MHD stable operation at very high normalized plasma currents (IN =Ip /aBT> 15). Thomson scattering measurements indicate Te 100 eV and ne 1 ×19 m-3. The impurity Ti evolution is correlated in time with high frequency magnetic fluctuations, implying substantial reconnection ion heating is driven by the applied helicity injection. Doppler spectroscopy indicates Ti >=Te and that the anomalous ion heating scales consistently with two fluid reconnection theory. Taken together, these features provide access to very high βt plasmas. Equilibrium analyses indicate βt up to 100% and βN 6.5 is achieved. At increasingly low BT, the discharge disrupts at the no-wall ideal stability limit. In these high βt discharges, a minimum |B| well forms over 50% of the plasma volume. This unique magnetic configuration may be of interest for testing predictions of stabilizing drift wave turbulence and/or improving energetic particle confinement. This work supported by US DOE Grants DE-FG02-96ER54375 and DE-SC0006928.

Rapporteur report: MHD electric power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seikel, G. R.

1980-01-01

Five US papers from the Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on MHD Electrical Power Generation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are summarized. Results of the initial parametric phase of the US effort on the study of potential early commercial MHD plants are reported and aspects of the smaller commercial prototype plant termed the Engineering Test Facility are discussed. The alternative of using a disk geometry generator rather than a linear generator in baseload MHD plants is examined. Closed-cycle as well as open-cycle MHD plants are considered.

Inverted Temperature Loops in The Quiet Corona: Properties and Physical Origin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Z.; van der Holst, B.; Frazin, R. A.; Nuevo, F.; Vásquez, A. M.; Manchester, W.; Sokolov, I.; Gombosi, T. I.

2013-12-01

Huang et al. 2012 revealed the existence of inverted temperature ("down") loops, in which temperature decreases with height, as well as the usual ("up") loops, in which the temperature increases with height, in the quiet solar Corona. It was shown that the "down" loops are mostly located at low latitudes and "up" loops most often appear in high latitudes. A recent study by Nuevo et al. 2013 confirmed this discovery and further showed that the "down" loop population is greatest at solar minimum; and strongly decreases with solar activity. Moreover, the "down" loops were found to be associated with values of the plasma beta greater than about unity, while the "up" loops were associated with much smaller values of beta. Here, we review the properties of "up" and "down" loops, and employ a state-of-the-art global MHD model to understand the physics of these loops as well as to investigate their thermodynamic stability. The 3D MHD model uses a phenomenological wave dissipation model based on wave reflection (proportional to the Alfvén speed gradients) and turbulent dissipation.

Constructing the spectral web of rotating plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goedbloed, Hans

2012-10-01

Rotating plasmas are ubiquitous in nature. The theory of MHD stability of such plasmas, initiated a long time ago, has severely suffered from the wide spread misunderstanding that it necessarily involves non-self-adjoint operators. It has been shown (J.P. Goedbloed, PPCF 16, 074001, 2011; Goedbloed, Keppens and Poedts, Advanced Magnetohydrodynamics, Cambridge, 2010) that, on the contrary, spectral theory of moving plasmas can be constructed entirely on the basis of energy conservation and self-adjointness of the occurring operators. The spectral web is a further development along this line. It involves the construction of a network of curves in the complex omega-plane associated with the complex complementary energy, which is the energy needed to maintain harmonic time dependence in an open system. Vanishing of that energy, at the intersections of the mentioned curves, yields the eigenvalues of the closed system. This permits to consider the enormous diversity of MHD instabilities of rotating tokamaks, accretion disks about compact objects, and jets emitted from those objects, from a single view point. This will be illustrated with results obtained with a new spectral code (ROC).

Anisotropic diffusion in mesh-free numerical magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hopkins, Philip F.

2017-04-01

We extend recently developed mesh-free Lagrangian methods for numerical magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to arbitrary anisotropic diffusion equations, including: passive scalar diffusion, Spitzer-Braginskii conduction and viscosity, cosmic ray diffusion/streaming, anisotropic radiation transport, non-ideal MHD (Ohmic resistivity, ambipolar diffusion, the Hall effect) and turbulent 'eddy diffusion'. We study these as implemented in the code GIZMO for both new meshless finite-volume Godunov schemes (MFM/MFV). We show that the MFM/MFV methods are accurate and stable even with noisy fields and irregular particle arrangements, and recover the correct behaviour even in arbitrarily anisotropic cases. They are competitive with state-of-the-art AMR/moving-mesh methods, and can correctly treat anisotropic diffusion-driven instabilities (e.g. the MTI and HBI, Hall MRI). We also develop a new scheme for stabilizing anisotropic tensor-valued fluxes with high-order gradient estimators and non-linear flux limiters, which is trivially generalized to AMR/moving-mesh codes. We also present applications of some of these improvements for SPH, in the form of a new integral-Godunov SPH formulation that adopts a moving-least squares gradient estimator and introduces a flux-limited Riemann problem between particles.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Koniges, A.E.; Craddock, G.G.; Schnack, D.D.

The purpose of the workshop was to assemble workers, both within and outside of the fusion-related computations areas, for discussion regarding the issues of dynamically adaptive gridding. There were three invited talks related to adaptive gridding application experiences in various related fields of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and nine short talks reporting on the progress of adaptive techniques in the specific areas of scrape-off-layer (SOL) modeling and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability. Adaptive mesh methods have been successful in a number of diverse fields of CFD for over a decade. The method involves dynamic refinement of computed field profiles in a waymore » that disperses uniformly the numerical errors associated with discrete approximations. Because the process optimizes computational effort, adaptive mesh methods can be used to study otherwise the intractable physical problems that involve complex boundary shapes or multiple spatial/temporal scales. Recent results indicate that these adaptive techniques will be required for tokamak fluid-based simulations involving the diverted tokamak SOL modeling and MHD simulations problems related to the highest priority ITER relevant issues.Individual papers are indexed separately on the energy data bases.« less

Rotational Shear Effects on Edge Harmonic Oscillations in DIII-D Quiescent H-mode Discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xi; Burrell, K. H.; Ferraro, N. M.; Osborne, T. H.; Austin, M. E.; Garofalo, A. M.; Groebner, R. J.; Kramer, G. J.; Luhmann, N. C., Jr.; McKee, G. R.; Muscatello, C. M.; Nazikian, R.; Ren, X.; Snyder, P. B.; Solomon, Wm.; Tobias, B. J.; Yan, Z.

2015-11-01

In quiescent H-mode (QH) regime, the edge harmonic oscillations (EHO) play an important role in avoiding the transient ELM power fluxes by providing benign and continuous edge particle transport. A detailed theoretical, experimental and modeling comparison has been made of low-n (n <= 5) EHO in DIII-D QH-mode plasmas. The calculated linear eigenmode structure from the extended MHD code M3D-C1 matches closely the coherent EHO properties from external magnetics data and internal measurements using the ECE, BES, ECE-I and MIR diagnostics, as well as the kink/peeling mode properties of the ideal MHD code ELITE. The numerical investigations indicate that the low-n EHO-like solutions from M3D-C1 are destabilized by the toroidal rotational shear while high-n modes are stabilized. This effect is independent of the rotation direction, suggesting that the low-n EHO can be destabilized in principle with rotation in both directions. These modeling results are consistent with experimental observations of the EHO and support the proposed theory of the EHO as a rotational shear driven kink/peeling mode.

Assessment of MCRM Boost Assist from Orbit for Deep Space Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2000-01-01

Report provides results of analysis for the beamed energy driven MHD Chemical Rocket Motor (MCRM) for application to boost from orbit to escape for deep space and interplanetary missions. Parametric analyses were performed in the mission to determine operating regime for which the MCRM provides significant propulsion performance enhancement. Analysis of the MHD accelerator was performed numerical computational methods to determine design and operational features necessary to achieve Isp on the order of 2,000 to 3,000 seconds. Algorithms were developed to scale weights for the accelerator and power supply. Significant improvement in propulsion system performance can be achieved with the beamed energy driven MCRM. The limiting factor on achievable vehicle acceleration is the specific power of the rectenna.

Analysis and design of an ultrahigh temperature hydrogen-fueled MHD generator

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moder, Jeffrey P.; Myrabo, Leik N.; Kaminski, Deborah A.

1993-01-01

A coupled gas dynamics/radiative heat transfer analysis of partially ionized hydrogen, in local thermodynamic equilibrium, flowing through an ultrahigh temperature (10,000-20,000 K) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator is performed. Gas dynamics are modeled by a set of quasi-one-dimensional, nonlinear differential equations which account for friction, convective and radiative heat transfer, and the interaction between the ionized gas and applied magnetic field. Radiative heat transfer is modeled using nongray, absorbing-emitting 2D and 3D P-1 approximations which permit an arbitrary variation of the spectral absorption coefficient with frequency. Gas dynamics and radiative heat transfer are coupled through the energy equation and through the temperature- and density-dependent absorption coefficient. The resulting nonlinear elliptic problem is solved by iterative methods. Design of such MHD generators as onboard, open-cycle, electric power supplies for a particular advanced airbreathing propulsion concept produced an efficient and compact 128-MWe generator characterized by an extraction ratio of 35.5 percent, a power density of 10,500 MWe/cu m, and a specific (extracted) energy of 324 MJe/kg of hydrogen. The maximum wall heat flux and total wall heat load were 453 MW/sq m and 62 MW, respectively.

The Aneutronic Rodless Ultra Low Aspect Ratio Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, Celso

2016-10-01

The replacement of the metal centre-post in spherical tokamaks (STs) by a plasma centre-post (PCP, the TF current carrier) is the ideal scenario for a ST reactor. A simple rodless ultra low aspect-ratio tokamak (RULART) using a screw-pinch PCP ECR-assisted with an external solenoid has been proposed in the most compact RULART [Ribeiro C, SOFE-15]. There the solenoid provided the stabilizing field for the PCP and the toroidal electrical field for the tokamak start-up, which will stabilize further the PCP, acting as stabilizing closed conducting surface. Relative low TF will be required. The compactness (high ratio of plasma-spherical vessel volume) may provide passive stabilization and easier access to L-H mode transition. It is presented here: 1) stability analysis of the PCP (initially MHD stable due to the hollow J profile); 2) tokamak equilibrium simulations, and 3) potential use for aneutronic reactions studies via pairs of proton p and boron 11B ion beams in He plasmas. The beams' line-of-sights sufficiently miss the sources of each other, thus allowing a near maximum relative velocities and reactivity. The reactions should occur close to the PCP mid-plane. Some born alphas should cross the PCP and be dragged by the ion flow (higher momentum exchange) towards the anode but escape directly to a direct electricity converter. Others will reach evenly the vessel directly or via thermal diffusion (favourable heating by the large excursion 2a), leading to the lowest power wall load possible. This might be a potential hybrid direct-steam cycle conversion reactor scheme, nearly aneutronic, and with no ash or particle retention problems, as opposed to the D-T thermal reaction proposals.

Efficient Analysis of Simulations of the Sun's Magnetic Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scarborough, C. W.; Martínez-Sykora, J.

2014-12-01

Dynamics in the solar atmosphere, including solar flares, coronal mass ejections, micro-flares and different types of jets, are powered by the evolution of the sun's intense magnetic field. 3D Radiative Magnetohydrodnamics (MHD) computer simulations have furthered our understanding of the processes involved: When non aligned magnetic field lines reconnect, the alteration of the magnetic topology causes stored magnetic energy to be converted into thermal and kinetic energy. Detailed analysis of this evolution entails tracing magnetic field lines, an operation which is not time-efficient on a single processor. By utilizing a graphics card (GPU) to trace lines in parallel, conducting such analysis is made feasible. We applied our GPU implementation to the most advanced 3D Radiative-MHD simulations (Bifrost, Gudicksen et al. 2011) of the solar atmosphere in order to better understand the evolution of the modeled field lines.

New analysis of magnetic tornadoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arter, Wayne

2017-04-01

The recent work[1] showed how the equations of ideal, compressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) may be elegantly formulated in terms of Lie derivatives, building on the work of Helmholtz, Walen and Arnold. The ``linear" fields approach reduces ideal MHD to a low order set of non-linear ordinary differential equations capable of further simplification, so has the potential to enrich understanding of this difficult subject, which has application both to laboratory and geophysical/astrophysical plasmas. The just published work [2] extends the linear fields' solution of compressible nonlinear MHD to the case where the magnetic field depends on superlinear powers of position vector, usually but not always, expressed in Cartesian components. Implications of the resulting Lie-Taylor series expansion for physical applicability of the Dolzhansky-Kirchhoff (D-K) ``linear field" equations are found to be positive. It is demonstrated how resistivity may be included in the D-K model. Arguments are put forward that the D-K equations may be regarded as illustrating properties of nonlinear MHD in the same sense that the Lorenz equations inform about the onset of convective turbulence. It is thereby suggested that the Lie-Taylor series approach may lead to valuable insights into MHD turbulence, especially fast timescale transients and the role of plasmoids. This work has been part-funded by the RCUK Energy Programme. 1. Arter, W. 2013 ``Potential vorticity formulation of compressible magnetohydrodynamics. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 015004." (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.015004) 2. Arter, W. 2017 ``Beyond linear fields: the Lie-Taylor expansion", Proc. R. Soc. A473, 20160525; http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspa.2016.0525

Respiration Induced Heart Motion and Indications of Gated Delivery for Left-Sided Breast Irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qi, X. Sharon, E-mail: xiangrong.qi@ucdenver.edu; Hu, Angela; Wang Kai

Purpose: To investigate respiration-induced heart motion for left-sided breast irradiation using a four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) technique and to determine novel indications to assess heart motion and identify breast patients who may benefit from a gated treatment. Methods and Materials: Images of 4DCT acquired during free breathing for 20 left-sided breast cancer patients, who underwent whole breast irradiation with or without regional nodal irradiation, were analyzed retrospectively. Dose distributions were reconstructed in the phases of 0%, 20%, and 50%. The intrafractional heart displacement was measured in three selected transverse CT slices using D{sub LAD} (the distance from left ascending aortamore » to a fixed line [connecting middle point of sternum and the body] drawn on each slice) and maximum heart depth (MHD, the distance of the forefront of the heart to the line). Linear regression analysis was used to correlate these indices with mean heart dose and heart dose volume at different breathing phases. Results: Respiration-induced heart displacement resulted in observable variations in dose delivered to the heart. During a normal free-breathing cycle, heart-induced motion D{sub LAD} and MHD changed up to 9 and 11 mm respectively, resulting in up to 38% and 39% increases of mean doses and V{sub 25.2} for the heart. MHD and D{sub LAD} were positively correlated with mean heart dose and heart dose volume. Respiratory-adapted gated treatment may better spare heart and ipsilateral-lung compared with the conventional non-gated plan in a subset of patients with large D{sub LAD} or MHD variations. Conclusion: Proposed indices offer novel assessment of heart displacement based on 4DCT images. MHD and D{sub LAD} can be used independently or jointly as selection criteria for respiratory gating procedure before treatment planning. Patients with great intrafractional MHD variations or tumor(s) close to the diaphragm may particularly benefit from the gated treatment.« less

Evaluation of the Effects of Ketoconazole and Voriconazole on the Pharmacokinetics of Oxcarbazepine and Its Main Metabolite MHD in Rats by UPLC-MS-MS.

PubMed

Chen, Xinxin; Gu, Ermin; Wang, Shuanghu; Zheng, Xiang; Chen, Mengchun; Wang, Li; Hu, Guoxin; Cai, Jian-ping; Zhou, Hongyu

2016-03-01

Oxcarbazepine (OXC), a second-generation antiepileptic drug, undergoes rapid reduction with formation of the active metabolite 10,11-dihydro-10-hydroxy-carbazepine (MHD) in vivo. In this study, a method for simultaneous determination of OXC and MHD in rat plasma using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS-MS) was developed and validated. Under given chromatographic conditions, OXC, MHD and internal standard diazepam were separated well and quantified by electrospray positive ionization mass spectrometry in the multiple reaction monitoring transitions mode. The method validation demonstrated good linearity over the range of 10-2,000 ng/mL for OXC and 5-1,000 ng/mL for MHD. The lower limit of quantification was 5 ng/mL for OXC and 2.5 ng/mL for MHD, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the evaluation of the pharmacokinetics of OXC and MHD in rats, with or without pretreatment by ketoconazole (KET) and voriconazole (VOR). Statistics indicated that KET and VOR significantly affected the disposition of OXC and MHD in vivo, whereas VOR predominantly interfered with the disposition of MHD. This method is suitable for pharmacokinetic study in small animals. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

CPU and GPU-based Numerical Simulations of Combustion Processes

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-04-27

Distribution unlimited UCLA MAE Research and Technology Review April 27, 2012 Magnetohydrodynamic Augmentation of the Pulse Detonation Rocket Engines...Pulse Detonation Rocket-Induced MHD Ejector (PDRIME) – Energy extract from exhaust flow by MHD generator – Seeded air stream acceleration by MHD...accelerator for thrust enhancement and control • Alternative concept: Magnetic piston – During PDE blowdown process, MHD extracts energy and

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Radial Velocity Generation for Extending Bandwidth of Magnetohydrodynamic Angular Rate Sensor at Low Frequency.

PubMed

Ji, Yue; Li, Xingfei; Wu, Tengfei; Chen, Cheng

2015-12-15

The magnetohydrodynamics angular rate sensor (MHD ARS) has received much attention for its ultra-low noise in ultra-broad bandwidth and its impact resistance in harsh environments; however, its poor performance at low frequency hinders its work in long time duration. The paper presents a modified MHD ARS combining Coriolis with MHD effect to extend the measurement scope throughout the whole bandwidth, in which an appropriate radial flow velocity should be provided to satisfy simplified model of the modified MHD ARS. A method that can generate radial velocity by an MHD pump in MHD ARS is proposed. A device is designed to study the radial flow velocity generated by the MHD pump. The influence of structure and physical parameters are studied by numerical simulation and experiment of the device. The analytic expression of the velocity generated by the energized current drawn from simulation and experiment are consistent, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the method generating radial velocity. The study can be applied to generate and control radial velocity in modified MHD ARS, which is essential for the two effects combination throughout the whole bandwidth.

Theoretical and Experimental Study of Radial Velocity Generation for Extending Bandwidth of Magnetohydrodynamic Angular Rate Sensor at Low Frequency

PubMed Central

Ji, Yue; Li, Xingfei; Wu, Tengfei; Chen, Cheng

2015-01-01

The magnetohydrodynamics angular rate sensor (MHD ARS) has received much attention for its ultra-low noise in ultra-broad bandwidth and its impact resistance in harsh environments; however, its poor performance at low frequency hinders its work in long time duration. The paper presents a modified MHD ARS combining Coriolis with MHD effect to extend the measurement scope throughout the whole bandwidth, in which an appropriate radial flow velocity should be provided to satisfy simplified model of the modified MHD ARS. A method that can generate radial velocity by an MHD pump in MHD ARS is proposed. A device is designed to study the radial flow velocity generated by the MHD pump. The influence of structure and physical parameters are studied by numerical simulation and experiment of the device. The analytic expression of the velocity generated by the energized current drawn from simulation and experiment are consistent, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the method generating radial velocity. The study can be applied to generate and control radial velocity in modified MHD ARS, which is essential for the two effects combination throughout the whole bandwidth. PMID:26694393

Studies of several small seawater MHD thrusters using the high-field solenoid of MIT's bitter magnet laboratory. Annual report, 1 February 1992-31 January 1993. [MHD (Magnetohydrodynamic)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, T.F.; Aumiller, D.L.; Gilbert, J.B.

1993-02-01

The performance of several small, seawater magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) thrusters was studied in a closed loop environment. Three different thrusters were designed, constructed, and evaluated. For the first time, videographic and photographic recordings of flow through an MHD thrusters were obtained. The MHD induced flowrate, thrust, and mechanical efficiency was measured/calculated for each thruster at different combinations of electric current and magnetic field strength. Direct determination of thrust, and subsequently of efficiency were not possible. Therefore, the hydraulic resistance of each different thruster was correlated with flowrate. This information was used in conjunction with the measured MHD induced flowrate to calculatemore » the thrust and efficiency of each thruster. Experimental results were repeatable. A theoretical model was developed to predict the performance of each thruster. The results of this model are presented for one thruster at several magnetic field strengths at various electric currents. These predictions corresponded well with the measured/calculated values of MHD induced flowrate and mechanical efficiency. Finally, several MHD thrusters with radically different configurations are proposed.« less

A fully implicit Hall MHD algorithm based on the ion Ohm's law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chacón, Luis

2010-11-01

Hall MHD is characterized by extreme hyperbolic numerical stiffness stemming from fast dispersive waves. Implicit algorithms are potentially advantageous, but of very difficult efficient implementation due to the condition numbers of associated matrices. Here, we explore the extension of a successful fully implicit, fully nonlinear algorithm for resistive MHD,ootnotetextL. Chac'on, Phys. Plasmas, 15 (2008) based on Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov methods with physics-based preconditioning, to Hall MHD. Traditionally, Hall MHD has been formulated using the electron equation of motion (EOM) to determine the electric field in the plasma (the so-called Ohm's law). However, given that the center-of-mass EOM, the ion EOM, and the electron EOM are linearly dependent, one could equivalently employ the ion EOM as the Ohm's law for a Hall MHD formulation. While, from a physical standpoint, there is no a priori advantage for using one Ohm's law vs. the other, we argue in this poster that there is an algorithmic one. We will show that, while the electron Ohm's law prevents the extension of the resistive MHD preconditioning strategy to Hall MHD, an ion Ohm's law allows it trivially. Verification and performance numerical results on relevant problems will be presented.

Thermodynamic Cycle Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic-Bypass Airbreathing Hypersonic Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litchford, Ron J.; Bityurin, Valentine A.; Lineberry, John T.

1999-01-01

Established analyses of conventional ramjet/scramjet performance characteristics indicate that a considerable decrease in efficiency can be expected at off-design flight conditions. This can be explained, in large part, by the deterioration of intake mass flow and limited inlet compression at low flight speeds and by the onset of thrust degradation effects associated with increased burner entry temperature at high flight speeds. In combination, these effects tend to impose lower and upper Mach number limits for practical flight. It has been noted, however, that Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy management techniques represent a possible means for extending the flight Mach number envelope of conventional engines. By transferring enthalpy between different stages of the engine cycle, it appears that the onset of thrust degradation may be delayed to higher flight speeds. Obviously, the introduction of additional process inefficiencies is inevitable with this approach, but it is believed that these losses are more than compensated through optimization of the combustion process. The fundamental idea is to use MHD energy conversion processes to extract and bypass a portion of the intake kinetic energy around the burner. We refer to this general class of propulsion system as an MHD-bypass engine. In this paper, we quantitatively assess the performance potential and scientific feasibility of MHD-bypass airbreathing hypersonic engines using ideal gasdynamics and fundamental thermodynamic principles.

Correlation between the microinflammatory state and left ventricular structural and functional changes in maintenance haemodialysis patients

PubMed Central

SHI, LIHUA; SONG, JIE; ZHANG, XIAODONG; LI, YING; LI, HUI

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between the microinflammatory state and structural and functional changes of the left ventricle in maintenance haemodialysis patients (MHD). In total, 48 MHD patients and 30 healthy volunteers participated in this study. The microinflammatory state was detected from high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels determined by ELISA. The structure and function of the left ventricle was measured according to ultrasound cardiogram examination. The serum levels of hs-CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α in the MHD patients were higher compared with those in the controls (P<0.05). Furthermore, the measurements of the left atrial diameter (LAD), left venticular diameter (LVD), interventricular septal thickness (IVST), left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWT) and the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) increased significantly and the left ventricular function (LVEF) was reduced. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the concentrations of hs-CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 correlated with the LVMI (P<0.05), but only hs-CRP correlated with the loss of function of the heart in the haemodialysis patients (P<0.05). The microinflammatory state may be closely associated with the structural and functional impairment of the heart in MHD patients. PMID:24137221

Improvements in the equation of state for the partially ionized plasmas of the solar interior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Aihua

2005-11-01

The three major material properties relevant for solar and stellar modeling are the equation of state (EOS), opacity and the nuclear reaction rate. Due to the nature of the equations of stellar structure and evolution, in most parts of a stars interior, the three material properties are entangled, and it is difficult to use astrophysics to constrain a single one. Luckily, thanks to the adiabatic stratification of the convection zone, there the structure only depends on the EOS, which is therefore largely disentangled from the other quantities. Our research, which aims at constraining the EOS using information from the Sun, is therefore most successful when data from the convection zone are used. Among the many solar equations of state that are being currently used there are two popular ones: Mihalas-Däppen-Hummer (MHD) EOS and OPAL EOS. Helioseismic inversion procedures, which have become standard to evaluate the accuracy of different solar models with respect to the real Sun, have revealed that except for the top 2%, the OPAL EOS matches the solar observations better than the MHD EOS. For this reason we have set our research goal to find a modification of the MHD EOS that can, in a first step, simulate the OPAL EOS, and ultimately, the real Sun. This goal has been attained. By construction, the OPAL EOS contains higher order correlation terms which are missing in the MHD EOS. Through an inversion procedure from the activity series expansion (ACTEX), upon which the OPAL EOS is based to the free energy expression of the MHD EOS, we have found out that the free particle assumption, used in the original version of the MHD EOS has indeed to be abandoned. We show that the two-body scattering terms of the Coulomb interaction, as well as electron degeneracy play a significant role in the difference between the original version of the MHD and OPAL EOS. During our interdisciplinary investigation, aiming at seeking an improved MHD EOS under the guidance of the OPAL EOS, we have performed a thorough systematic theoretical and numerical analysis, particularly on applicability of the static screened Coulomb potential (SSCP) as an intra-atomic potential and the physical meaning of the Planck-Larkin partition function (PLPF). We thereby clarified some misunderstandings and confusions. In particular, we have addressed the density dependence of the Planck-Larkin partition function, an issue that has been debated for more than 30 years.

Establishing Cost-Effective Allocation of Proton Therapy for Breast Irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mailhot Vega, Raymond B.; Ishaq, Omar; Raldow, Ann

Purpose: Cardiac toxicity due to conventional breast radiation therapy (RT) has been extensively reported, and it affects both the life expectancy and quality of life of affected women. Given the favorable oncologic outcomes in most women irradiated for breast cancer, it is increasingly paramount to minimize treatment side effects and improve survivorship for these patients. Proton RT offers promise in limiting heart dose, but the modality is costly and access is limited. Using cost-effectiveness analysis, we provide a decision-making tool to help determine which breast cancer patients may benefit from proton RT referral. Methods and Materials: A Markov cohort model wasmore » constructed to compare the cost-effectiveness of proton versus photon RT for breast cancer management. The model was analyzed for different strata of women based on age (40 years, 50 years, and 60 years) and the presence or lack of cardiac risk factors (CRFs). Model entrants could have 1 of 3 health states: healthy, alive with coronary heart disease (CHD), or dead. Base-case analysis assumed CHD was managed medically. No difference in tumor control was assumed between arms. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to test model robustness and the influence of including catheterization as a downstream possibility within the health state of CHD. Results: Proton RT was not cost-effective in women without CRFs or a mean heart dose (MHD) <5 Gy. Base-case analysis noted cost-effectiveness for proton RT in women with ≥1 CRF at an approximate minimum MHD of 6 Gy with a willingness-to-pay threshold of $100,000/quality-adjusted life-year. For women with ≥1 CRF, probabilistic sensitivity analysis noted the preference of proton RT for an MHD ≥5 Gy with a similar willingness-to-pay threshold. Conclusions: Despite the cost of treatment, scenarios do exist whereby proton therapy is cost-effective. Referral for proton therapy may be cost-effective for patients with ≥1 CRF in cases for which photon plans are unable to achieve an MHD <5 Gy.« less

Spheromak reactor-design study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Les, J.M.

1981-06-30

A general overview of spheromak reactor characteristics, such as MHD stability, start up, and plasma geometry is presented. In addition, comparisons are made between spheromaks, tokamaks and field reversed mirrors. The computer code Sphero is also discussed. Sphero is a zero dimensional time independent transport code that uses particle confinement times and profile parameters as input since they are not known with certainty at the present time. More specifically, Sphero numerically solves a given set of transport equations whose solutions include such variables as fuel ion (deuterium and tritium) density, electron density, alpha particle density and ion, electron temperatures.

Engineering support for magnetohydrodynamic power plant analysis and design studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlson, A. W.; Chait, I. L.; Marchmont, G.; Rogali, R.; Shikar, D.

1980-01-01

The major factors which influence the economic engineering selection of stack inlet temperatures in combined cycle MHD powerplants are identified and the range of suitable stack inlet temperatures under typical operating conditions is indicated. Engineering data and cost estimates are provided for four separately fired high temperature air heater (HTAH) system designs for HTAH system thermal capacity levels of 100, 250, 500 and 1000 MWt. An engineering survey of coal drying and pulverizing equipment for MHD powerplant application is presented as well as capital and operating cost estimates for varying degrees of coal pulverization.

Interaction of external n = 1 magnetic fields with the sawtooth instability in low- q RFX-mod and DIII-D tokamaks

DOE PAGES

Piron, C.; Martin, P.; Bonfiglio, D.; ...

2016-08-11

External n = 1 magnetic fields are applied in RFX-mod and DIII-D low safety factor Tokamak plasmas to investigate their interaction with the internal MHD dynamics and in particular with the sawtooth instability. In these experiments the applied magnetic fields cause a reduction of both the sawtooth amplitude and period, leading to an overall stabilizing effect on the oscillations. In RFX-mod sawteeth eventually disappear and are replaced by a stationary m = 1, n = 1 helical equilibrium without an increase in disruptivity. However toroidal rotation is significantly reduced in these plasmas, thus it is likely that the sawtooth mitigationmore » in these experiments is due to the combination of the helically deformed core and the reduced rotation. The former effect is qualitatively well reproduced by nonlinear MHD simulations performed with the PIXIE3D code. The results obtained in these RFX-mod experiments motivated similar ones in DIII-D L-mode diverted Tokamak plasmas at low q 95. These experiments succeeded in reproducing the sawtooth mitigation with the approach developed in RFX-mod. In DIII-D this effect is correlated with a clear increase of the n = 1 plasma response, that indicates an enhancement of the coupling to the marginally stable n = 1 external kink, as simulations with the linear MHD code IPEC suggest. A significant rotation braking in the plasma core is also observed in DIII-D. Finally, numerical calculations of the neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) carried out with PENT identify this torque as a possible contributor for this effect.« less

Dynamo action and magnetic activity during the pre-main sequence: Influence of rotation and structural changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emeriau-Viard, Constance; Brun, Allan Sacha

2017-10-01

During the PMS, structure and rotation rate of stars evolve significantly. We wish to assess the consequences of these drastic changes on stellar dynamo, internal magnetic field topology and activity level by mean of HPC simulations with the ASH code. To answer this question, we develop 3D MHD simulations that represent specific stages of stellar evolution along the PMS. We choose five different models characterized by the radius of their radiative zone following an evolutionary track, from 1 Myr to 50 Myr, computed by a 1D stellar evolution code. We introduce a seed magnetic field in the youngest model and then we spread it through all simulations. First of all, we study the consequences that the increase of rotation rate and the change of geometry of the convective zone have on the dynamo field that exists in the convective envelop. The magnetic energy increases, the topology of the magnetic field becomes more complex and the axisymmetric magnetic field becomes less predominant as the star ages. The computation of the fully convective MHD model shows that a strong dynamo develops with a ratio of magnetic to kinetic energy reaching equipartition and even super-equipartition states in the faster rotating cases. Magnetic fields resulting from our MHD simulations possess a mixed poloidal-toroidal topology with no obvious dominant component. We also study the relaxation of the vestige dynamo magnetic field within the radiative core and found that it satisfies stability criteria. Hence it does not experience a global reconfiguration and instead slowly relaxes by retaining its mixed poloidal-toroidal topology.

Analysis of JT-60SA operational scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garzotti, L.; Barbato, E.; Garcia, J.; Hayashi, N.; Voitsekhovitch, I.; Giruzzi, G.; Maget, P.; Romanelli, M.; Saarelma, S.; Stankiewitz, R.; Yoshida, M.; Zagórski, R.

2018-02-01

Reference scenarios for the JT-60SA tokamak have been simulated with one-dimensional transport codes to assess the stationary state of the flat-top phase and provide a profile database for further physics studies (e.g. MHD stability, gyrokinetic analysis) and diagnostics design. The types of scenario considered vary from pulsed standard H-mode to advanced non-inductive steady-state plasmas. In this paper we present the results obtained with the ASTRA, CRONOS, JINTRAC and TOPICS codes equipped with the Bohm/gyro-Bohm, CDBM and GLF23 transport models. The scenarios analysed here are: a standard ELMy H-mode, a hybrid scenario and a non-inductive steady state plasma, with operational parameters from the JT-60SA research plan. Several simulations of the scenarios under consideration have been performed with the above mentioned codes and transport models. The results from the different codes are in broad agreement and the main plasma parameters generally agree well with the zero dimensional estimates reported previously. The sensitivity of the results to different transport models and, in some cases, to the ELM/pedestal model has been investigated.

Validation of single-fluid and two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic models of the helicity injected torus spheromak experiment with the NIMROD code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akcay, Cihan; Kim, Charlson C.; Victor, Brian S.; Jarboe, Thomas R.

2013-08-01

We present a comparison study of 3-D pressureless resistive MHD (rMHD) and 3-D presureless two-fluid MHD models of the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI). HIT-SI is a current drive experiment that uses two geometrically asymmetric helicity injectors to generate and sustain toroidal plasmas. The comparable size of the collisionless ion skin depth di to the resistive skin depth predicates the importance of the Hall term for HIT-SI. The simulations are run with NIMROD, an initial-value, 3-D extended MHD code. The modeled plasma density and temperature are assumed uniform and constant. The helicity injectors are modeled as oscillating normal magnetic and parallel electric field boundary conditions. The simulations use parameters that closely match those of the experiment. The simulation output is compared to the formation time, plasma current, and internal and surface magnetic fields. Results of the study indicate 2fl-MHD shows quantitative agreement with the experiment while rMHD only captures the qualitative features. The validity of each model is assessed based on how accurately it reproduces the global quantities as well as the temporal and spatial dependence of the measured magnetic fields. 2fl-MHD produces the current amplification Itor/Iinj and formation time τf demonstrated by HIT-SI with similar internal magnetic fields. rMHD underestimates Itor/Iinj and exhibits much a longer τf. Biorthogonal decomposition (BD), a powerful mathematical tool for reducing large data sets, is employed to quantify how well the simulations reproduce the measured surface magnetic fields without resorting to a probe-by-probe comparison. BD shows that 2fl-MHD captures the dominant surface magnetic structures and the temporal behavior of these features better than rMHD.

Towards an MHD Theory for the Standoff Distance of Earth's Bow Shock

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carins, Iver H.; Grabbe, Crockett L.

1994-01-01

A magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory is developed for the standoff distance a(s) of the bow shock and the thickness Delta(ms) of the magnetosheath, using the empirical Spreiter et al. relation Delta(ms) = kX and the MHD density ratio X across the shock. The theory includes as special cases the well-known gasdynamic theory and associated phenomenological MHD-like models for Delta(ms) and As. In general, however, MHD effects produce major differences from previous models, especially at low Alfev (Ma) and Sonic (Ms) Mach numbers. The magnetic field orientation Ma, Ms and the ratio of specific heats gamma are all important variables of the theory. In contrast, the fast mode Mach number need play no direct role. Three principle conclusions are reached. First the gasdynamic and phenomenological models miss important dependences of field orientation and Ms generally provide poor approximations to the MHD results. Second, changes in field orientation and Ms are predicted to cause factor of approximately 4 changes in Delta(ms) at low Ma. These effects should be important when predicting the shock's location or calculating gramma from observations. Third, using Spreiter et al.'s value for k in the MHD theory leads to maxima a(s) values at low Ma and nominal Ms that are much smaller than observations and MHD simulations require. Resolving this problem requires either the modified Spreiter-like relation and larger k found in recent MHD simulations and/or a breakdown in the Spreiter-like relation at very low Ma.

Multi-Fluid Simulations of a Coupled Ionosphere-Magnetosphere System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gombosi, T. I.; Glocer, A.; Toth, G.; Ridley, A. J.; Sokolov, I. V.; de Zeeuw, D. L.

2008-05-01

In the last decade we have developed the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) that efficiently couples together different models describing the interacting regions of the space environment. Many of these domain models (such as the global solar corona, the inner heliosphere or the global magnetosphere) are based on MHD and are represented by our multiphysics code, BATS-R-US. BATS-R-US can solve the equations of "standard" ideal MHD, but it can also go beyond this first approximation. It can solve resistive MHD, Hall MHD, semi-relativistic MHD (that keeps the displacement current), multispecies (different ion species have different continuity equations) and multifluid (all ion species have separate continuity, momentum and energy equations) MHD. Recently we added two-fluid Hall MHD (solving the electron and ion energy equations separately) and are working on an extended magnetohydrodynamics model with anisotropic pressures. Ionosheric outflow can be a significant contributor to the plasma population of the magnetosphere during active geomagnetic conditions. This talk will present preliminary results of our simulations when we couple a new field- aligned multi-fluid polar wind code to the Ionosphere Electrodynamics (IE), and Global Magnetosphere (GM) components of the SWMF. We use multi-species and multi-fluid MHD to track the resulting plasma composition in the magnetosphere.

NASA Lewis H2-O2 MHD program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, M.; Nichols, L. D.; Seikel, G. R.

1974-01-01

Performance and power costs of H2-O2 combustion powered steam-MHD central power systems are estimated. Hydrogen gas is assumed to be transmitted by pipe from a remote coal gasifier into the city and converted to electricity in a steam MHD plant having an integral gaseous oxygen plant. These steam MHD systems appear to offer an attractive alternative to both in-city clean fueled conventional steam power plants and to remote coal fired power plants with underground electric transmission into the city. Status and plans are outlined for an experimental evaluation of H2-O2 combustion-driven MHD power generators at NASA Lewis Research Center.

A summary of the ECAS performance and cost results for MHD systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seikel, G. R.; Sovie, R. J.; Burns, R. K.; Barna, G. J.; Burkhart, J. A.; Nainiger, J. J.; Smith, J. M.

1976-01-01

The potential is examined of various advanced power plant concepts using coal and coal-derived fuel. The results indicate that open cycle coal fired direct preheat MHD systems have potentially one of the highest coal-pile-to-bus-bar efficiencies and also one of the lowest costs of electricity (COE) of the systems studied. Closed cycle MHD systems may have the potential to approach the efficiency and COE of open cycle MHD. The 1200-1500 F liquid metal MHD systems studied do not appear to have the potential of exceeding the efficiency or competing with the COE of advanced steam plants.

Local Existence of MHD Contact Discontinuities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morando, Alessandro; Trakhinin, Yuri; Trebeschi, Paola

2018-05-01

We prove the local-in-time existence of solutions with a contact discontinuity of the equations of ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) for two dimensional planar flows provided that the Rayleigh-Taylor sign condition {[partial p/partial N] <0 } on the jump of the normal derivative of the pressure is satisfied at each point of the initial discontinuity. MHD contact discontinuities are characteristic discontinuities with no flow across the discontinuity for which the pressure, the magnetic field and the velocity are continuous whereas the density and the entropy may have a jump. This paper is a natural completion of our previous analysis (Morando et al. in J Differ Equ 258:2531-2571, 2015) where the well-posedness in Sobolev spaces of the linearized problem was proved under the Rayleigh-Taylor sign condition satisfied at each point of the unperturbed discontinuity. The proof of the resolution of the nonlinear problem given in the present paper follows from a suitable tame a priori estimate in Sobolev spaces for the linearized equations and a Nash-Moser iteration.

Optimization of the oxidant supply system for combined cycle MHD power plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juhasz, A. J.

1982-01-01

An in-depth study was conducted to determine what, if any, improvements could be made on the oxidant supply system for combined cycle MHD power plants which could be reflected in higher thermal efficiency and a reduction in the cost of electricity, COE. A systematic analysis of air separation process varitions which showed that the specific energy consumption could be minimized when the product stream oxygen concentration is about 70 mole percent was conducted. The use of advanced air compressors, having variable speed and guide vane position control, results in additional power savings. The study also led to the conceptual design of a new air separation process, sized for a 500 MW sub e MHD plant, referred to a internal compression is discussed. In addition to its lower overall energy consumption, potential capital cost savings were identified for air separation plants using this process when constructed in a single large air separation train rather than multiple parallel trains, typical of conventional practice.

Tearing Mode Stability of Evolving Toroidal Equilibria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pletzer, A.; McCune, D.; Manickam, J.; Jardin, S. C.

2000-10-01

There are a number of toroidal equilibrium (such as JSOLVER, ESC, EFIT, and VMEC) and transport codes (such as TRANSP, BALDUR, and TSC) in our community that utilize differing equilibrium representations. There are also many heating and current drive (LSC and TORRAY), and stability (PEST1-3, GATO, NOVA, MARS, DCON, M3D) codes that require this equilibrium information. In an effort to provide seamless compatibility between the codes that produce and need these equilibria, we have developed two Fortran 90 modules, MEQ and XPLASMA, that serve as common interfaces between these two classes of codes. XPLASMA provides a common equilibrium representation for the heating and current drive applications while MEQ provides common equilibrium and associated metric information needed by MHD stability codes. We illustrate the utility of this approach by presenting results of PEST-3 tearing stability calculations of an NSTX discharge performed on profiles provided by the TRANSP code. Using the MEQ module, the TRANSP equilibrium data are stored in a Fortran 90 derived type and passed to PEST3 as a subroutine argument. All calculations are performed on the fly, as the profiles evolve.

Global Magnetosphere Evolution During 22 June 2015 Geomagnetic Storm as Seen From Multipoint Observations and Comparison With MHD-Ring Rurrent Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buzulukova, N.; Moore, T. E.; Dorelli, J.; Fok, M. C. H.; Sibeck, D. G.; Angelopoulos, V.; Goldstein, J.; Valek, P. W.; McComas, D. J.

2015-12-01

On 22-23 June 2015 a severe geomagnetic storm occurred with Dst minimum of approximately -200nT. During this extreme event, multipoint observations of magnetospheric dynamics were obtained by a fleet of Geospace spacecraft including MMS, TWINS, Van-Allen and THEMIS. We present analysis of satellite data during that event, and use a global coupled MHD-ring current model (BATSRUS-CRCM) to connect multipoint observations from different parts of the magnetosphere. The analysis helps to identify different magnetospheric domains from multipoint measurements and various magnetospheric boundary motions. We will explore how the initial disturbance from the solar wind propagates through the magnetosphere causing energization of plasma in the inner magnetosphere and producing an extreme geomagnetic storm.

MHD simulation of transition process from the magneto-rotational instability to magnetic turbulence by using a high-order MHD simulation scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirai, K.; Katoh, Y.; Terada, N.; Kawai, S.

2016-12-01

In accretion disks, magneto-rotational instability (MRI; Balbus & Hawley, 1991) makes the disk gas in the magnetic turbulent state and drives efficient mass accretion into a central star. MRI drives turbulence through the evolution of the parasitic instability (PI; Goodman & Xu, 1994), which is related to both Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability and magnetic reconnection. The wave number vector of PI is strongly affected by both magnetic diffusivity and fluid viscosity (Pessah, 2010). This fact makes MHD simulation of MRI difficult, because we need to employ the numerical diffusivity for treating discontinuities in compressible MHD simulation schemes. Therefore, it is necessary to use an MHD scheme that has both high-order accuracy so as to resolve MRI driven turbulence and small numerical diffusivity enough to treat discontinuities. We have originally developed an MHD code by employing the scheme proposed by Kawai (2013). This scheme focuses on resolving turbulence accurately by using a high-order compact difference scheme (Lele, 1992), and meanwhile, the scheme treats discontinuities by using the localized artificial diffusivity method (Kawai, 2013). Our code also employs the pipeline algorithm (Matsuura & Kato, 2007) for MPI parallelization without diminishing the accuracy of the compact difference scheme. We carry out a 3-dimensional ideal MHD simulation with a net vertical magnetic field in the local shearing box disk model. We use 256x256x128 grids. Simulation results show that the spatially averaged turbulent stress induced by MRI linearly grows until around 2.8 orbital periods, and decreases after the saturation. We confirm the strong enhancement of the K-H mode PI at a timing just before the saturation, identified by the enhancement of its anisotropic wavenumber spectra in the 2-dimensional wavenumber space. The wave number of the maximum growth of PI reproduced in the simulation result is larger than the linear analysis. This discrepancy is explained by the simulation result that a shear flow created by MRI locally becomes thinner and faster due to interactions between antiparallel vortices induced by K-H mode PI, and this structure induces small scale waves which break the shear flow itself. We report the results of the simulation, and discuss how the saturation amplitude of MRI is determined.

Alpha-Driven MHD and MHD-Induced Alpha Loss in TFTR DT Experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Zuoyang

1996-11-01

Theoretical calculation and numerical simulation indicate that there can be interesting interactions between alpha particles and MHD activity which can adversely affect the performance of a tokamak reactor (e.g., ITER). These interactions include alpha-driven MHD, like the toroidicity-induced-Alfven-eigenmode (TAE) and MHD induced alpha particle losses or redistribution. Both phenomena have been observed in recent TFTR DT experiments. Weak alpha-driven TAE activity was observed in a NBI-heated DT experiment characterized by high q0 ( >= 2) and low core magnetic shear. The TAE mode appears at ~30-100 ms after the neutral beam turning off approximately as predicted by theory. The mode has an amplitude measured by magnetic coils at the edge tildeB_p ~1 mG, frequency ~150-190 kHz and toroidal mode number ~2-3. It lasts only ~ 30-70 ms and has been seen only in DT discharges with fusion power level about 1.5-2.0 MW. Numerical calculation using NOVA-K code shows that this type of plasma has a big TAE gap. The calculated TAE frequency and mode number are close to the observation. (2) KBM-induced alpha particle loss^1. In some high-β, high fusion power DT experiments, enhanced alpha particle losses were observed to be correlated to the high frequency MHD modes with f ~100-200 kHz (the TAE frequency would be two-times higher) and n ~5-10. These modes are localized around the peak plasma pressure gradient and have ballooning characteristics. Alpha loss increases by 30-100% during the modes. Particle orbit simulations show the added loss results from wave-particle resonance. Linear instability analysis indicates that the plasma is unstable to the kinetic MHD ballooning modes (KBM) driven primarily by strong local pressure gradients. ----------------- ^1Z. Chang, et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76 (1996) 1071. In collaberation with R. Nazikian, G.-Y. Fu, S. Batha, R. Budny, L. Chen, D. Darrow, E. Fredrickson, R. Majeski, D. Mansfield, K. McGuire, G. Rewoldt, G. Taylor, R. White, K.-L. Wong and S. Zweben, Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. Department of Physics, University of California, Irvine, CA 92717 ^*Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy DoE Contract No. DE-AC02-76CH03073.

Edge Currents and Stability in DIII-D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas, D M; Fenstermacher, M E; Finkenthal, D K

2004-12-01

Understanding the stability physics of the H-mode pedestal in tokamak devices requires an accurate measurement of plasma current in the pedestal region with good spatial resolution. Theoretically, the high pressure gradients achieved in the edge of H-mode plasmas should lead to generation of a significant edge current density peak through bootstrap and Pfirsh-Schl{umlt u}ter effects. This edge current is important for the achievement of second stability in the context of coupled magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) modes which are both pressure (ballooning) and current (peeling) driven. Many aspects of edge localized mode (ELM) behavior can be accounted for in terms of anmore » edge current density peak, with the identification of Type 1 ELMs as intermediate-n toroidal mode number MHD modes being a natural feature of this model. The development of a edge localized instabilities in tokamak experiments code (ELITE) based on this model allows one to efficiently calculate the stability and growth of the relevant modes for a broad range of plasma parameters and thus provides a framework for understanding the limits on pedestal height. This however requires an accurate assessment of the edge current. While estimates of j{sub edge} can be made based on specific bootstrap models, their validity may be limited in the edge (gradient scalelengths comparable to orbit size, large changes in collisionality, etc.). Therefore it is highly desirable to have an actual measurement. Such measurements have been made on the DIII-D tokamak using combined polarimetry and spectroscopy of an injected lithium beam. By analyzing one of the Zeeman-split 2S-2P lithium resonance line components, one can obtain direct information on the local magnetic field components. These values allow one to infer details of the edge current density. Because of the negligible Stark mixing of the relevant atomic levels in lithium, this method of determining j(r) is insensitive to the large local electric fields typically found in enhanced confinement (H-mode) edges, and thus avoids an ambiguity common to MSE measurements of B{sub pol}.« less

Edge Currents and Stability in DIII-D

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas, D M; Fenstermacher, M E; Finkenthal, D K

2005-05-05

Understanding the stability physics of the H-mode pedestal in tokamak devices requires an accurate measurement of plasma current in the pedestal region with good spatial resolution. Theoretically, the high pressure gradients achieved in the edge of H-mode plasmas should lead to generation of a significant edge current density peak through bootstrap and Pfirsh-Schlueter effects. This edge current is important for the achievement of second stability in the context of coupled magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) modes which are both pressure (ballooning) and current (peeling) driven [1]. Many aspects of edge localized mode (ELM) behavior can be accounted for in terms of anmore » edge current density peak, with the identification of Type 1 ELMs as intermediate-n toroidal mode number MHD modes being a natural feature of this model [2]. The development of a edge localized instabilities in tokamak experiments code (ELITE) based on this model allows one to efficiently calculate the stability and growth of the relevant modes for a broad range of plasma parameters [3,4] and thus provides a framework for understanding the limits on pedestal height. This however requires an accurate assessment of the edge current. While estimates of j{sub edge} can be made based on specific bootstrap models, their validity may be limited in the edge (gradient scale lengths comparable to orbit size, large changes in collisionality, etc.). Therefore it is highly desirable to have an actual measurement. Such measurements have been made on the DIII-D tokamak using combined polarimetry and spectroscopy of an injected lithium beam. [5,6]. By analyzing one of the Zeeman-split 2S-2P lithium resonance line components, one can obtain direct information on the local magnetic field components. These values allow one to infer details of the edge current density. Because of the negligible Stark mixing of the relevant atomic levels in lithium, this method of determining j(r) is insensitive to the large local electric fields typically found in enhanced confinement (H-mode) edges, and thus avoids an ambiguity common to MSE measurements of B{sub pol}.« less

Marginal Stability of Sweet–Parker Type Current Sheets at Low Lundquist Numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Chen; Velli, Marco; Tenerani, Anna

2018-06-01

Magnetohydrodynamic simulations have shown that a nonunique critical Lundquist number S c exists, hovering around S c ∼ 104, above which threshold Sweet–Parker type stationary reconnecting configurations become unstable to a fast tearing mode dominated by plasmoid generation. It is known that the flow along the sheet plays a stabilizing role, though a satisfactory explanation of the nonuniversality and variable critical Lundquist numbers observed is still lacking. Here we discuss this question using 2D linear MHD simulations and linear stability analyses of Sweet–Parker type current sheets in the presence of background stationary inflows and outflows at low Lundquist numbers (S ≤ 104). Simulations show that the inhomogeneous outflow stabilizes the current sheet by stretching the growing magnetic islands and at the same time evacuating the magnetic islands out of the current sheet. This limits the time during which fluctuations that begin at any given wavelength can remain unstable, rendering the instability nonexponential. We find that the linear theory based on the expanding-wavelength assumption works well for S larger than ∼1000. However, we also find that the inflow and location of the initial perturbation also affect the stability threshold.

von Kármán–Howarth Equation for Hall Magnetohydrodynamics: Hybrid Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellinger, Petr; Verdini, Andrea; Landi, Simone; Franci, Luca; Matteini, Lorenzo

2018-04-01

A dynamical vectorial equation for homogeneous incompressible Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence together with the exact scaling law for third-order correlation tensors, analogous to that for the incompressible MHD, is rederived and applied to the results of two-dimensional hybrid simulations of plasma turbulence. At large (MHD) scales the simulations exhibit a clear inertial range where the MHD dynamic law is valid. In the sub-ion range the cascade continues via the Hall term, but the dynamic law derived in the framework of incompressible Hall-MHD equations is obtained only in a low plasma beta simulation. For a higher beta plasma the cascade rate decreases in the sub-ion range and the change becomes more pronounced as the plasma beta increases. This break in the cascade flux can be ascribed to nonthermal (kinetic) features or to others terms in the dynamical equation that are not included in the Hall-MHD incompressible approximation.

Global MHD simulation of magnetosphere using HPF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogino, T.

We have translated a 3-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation code of the Earth's magnetosphere from VPP Fortran to HPF/JA on the Fujitsu VPP5000/56 vector-parallel supercomputer and the MHD code was fully vectorized and fully parallelized in VPP Fortran. The entire performance and capability of the HPF MHD code could be shown to be almost comparable to that of VPP Fortran. A 3-dimensional global MHD simulation of the earth's magnetosphere was performed at a speed of over 400 Gflops with an efficiency of 76.5% using 56 PEs of Fujitsu VPP5000/56 in vector and parallel computation that permitted comparison with catalog values. We have concluded that fluid and MHD codes that are fully vectorized and fully parallelized in VPP Fortran can be translated with relative ease to HPF/JA, and a code in HPF/JA may be expected to perform comparably to the same code written in VPP Fortran.

Validation of Magnetospheric Magnetohydrodynamic Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curtis, Brian

Magnetospheric magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models are commonly used for both prediction and modeling of Earth's magnetosphere. To date, very little validation has been performed to determine their limits, uncertainties, and differences. In this work, we performed a comprehensive analysis using several commonly used validation techniques in the atmospheric sciences to MHD-based models of Earth's magnetosphere for the first time. The validation techniques of parameter variability/sensitivity analysis and comparison to other models were used on the OpenGGCM, BATS-R-US, and SWMF magnetospheric MHD models to answer several questions about how these models compare. The questions include: (1) the difference between the model's predictions prior to and following to a reversal of Bz in the upstream interplanetary field (IMF) from positive to negative, (2) the influence of the preconditioning duration, and (3) the differences between models under extreme solar wind conditions. A differencing visualization tool was developed and used to address these three questions. We find: (1) For a reversal in IMF Bz from positive to negative, the OpenGGCM magnetopause is closest to Earth as it has the weakest magnetic pressure near-Earth. The differences in magnetopause positions between BATS-R-US and SWMF are explained by the influence of the ring current, which is included in SWMF. Densities are highest for SWMF and lowest for OpenGGCM. The OpenGGCM tail currents differ significantly from BATS-R-US and SWMF; (2) A longer preconditioning time allowed the magnetosphere to relax more, giving different positions for the magnetopause with all three models before the IMF Bz reversal. There were differences greater than 100% for all three models before the IMF Bz reversal. The differences in the current sheet region for the OpenGGCM were small after the IMF Bz reversal. The BATS-R-US and SWMF differences decreased after the IMF Bz reversal to near zero; (3) For extreme conditions in the solar wind, the OpenGGCM has a large region of Earthward flow velocity (Ux) in the current sheet region that grows as time progresses in a compressed environment. BATS-R-US Bz , rho and Ux stabilize to a near constant value approximately one hour into the run under high compression conditions. Under high compression, the SWMF parameters begin to oscillate approximately 100 minutes into the run. All three models have similar magnetopause positions under low pressure conditions. The OpenGGCM current sheet velocities along the Sun-Earth line are largest under low pressure conditions. The results of this analysis indicate the need for accounting for model uncertainties and differences when comparing model predictions with data, provide error bars on model prediction in various magnetospheric regions, and show that the magnetotail is sensitive to the preconditioning time.

Manifestations of the MHD and kinetic dynamo through soft x-rays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chartas, G.A.

1991-08-01

The underlying mechanisms that produce and sustain the reversed toroidal field in RFP's are investigated by analyzing 2Dx-ray emissivity reconstruction and by correlating the evolution of the hot electron properties to the reversed toroidal magnetic field. Reconnection of emissivity surfaces as seen in soft x-ray (SXR) reconstructing occur near the predicted resonant surface for the m=1, n=5, 6,-7 resistive tearing modes. Two distinct rates of reversed magnetic field generation are observed. First, in the MHD relaxation phase a sudden increase in B{sub t}(a) is detected. This event coincides with a large increase in the edge hot electron current density. Themore » second mode of flux generation is observed t have a slower rate and occurs during the diffusion phase. A variation of the edge hot electron current density by a factor of four produced only a small change in the measured B{sub t}(a), implying the contributions of the hot electrons to the dynamo during the diffusion phase is small. {tilde T}{sub e}, / was measured to be approximately 60%, which is much larger than the corresponding quantity for the bulk component which is about 30%. Scaling of the magnetic Reynolds number with the diffusion and MHD relaxation time, {tau}{sub MHD} indicated that the {tau}{sub MHD} does not have a strong dependence on the Spitzer resistivity whereas the diffusion time does depend on the classical resistivity. SXR emission mode analysis during the transition from a rotating to a locked plasma shows a decrease in the m=1 Fourier Bastille component of the emissivity. This is due to the flattening of the emissivity profile as seen in the SXR reconstructions.« less

MODELING STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF SOLAR ACTIVE REGIONS THROUGH DIRECT NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF 3D-MHD TURBULENCE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Malapaka, Shiva Kumar; Mueller, Wolf-Christian

Statistical properties of the Sun's photospheric turbulent magnetic field, especially those of the active regions (ARs), have been studied using the line-of-sight data from magnetograms taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and several other instruments. This includes structure functions and their exponents, flatness curves, and correlation functions. In these works, the dependence of structure function exponents ({zeta}{sub p}) of the order of the structure functions (p) was modeled using a non-intermittent K41 model. It is now well known that the ARs are highly turbulent and are associated with strong intermittent events. In this paper, we compare some of themore » observations from Abramenko et al. with the log-Poisson model used for modeling intermittent MHD turbulent flows. Next, we analyze the structure function data obtained from the direct numerical simulations (DNS) of homogeneous, incompressible 3D-MHD turbulence in three cases: sustained by forcing, freely decaying, and a flow initially driven and later allowed to decay (case 3). The respective DNS replicate the properties seen in the plots of {zeta}{sub p} against p of ARs. We also reproduce the trends and changes observed in intermittency in flatness and correlation functions of ARs. It is suggested from this analysis that an AR in the onset phase of a flare can be treated as a forced 3D-MHD turbulent system in its simplest form and that the flaring stage is representative of decaying 3D-MHD turbulence. It is also inferred that significant changes in intermittency from the initial onset phase of a flare to its final peak flaring phase are related to the time taken by the system to reach the initial onset phase.« less

Numerical analysis of Hall effect on the performance of magnetohydrodynamic heat shield system based on nonequilibrium Hall parameter model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kai; Liu, Jun; Liu, Weiqiang

2017-01-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) heat shield system, a novel thermal protection technique in the hypersonic field, has been paid much attention in recent years. In the real flight condition, not only the Lorentz force but also the Hall electric field is induced by the interaction between ionized air post shock and magnetic field. In order to analyze the action mechanisms of the Hall effect, numerical methods of coupling thermochemical nonequilibrium flow field with externally applied magnetic field as well as the induced electric field are constructed and validated. Based on the nonequilibrium model of Hall parameter, numerical simulations of the MHD heat shield system is conducted under two different magnetic induction strengths (B0=0.2 T, 0.5 T) on a reentry capsule forebody. Results show that, the Hall effect is the same under the two magnetic induction strengths when the wall is assumed to be conductive. For this case, with the Hall effect taken into account, the Lorentz force counter stream diminishes a lot and the circumferential component dominates, resulting that the heat flux and shock-off distance approach the case without MHD control. However, for the insulating wall, the Hall effect acts in different ways under these two magnetic induction strengths. For this case, with the Hall effect taken into account, the performance of MHD heat shield system approaches the case neglecting the Hall effect when B0 equals 0.2 T. Such performance becomes worse when B0 equals 0.5 T and the aerothermal environment on the capsule shoulder is even worse than the case without MHD control.

Physical Function and Physical Activity in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients.

PubMed

Painter, Patricia L; Agarwal, Adhish; Drummond, Micah

2017-01-01

Physical functioning (PF) and physical activity (PA) are low in patients treated with maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Little information exists on this topic in patients treated with peritoneal dialysis (PD). The objective of this study was to compare PF and PA in patients with Stage-5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) treated with PD and in-center MHD. Physical functioning was measured in 45 prevalent PD patients using standard physical performance measures that include gait speed, chair stand, standing balance, 6-minute-walk, incremental shuttle walk and self-reported PF using the short form (SF)-36 questionnaire. Physical activity was determined from self-report and using the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire. Scores for the short physical performance battery (SPPB) were calculated. In-center MHD patients were matched by age, gender, and diabetes status to the PD patients. Unadjusted comparisons showed significantly higher 6-minute-walk distance, shuttle-walk distance and hand-grip in the PD patients. Adjustment in multiple regression analysis resulted in only gait speed being significantly different between the groups. All test results in both groups were lower than reference values for age and gender in the general population, and were at the levels indicating impairment. Physical activity was not different between the 2 groups (average age 49 yrs), and both groups had weekly caloric expenditure from all exercise and from moderate-intensity exercise that was similar to older (> 70 yrs) community-dwelling adults. Adjusted association indicated that PA was significantly associated with shuttle-walk distance. Physical functioning and PA measures were low in both PD and MHD groups. Interventions to improve PA and PF should be strongly considered for both PD and MHD patients. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis.

NIMROD calculations of energetic particle driven toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hou, Yawei; Zhu, Ping; Kim, Charlson C.; Hu, Zhaoqing; Zou, Zhihui; Wang, Zhengxiong; Nimrod Team

2018-01-01

Toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) are gap modes induced by the toroidicity of tokamak plasmas in the absence of continuum damping. They can be excited by energetic particles (EPs) when the EP drive exceeds other dampings, such as electron and ion Landau damping, and collisional and radiative damping. A TAE benchmark case, which was proposed by the International Tokamak Physics Activity group, is studied in this work. The numerical calculations of linear growth of TAEs driven by EPs in a circular-shaped, large aspect ratio tokamak have been performed using the Hybrid Kinetic-MHD (HK-MHD) model implemented in the NIMROD code. This HK-MHD model couples a δf particle-in-cell representation of EPs with the 3D MHD representation of the bulk plasma through moment closure for the momentum conservation equation. Both the excitation of TAEs and their transition to energetic particle modes (EPMs) have been observed. The influence of EP density, temperature, density gradient, and position of the maximum relative density gradient, on the frequency and the growth rate of TAEs are obtained, which are consistent with those from the eigen-analysis calculations, kinetic-MHD, and gyrokinetic simulations for an initial Maxwellian distribution of EPs. The relative pressure gradient of EP at the radial location of the TAE gap, which represents the drive strength of EPs, can strongly affect the growth rate of TAEs. It is demonstrated that the mode transition due to EP drive variation leads to not only the change of frequency but also the change of the mode structure. This mechanism can be helpful in understanding the nonlinear physics of TAE/EPM, such as frequency chirping.

Extended Magnetohydrodynamics with Embedded Particle-in-Cell Simulation of Ganymede's Magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Toth, Gabor; Jia, Xianzhe; Markidis, Stefano; Peng, Ivy Bo; Chen, Yuxi; Daldorff, Lars K. S.; Tenishev, Valeriy M.; Borovikov, Dmitry; Haiducek, John D.; Gombosi, Tamas I.;

MHD Effects of a Ferritic Wall on Tokamak Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hughes, Paul E.

It has been recognized for some time that the very high fluence of fast (14.1MeV) neutrons produced by deuterium-tritium fusion will represent a major materials challenge for the development of next-generation fusion energy projects such as a fusion component test facility and demonstration fusion power reactor. The best-understood and most promising solutions presently available are a family of low-activation steels originally developed for use in fission reactors, but the ferromagnetic properties of these steels represent a danger to plasma confinement through enhancement of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities and increased susceptibility to error fields. At present, experimental research into the effects of ferromagnetic materials on MHD stability in toroidal geometry has been confined to demonstrating that it is still possible to operate an advanced tokamak in the presence of ferromagnetic components. In order to better quantify the effects of ferromagnetic materials on tokamak plasma stability, a new ferritic wall has been installated in the High Beta Tokamak---Extended Pulse (HBT-EP) device. The development, assembly, installation, and testing of this wall as a modular upgrade is described, and the effect of the wall on machine performance is characterized. Comparative studies of plasma dynamics with the ferritic wall close-fitting against similar plasmas with the ferritic wall retracted demonstrate substantial effects on plasma stability. Resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) are applied, demonstrating a 50% increase in n = 1 plasma response amplitude when the ferritic wall is near the plasma. Susceptibility of plasmas to disruption events increases by a factor of 2 or more with the ferritic wall inserted, as disruptions are observed earlier with greater frequency. Growth rates of external kink instabilities are observed to be twice as large in the presence of a close-fitting ferritic wall. Initial studies are made of the influence of mode rotation frequency on the ferritic effect, as well as observations of the effect of the ferritic wall on disruption halo currents.

Stability of Elevated-qmin Steady-State Scenarios on DIII-D

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holcomb, C. T.; Victor, B.; Ferron, J. R.; Luce, T. C.; Schuster, E.

2016-10-01

Limits to high performance steady-state operation with qmin >1.4 and βN <= 3.5 are identified and explained. Various βN and q-profile histories were produced while testing feedback control of these profiles. Ten pulses had no core MHD at βN=3.4-3.5, with qmin=1.4-1.8, and q95=5-5.8. These have predicted ideal-wall kink βN limits between 4 and 5. One pulse had an n=1 tearing mode (TM) at βN=3.5 with no clear trigger. Five pulses developed n=1 TMs when βN=2, qmin=2, and q95=4.7. Stability calculations for these latter cases will be shown. In seven other shots, additional NBI power from sources with more normal injection was used, and these had off-axis fishbone (OAFB) modes at βN=3.5. These sources produce more large-radius trapped ions whose precession can drive OAFB. Preliminary analysis suggests a threshold power or voltage exists. In some cases OAFB appear to trigger n=1 TMs. These studies seek to clarify the operational limits of a steady-state scenario for next step devices. Supported by US DOE under DE-AC52-07NA27344, DE-FC02-04ER54698, DE-FG02-09ER55064.

Experimental Results of OH Regime Investigation in Globus-M Spherical Torus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golant, Victor; Gusev, Vasily; Levin, Roman; Petrov, Yuriy; Sakharov, Nikolay

2001-10-01

Plasma parameters were measured in novel spherical torus Globus-M in highly shaped plasmas with aspect ratio, A > 1.5, elongation, k < 1.9, triangularity < 0.5. Plasma column was created by direct induction method with the currents up to Ip 0.3 MA in the magnetic field, Bt - 0.08 - 0.5 T. In Globus-M spherical torus plasma column is closely fitted into the vacuum vessel and wall conditioning technology described in [1] was used to achieve good plasma performance. Plasma experiments were focused around achievement of ultimate OH regimes allowed by power supplies. The operational limits of the device were investigated. In the regime with extreme low q(cy1) < 1 and high normalized current > 4, the plasma current of almost 100kA was sustained transiently in low magnetic field 800 Gs. The first results on stability analysis with numerical code are presented. The runaway electrons behavior was studied in spherical tokamak conditions. Influence of plasma current and density ramp-up speeds, MHD events on plasma performance and stability was demonstrated. Magnetic reconstruction was performed with EFIT version adopted for PC simulations. Plans for auxiliary heating and current drive are discussed. 1. V.K. Gusev, …, V.E. Golant, et al., Nucl. Fusion 41, No 7, (2001), to be published

MULTICOMPONENT THEORY OF BUOYANCY INSTABILITIES IN ASTROPHYSICAL PLASMA OBJECTS: THE CASE OF MAGNETIC FIELD PERPENDICULAR TO GRAVITY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nekrasov, Anatoly K.; Shadmehri, Mohsen, E-mail: anatoli.nekrassov@t-online.d, E-mail: mshadmehri@thphys.nuim.i

2010-12-01

We develop a general theory of buoyancy instabilities in the electron-ion plasma with the electron heat flux based not upon magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, but using a multicomponent plasma approach in which the momentum equation is solved for each species. We investigate the geometry in which the background magnetic field is perpendicular to the gravity and stratification. General expressions for the perturbed velocities are given without any simplifications. Collisions between electrons and ions are taken into account in the momentum equations in a general form, permitting us to consider both weakly and strongly collisional objects. However, the electron heat flux ismore » assumed to be directed along the magnetic field, which implies a weakly collisional case. Using simplifications justified for an investigation of buoyancy instabilities with electron thermal flux, we derive simple dispersion relations for both collisionless and collisional cases for arbitrary directions of the wave vector. Our dispersion relations considerably differ from that obtained in the MHD framework and conditions of instability are similar to Schwarzschild's criterion. This difference is connected with simplified assumptions used in the MHD analysis of buoyancy instabilities and with the role of the longitudinal electric field perturbation which is not captured by the ideal MHD equations. The results obtained can be applied to clusters of galaxies and other astrophysical objects.« less

Validation of single-fluid and two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic models of the helicity injected torus spheromak experiment with the NIMROD code

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akcay, Cihan; Victor, Brian S.; Jarboe, Thomas R.

We present a comparison study of 3-D pressureless resistive MHD (rMHD) and 3-D presureless two-fluid MHD models of the Helicity Injected Torus with Steady Inductive helicity injection (HIT-SI). HIT-SI is a current drive experiment that uses two geometrically asymmetric helicity injectors to generate and sustain toroidal plasmas. The comparable size of the collisionless ion skin depth d{sub i} to the resistive skin depth predicates the importance of the Hall term for HIT-SI. The simulations are run with NIMROD, an initial-value, 3-D extended MHD code. The modeled plasma density and temperature are assumed uniform and constant. The helicity injectors are modeledmore » as oscillating normal magnetic and parallel electric field boundary conditions. The simulations use parameters that closely match those of the experiment. The simulation output is compared to the formation time, plasma current, and internal and surface magnetic fields. Results of the study indicate 2fl-MHD shows quantitative agreement with the experiment while rMHD only captures the qualitative features. The validity of each model is assessed based on how accurately it reproduces the global quantities as well as the temporal and spatial dependence of the measured magnetic fields. 2fl-MHD produces the current amplification (I{sub tor}/I{sub inj}) and formation time τ{sub f} demonstrated by HIT-SI with similar internal magnetic fields. rMHD underestimates (I{sub tor}/I{sub inj}) and exhibits much a longer τ{sub f}. Biorthogonal decomposition (BD), a powerful mathematical tool for reducing large data sets, is employed to quantify how well the simulations reproduce the measured surface magnetic fields without resorting to a probe-by-probe comparison. BD shows that 2fl-MHD captures the dominant surface magnetic structures and the temporal behavior of these features better than rMHD.« less

On the generation of magnetohydrodynamic waves in a stratified and magnetized fluid. II - Magnetohydrodynamic energy fluxes for late-type stars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Musielak, Z. E.; Rosner, R.

1988-01-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave energy fluxes for late-type stars are calculated, using previously obtained formulae for the source functions for the generation of MHD waves in a stratified, but otherwise uniform, turbulent atmosphere; the magnetic fields in the wave generation region are assumed to be homogeneous. In contradiction to previous results, it is shown that in this uniform magnetic field case there is no significant increase in the efficiency of MHD wave generation, at least within the theory's limits of applicability. The major results are that the MHD energy fluxes calculated for late-type stars are less than those obtained for compressible modes in the magnetic field-free case, and that these MHD energy fluxes do not vary enough for a given spectral type to explain the observed range of UV and X-ray fluxes from such stars. It is therefore concluded that MHD waves in stellar atmospheres with homogeneous magnetic fields in the wave generation region cannot explain the observed stellar coronal emissions; if such MHD waves are responsible for a significant component of stellar coronal heating, then nonuniform fields within the generation region must be appealed to.

Numerical and experimental investigation of plasma plume deflection with MHD flow control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kai, ZHAO; Feng, LI; Baigang, SUN; Hongyu, YANG; Tao, ZHOU; Ruizhi, SUN

2018-04-01

This paper presents a composite magneto hydrodynamics (MHD) method to control the low-temperature micro-ionized plasma flow generated by injecting alkali salt into the combustion gas to realize the thrust vector of an aeroengine. The principle of plasma flow with MHD control is analyzed. The feasibility of plasma jet deflection is investigated using numerical simulation with MHD control by loading the User-Defined Function model. A test rig with plasma flow controlled by MHD is established. An alkali salt compound with a low ionization energy is injected into combustion gas to obtain the low-temperature plasma flow. Finally, plasma plume deflection is obtained in different working conditions. The results demonstrate that plasma plume deflection with MHD control can be realized via numerical simulation. A low-temperature plasma flow can be obtained by injecting an alkali metal salt compound with low ionization energy into a combustion gas at 1800–2500 K. The vector angle of plasma plume deflection increases with the increase of gas temperature and the magnetic field intensity. It is feasible to realize the aim of the thrust vector of aeroengine by using MHD to control plasma flow deflection.

Modeling MHD Stagnation Point Flow of Thixotropic Fluid with Non-uniform Heat Absorption/Generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayat, Tasawar; Shah, Faisal; Khan, Muhammad Ijaz; Alsaedi, Ahmed; Yasmeen, Tabassum

2017-12-01

Here magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stagnation point flow by nonlinear stretching sheet is discussed. Variable thickness of sheet is accounted. In addition non-uniform heat generation/absorption concept is retained. Numerical treatment to arising nonlinear system is presented. Shooting procedure is adopted for numerical treatment. Graphs and tables lead to physical description of results. It is observed that skin friction enhances for ( H a) and it decays for different rising values of ( K 1), ( K 2) and ( n). Further temperature gradient increases for higher estimation of (Pr) and decreases for larger ( H a). Major findings of present analysis are presented.

Thermal analysis of MHD electro-osmotic peristaltic pumping of Casson fluid through a rotating asymmetric micro-channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venugopal Reddy, Kattamreddy; Makinde, Oluwole Daniel; Gnaneswara Reddy, Machireddy

2018-05-01

In this paper, we investigate the combined effects of wall slip, viscous dissipation, and Joule heating on MHD electro-osmotic peristaltic motion of Casson fluid with heat transfer through a rotating asymmetric micro-channel. Using long wavelength and small Reynolds number assumptions, the governing equations of momentum and energy balance are obtained and tackled analytically. The effects of various embedding parameters on the stream function, velocity, temperature, skin friction, Nusselt number and trapping phenomenon are displayed graphically and discussed. It is found that Casson fluid velocity, temperature, and heat transfer rate are enhanced with a boost in electro-osmotic force.

Assessment of the MHD capability in the ATHENA code using data from the ALEX facility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roth, P.A.

1989-03-01

The ATHENA (Advanced Thermal Hydraulic Energy Network Analyzer) code is a system transient analysis code with multi-loop, multi-fluid capabilities, which is available to the fusion community at the National Magnetic Fusion Energy Computing Center (NMFECC). The work reported here assesses the ATHENA magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pressure drop model for liquid metals flowing through a strong magnetic field. An ATHENA model was developed for two simple geometry, adiabatic test sections used in the Argonne Liquid Metal Experiment (ALEX) at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The pressure drops calculated by ATHENA agreed well with the experimental results from the ALEX facility.

Resonant behaviour of MHD waves on magnetic flux tubes. III - Effect of equilibrium flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goossens, Marcel; Hollweg, Joseph V.; Sakurai, Takashi

1992-01-01

The Hollweg et al. (1990) analysis of MHD surface waves in a stationary equilibrium is extended. The conservation laws and jump conditions at Alfven and slow resonance points obtained by Sakurai et al. (1990) are generalized to include an equilibrium flow, and the assumption that the Eulerian perturbation of total pressure is constant is recovered as the special case of the conservation law for an equilibrium with straight magnetic field lines and flow along the magnetic field lines. It is shown that the conclusions formulated by Hollweg et al. are still valid for the straight cylindrical case. The effect of curvature is examined.

Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), Westinghouse phase 1. Volume 8: Open-cycle MHD. [energy conversion efficiency and design analysis of electric power plants employing magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoover, D. Q.

1976-01-01

Electric power plant costs and efficiencies are presented for three basic open-cycle MHD systems: (1) direct coal fired system, (2) a system with a separately fired air heater, and (3) a system burning low-Btu gas from an integrated gasifier. Power plant designs were developed corresponding to the basic cases with variation of major parameters for which major system components were sized and costed. Flow diagrams describing each design are presented. A discussion of the limitations of each design is made within the framework of the assumptions made.

Influence of toroidal rotation on resistive tearing modes in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, S.; Ma, Z. W., E-mail: zwma@zju.edu.cn

Influence of toroidal equilibrium plasma rotation on m/n = 2/1 resistive tearing modes is studied numerically using a 3D toroidal MHD code (CLT). It is found that the toroidal rotation with or without shear can suppress the tearing instability and the Coriolis effect in the toroidal geometry plays a dominant role on the rotation induced stabilization. For a high viscosity plasma (τ{sub R}/τ{sub V} ≫ 1, where τ{sub R} and τ{sub V} represent resistive and viscous diffusion time, respectively), the effect of the rotation shear combined with the viscosity appears to be stabilizing. For a low viscosity plasmas (τ{sub R}/τ{sub V} ≪ 1), the rotation shearmore » shows a destabilizing effect when the rotation is large.« less

Influence of driven current on resistive tearing mode in Tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Zhiwei; Wang, Sheng; Zhang, Wei

2016-10-01

Influence of driven current on the m / n = 2 / 1 resistive tearing mode is studied systematically using a three-dimensional toroidal MHD code (CLT). A uniform driven current with Gaussian distribution in the radial direction is imposed around the unperturbed rational surface. It is found that the driven current can locally modify the profiles of the current and safety factor, such that the tearing mode becomes linearly stable. The stabilizing effect increases with increase of the driven current Icd or decrease of its width δcd, unless an excessively large driven current reverses the magnetic shear near the rational surface and drives other instabilities such as double or triple tearing modes. The stabilizing effect can be negligible or becomes reversed if the maximum driven current density is not at the unperturbed rational surface. ITER-CN Program.

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Engineering Test Facility (ETF) 200 MWe power plant Conceptual Design Engineering Report (CDER)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The reference conceptual design of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Engineering Test Facility (ETF), a prototype 200 MWe coal-fired electric generating plant designed to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of open cycle MHD, is summarized. Main elements of the design, systems, and plant facilities are illustrated. System design descriptions are included for closed cycle cooling water, industrial gas systems, fuel oil, boiler flue gas, coal management, seed management, slag management, plant industrial waste, fire service water, oxidant supply, MHD power ventilating

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Engineering Test Facility (ETF) 200 MWe power plant Conceptual Design Engineering Report (CDER)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1981-09-01

The reference conceptual design of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Engineering Test Facility (ETF), a prototype 200 MWe coal-fired electric generating plant designed to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of open cycle MHD, is summarized. Main elements of the design, systems, and plant facilities are illustrated. System design descriptions are included for closed cycle cooling water, industrial gas systems, fuel oil, boiler flue gas, coal management, seed management, slag management, plant industrial waste, fire service water, oxidant supply, MHD power ventilating

MHD program plan, FY 1991

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1990-10-01

The current magnetohydrodynamic MHD program being implemented is a result of a consensus established in public meetings held by the Department of Energy in 1984. The public meetings were followed by the formulation of a June 1984 Coal-Fired MHD Preliminary Transition and Program Plan. This plan focused on demonstrating the proof-of-concept (POC) of coal-fired MHD electric power plants by the early 1990s. MHD test data indicate that while there are no fundamental technical barriers impeding the development of MHD power plants, technical risk remains. To reduce the technical risk three key subsystems (topping cycle, bottoming cycle, and seed regeneration) are being assembled and tested separately. The program does not require fabrication of a complete superconducting magnet, but rather the development and testing of superconductor cables. The topping cycle system test objectives can be achieved using a conventional iron core magnet system already in place at a DOE facility. Systems engineering-derived requirements and analytical modeling to support scale-up and component design guide the program. In response to environmental, economic, engineering, and utility acceptance requirements, design choices and operating modes are tested and refined to provide technical specifications for meeting commercial criteria. These engineering activities are supported by comprehensive and continuing systems analyses to establish realistic technical requirements and cost data. Essential elements of the current program are to: develop technical and environmental data for the integrated MHD topping cycle and bottoming cycle systems through POC testing (1000 and 4000 hours, respectively); design, construct, and operate a POC seed regeneration system capable of processing spent seed materials from the MHD bottoming cycle; prepare conceptual designs for a site specific MHD retrofit plant; and continue supporting research necessary for system testing.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boldyrev, Stanislav; Perez, Jean Carlos

The complete project had two major goals — investigate MHD turbulence generated by counterpropagating Alfven modes, and study such processes in the LAPD device. In order to study MHD turbulence in numerical simulations, two codes have been used: full MHD, and reduced MHD developed specialy for this project. Quantitative numerical results are obtained through high-resolution simulations of strong MHD turbulence, performed through the 2010 DOE INCITE allocation. We addressed the questions of the spectrum of turbulence, its universality, and the value of the so-called Kolmogorov constant (the normalization coefficient of the spectrum). In these simulations we measured with unprecedented accuracymore » the energy spectra of magnetic and velocity fluctuations. We also studied the so-called residual energy, that is, the difference between kinetic and magnetic energies in turbulent fluctuations. In our analytic work we explained generation of residual energy in weak MHD turbulence, in the process of random collisions of counterpropagating Alfven waves. We then generalized these results for the case of strong MHD turbulence. The developed model explained generation of residual energy is strong MHD turbulence, and verified the results in numerical simulations. We then analyzed the imbalanced case, where more Alfven waves propagate in one direction. We found that spectral properties of the residual energy are similar for both balanced and imbalanced cases. We then compared strong MHD turbulence observed in the solar wind with turbulence generated in numerical simulations. Nonlinear interaction of Alfv´en waves has been studied in the upgraded Large Plasma Device (LAPD). We have simulated the collision of the Alfven modes in the settings close to the experiment. We have created a train of wave packets with the apltitudes closed to those observed n the experiment, and allowed them to collide. We then saw the generation of the second harmonic, resembling that observed in the experiment.« less

Explosive Magnetic Reconnection in Double-current Sheet Systems: Ideal versus Resistive Tearing Mode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baty, Hubert

2017-03-01

Magnetic reconnection associated with the tearing instability occurring in double-current sheet systems is investigated within the framework of resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) in a two-dimensional Cartesian geometry. A special emphasis on the existence of fast and explosive phases is taken. First, we extend the recent theory on the ideal tearing mode of a single-current sheet to a double-current layer configuration. A linear stability analysis shows that, in long and thin systems with (length to shear layer thickness) aspect ratios scaling as {S}L9/29 (S L being the Lundquist number based on the length scale L), tearing modes can develop on a fast Alfvénic timescale in the asymptotic limit {S}L\\to ∞ . The linear results are confirmed by means of compressible resistive MHD simulations at relatively high S L values (up to 3× {10}6) for different current sheet separations. Moreover, the nonlinear evolution of the ideal double tearing mode (IDTM) exhibits a richer dynamical behavior than its single-tearing counterpart, as a nonlinear explosive growth violently ends up with a disruption when the two current layers interact trough the merging of plasmoids. The final outcome of the system is a relaxation toward a new state, free of magnetic field reversal. The IDTM dynamics is also compared to the resistive double tearing mode dynamics, which develops in similar systems with smaller aspect ratios, ≳ 2π , and exhibits an explosive secondary reconnection, following an initial slow resistive growth phase. Finally, our results are used to discuss the flaring activity in astrophysical magnetically dominated plasmas, with a particular emphasis on pulsar systems.

TRANSITION FROM KINETIC TO MHD BEHAVIOR IN A COLLISIONLESS PLASMA

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parashar, Tulasi N.; Matthaeus, William H.; Shay, Michael A.

The study of kinetic effects in heliospheric plasmas requires representation of dynamics at sub-proton scales, but in most cases the system is driven by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity at larger scales. The latter requirement challenges available computational resources, which raises the question of how large such a system must be to exhibit MHD traits at large scales while kinetic behavior is accurately represented at small scales. Here we study this implied transition from kinetic to MHD-like behavior using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, initialized using an Orszag–Tang Vortex. The PIC code treats protons, as well as electrons, kinetically, and we address the questionmore » of interest by examining several different indicators of MHD-like behavior.« less

Properties of Alfven Eigenmodes in the TAE range on the National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2013-04-24

A second Neutral Beam (NB) injection line is being installed on the NSTX Upgrade device, resulting in six NB sources with di erent tangency radii that will be available for heating and current drive. This work explores the properties of instabilities in the frequency range of the Toroidal Alfv en Eigenmode (TAE) for NSTX-U scenarios with various NB injection geometries, from more perpendicular to more tangential, and with increased toroidal magnetic eld with respect to previous NSTX scenarios. Predictions are based on analysis through the ideal MHD code NOVA-K. For the scenarios considered in this work, modi cations of themore » Alfv en continuum result in a frequency upshift and a broadening of the radial mode structure. The latter e ect may have consequences for fast ion transport and loss. Preliminary stability considerations indicate that TAEs are potentially unstable, with ion Landau damping representing the dominant damping mechanism« less

Gyrokinetic theory of slab universal modes and the non-existence of the gradient drift coupling (GDC) instability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogers, Barrett N.; Zhu, Ben; Francisquez, Manaure

2018-05-01

A gyrokinetic linear stability analysis of a collisionless slab geometry in the local approximation is presented. We focus on k∥=0 universal (or entropy) modes driven by plasma gradients at small and large plasma β. These are small scale non-MHD instabilities with growth rates that typically peak near k⊥ρi˜1 and vanish in the long wavelength k⊥→0 limit. This work also discusses a mode known as the Gradient Drift Coupling (GDC) instability previously reported in the gyrokinetic literature, which has a finite growth rate γ=√{β/[2 (1 +β)] }Cs/|Lp| with Cs2=p0/ρ0 for k⊥→0 and is universally unstable for 1 /Lp≠0 . We show that the GDC instability is a spurious, unphysical artifact that erroneously arises due to the failure to respect the total equilibrium pressure balance p0+B02/(8 π)=constant , which renders the assumption B0'=0 inconsistent if p0'≠0 .

Parametric study of potential early commercial MHD power plants. Task 3: Parameter variation of plant size

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hals, F. A.

1981-01-01

Plants with a nominal output of 200 and 500 MWe and conforming to the same design configuration as the Task II plant were investigated. This information is intended to permit an assessment of the competitiveness of first generation MHD/steam plants with conventional steam plants over the range of 200 to 1000 MWe. The results show that net plant efficiency of the MHD plant is significantly higher than a conventional steam plant of corresponding size. The cost of electricity is also less for the MHD plant over the entire plant size range. As expected, the cost differential is higher for the larger plant and decreases with plant size. Even at the 200 MWe capacity, however, the differential in COE between the MHD plant and the conventional plant is sufficient attractive to warrant serious consideration. Escalating fuel costs will enhance the competitive position of MHD plants because they can utilize the fuel more efficiently than conventional steam plants.

A MHD channel study for the ETF conceptual design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, S. Y.; Staiger, P. J.; Smith, J. M.

1981-01-01

The procedures and computations used to identify an MHD channel for a 540 mW(I) EFT-scale plant are presented. Under the assumed constraints of maximum E(x), E(y), J(y) and Beta; results show the best plant performance is obtained for active length, L is approximately 12 M, whereas in the initial ETF studies, L is approximately 16 M. As MHD channel length is reduced from 16 M, the channel enthalpy extraction falls off, slowly. This tends to reduce the MHD power output; however, the shorter channels result in lower heat losses to the MHD channel cooling water which allows for the incorporation of more low pressure boiler feedwater heaters into the system and an increase in steam plant efficiency. The net result of these changes is a net increase in the over all MHD/steam plant efficiency. In addition to the sensitivity of various channel parameters, the trade-offs between the level of oxygen enrichment and the electrical stress on the channel are also discussed.

A MHD channel study for the ETF conceptual design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, S. Y.; Staiger, P. J.; Smith, J. M.

The procedures and computations used to identify an MHD channel for a 540 mW(I) EFT-scale plant are presented. Under the assumed constraints of maximum E(x), E(y), J(y) and Beta; results show the best plant performance is obtained for active length, L is approximately 12 M, whereas in the initial ETF studies, L is approximately 16 M. As MHD channel length is reduced from 16 M, the channel enthalpy extraction falls off, slowly. This tends to reduce the MHD power output; however, the shorter channels result in lower heat losses to the MHD channel cooling water which allows for the incorporation of more low pressure boiler feedwater heaters into the system and an increase in steam plant efficiency. The net result of these changes is a net increase in the over all MHD/steam plant efficiency. In addition to the sensitivity of various channel parameters, the trade-offs between the level of oxygen enrichment and the electrical stress on the channel are also discussed.

Far infrared diagnostics of electron concentration in combustion MHD plasmas using interferometry and Faraday rotation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmenko, P. J.

1985-12-01

The plasma electrical conductivity is a key parameter in determining the efficiency of an magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator. Electromagnetic waves offer an accurate, non-intrusive probe. The electron concentration and mobility may be deduced from the refractive index and absorption coefficient measured with an interferometer. The first experiment used an HCOOH laser at 393.6 microns feeding a Michelson interferometer mounted around a combustor duct with open ports. Simultaneous measurements of positive ion density and plasma temperature made with a Langmuir probe and line reversal apparatus verified the operation of the interferometer. With a magnetic field present, measurement of the polarization rotation and induced ellipticity in a wave traveling along the field provides information on the plasma conductivity. Compared to interferometry, diagnostic apparatus based on Faraday rotation offers simpler optics and requires far less stringent mechanical stability at a cost of lower sensitivity. An advanced detection scheme, using a polarizing beam splitter improved the sensitivity to be comparable to that of interferometry. Interferometry is the preferred technique for small scale, high accuracy measurements, with Faraday rotation reserved for large systems or measurements within a working generator.

Non-axisymmetric equilibrium reconstruction and suppression of density limit disruptions in a current-carrying stellarator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xinxing; Ennis, D. A.; Hanson, J. D.; Hartwell, G. J.; Knowlton, S. F.; Maurer, D. A.

2017-10-01

Non-axisymmetric equilibrium reconstructions have been routinely performed with the V3FIT code in the Compact Toroidal Hybrid (CTH), a stellarator/tokamak hybrid. In addition to 50 external magnetic measurements, 160 SXR emissivity measurements are incorporated into V3FIT to reconstruct the magnetic flux surface geometry and infer the current distribution within the plasma. Improved reconstructions of current and q profiles provide insight into understanding the physics of density limit disruptions observed in current-carrying discharges in CTH. It is confirmed that the final scenario of the density limit of CTH plasmas is consistent with classic observations in tokamaks: current profile shrinkage leads to growing MHD instabilities (tearing modes) followed by a loss of MHD equilibrium. It is also observed that the density limit at a given current linearly increases with increasing amounts of 3D shaping fields. Consequently, plasmas with densities up to two times the Greenwald limit are attained. Equilibrium reconstructions show that addition of 3D fields effectively moves resonance surfaces towards the edge of the plasma where the current profile gradient is less, providing a stabilizing effect. This work is supported by US Department of Energy Grant No. DE-FG02-00ER54610.

Ekman-Hartmann layer in a magnetohydrodynamic Taylor-Couette flow

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Szklarski, Jacek; Ruediger, Guenther

2007-12-15

We study magnetic effects induced by rigidly rotating plates enclosing a cylindrical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Taylor-Couette flow at the finite aspect ratio H/D=10. The fluid confined between the cylinders is assumed to be liquid metal characterized by small magnetic Prandtl number, the cylinders are perfectly conducting, an axial magnetic field is imposed with Hartmann number Ha{approx_equal}10, and the rotation rates correspond to Reynolds numbers of order 10{sup 2}-10{sup 3}. We show that the end plates introduce, besides the well-known Ekman circulation, similar magnetic effects which arise for infinite, rotating plates, horizontally unbounded by any walls. In particular, there exists the Hartmannmore » current, which penetrates the fluid, turns in the radial direction, and together with the applied magnetic field gives rise to a force. Consequently, the flow can be compared with a Taylor-Dean flow driven by an azimuthal pressure gradient. We analyze the stability of such flows and show that the currents induced by the plates can give rise to instability for the considered parameters. When designing a MHD Taylor-Couette experiment, special care must be taken concerning the vertical magnetic boundaries so that they do not significantly alter the rotational profile.« less

Modelling Quasi-Periodic Pulsations in Solar and Stellar Flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLaughlin, J. A.; Nakariakov, V. M.; Dominique, M.; Jelínek, P.; Takasao, S.

2018-02-01

Solar flare emission is detected in all EM bands and variations in flux density of solar energetic particles. Often the EM radiation generated in solar and stellar flares shows a pronounced oscillatory pattern, with characteristic periods ranging from a fraction of a second to several minutes. These oscillations are referred to as quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs), to emphasise that they often contain apparent amplitude and period modulation. We review the current understanding of quasi-periodic pulsations in solar and stellar flares. In particular, we focus on the possible physical mechanisms, with an emphasis on the underlying physics that generates the resultant range of periodicities. These physical mechanisms include MHD oscillations, self-oscillatory mechanisms, oscillatory reconnection/reconnection reversal, wave-driven reconnection, two loop coalescence, MHD flow over-stability, the equivalent LCR-contour mechanism, and thermal-dynamical cycles. We also provide a histogram of all QPP events published in the literature at this time. The occurrence of QPPs puts additional constraints on the interpretation and understanding of the fundamental processes operating in flares, e.g. magnetic energy liberation and particle acceleration. Therefore, a full understanding of QPPs is essential in order to work towards an integrated model of solar and stellar flares.

Origin and Evolution of Magnetic Field in PMS Stars: Influence of Rotation and Structural Changes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Emeriau-Viard, Constance; Brun, Allan Sacha, E-mail: constance.emeriau@cea.fr, E-mail: sacha.brun@cea.fr

During stellar evolution, especially in the pre-main-sequence phase, stellar structure and rotation evolve significantly, causing major changes in the dynamics and global flows of the star. We wish to assess the consequences of these changes on stellar dynamo, internal magnetic field topology, and activity level. To do so, we have performed a series of 3D HD and MHD simulations with the ASH code. We choose five different models characterized by the radius of their radiative zone following an evolutionary track computed by a 1D stellar evolution code. These models characterized stellar evolution from 1 to 50 Myr. By introducing amore » seed magnetic field in the fully convective model and spreading its evolved state through all four remaining cases, we observe systematic variations in the dynamical properties and magnetic field amplitude and topology of the models. The five MHD simulations develop a strong dynamo field that can reach an equipartition state between the kinetic and magnetic energies and even superequipartition levels in the faster-rotating cases. We find that the magnetic field amplitude increases as it evolves toward the zero-age main sequence. Moreover, the magnetic field topology becomes more complex, with a decreasing axisymmetric component and a nonaxisymmetric one becoming predominant. The dipolar components decrease as the rotation rate and the size of the radiative core increase. The magnetic fields possess a mixed poloidal-toroidal topology with no obvious dominant component. Moreover, the relaxation of the vestige dynamo magnetic field within the radiative core is found to satisfy MHD stability criteria. Hence, it does not experience a global reconfiguration but slowly relaxes by retaining its mixed stable poloidal-toroidal topology.« less

Interaction of external n  =  1 magnetic fields with the sawtooth instability in low-q RFX-mod and DIII-D tokamaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piron, C.; Martin, P.; Bonfiglio, D.; Hanson, J.; Logan, N. C.; Paz-Soldan, C.; Piovesan, P.; Turco, F.; Bialek, J.; Franz, P.; Jackson, G.; Lanctot, M. J.; Navratil, G. A.; Okabayashi, M.; Strait, E.; Terranova, D.; Turnbull, A.

2016-10-01

External n  =  1 magnetic fields are applied in RFX-mod and DIII-D low safety factor Tokamak plasmas to investigate their interaction with the internal MHD dynamics and in particular with the sawtooth instability. In these experiments the applied magnetic fields cause a reduction of both the sawtooth amplitude and period, leading to an overall stabilizing effect on the oscillations. In RFX-mod sawteeth eventually disappear and are replaced by a stationary m  =  1, n  =  1 helical equilibrium without an increase in disruptivity. However toroidal rotation is significantly reduced in these plasmas, thus it is likely that the sawtooth mitigation in these experiments is due to the combination of the helically deformed core and the reduced rotation. The former effect is qualitatively well reproduced by nonlinear MHD simulations performed with the PIXIE3D code. The results obtained in these RFX-mod experiments motivated similar ones in DIII-D L-mode diverted Tokamak plasmas at low q 95. These experiments succeeded in reproducing the sawtooth mitigation with the approach developed in RFX-mod. In DIII-D this effect is correlated with a clear increase of the n  =  1 plasma response, that indicates an enhancement of the coupling to the marginally stable n  =  1 external kink, as simulations with the linear MHD code IPEC suggest. A significant rotation braking in the plasma core is also observed in DIII-D. Numerical calculations of the neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) carried out with PENT identify this torque as a possible contributor for this effect.

Scalable algorithms for 3D extended MHD.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chacon, Luis

2007-11-01

In the modeling of plasmas with extended MHD (XMHD), the challenge is to resolve long time scales while rendering the whole simulation manageable. In XMHD, this is particularly difficult because fast (dispersive) waves are supported, resulting in a very stiff set of PDEs. In explicit schemes, such stiffness results in stringent numerical stability time-step constraints, rendering them inefficient and algorithmically unscalable. In implicit schemes, it yields very ill-conditioned algebraic systems, which are difficult to invert. In this talk, we present recent theoretical and computational progress that demonstrate a scalable 3D XMHD solver (i.e., CPU ˜N, with N the number of degrees of freedom). The approach is based on Newton-Krylov methods, which are preconditioned for efficiency. The preconditioning stage admits suitable approximations without compromising the quality of the overall solution. In this work, we employ optimal (CPU ˜N) multilevel methods on a parabolized XMHD formulation, which renders the whole algorithm scalable. The (crucial) parabolization step is required to render XMHD multilevel-friendly. Algebraically, the parabolization step can be interpreted as a Schur factorization of the Jacobian matrix, thereby providing a solid foundation for the current (and future extensions of the) approach. We will build towards 3D extended MHDootnotetextL. Chac'on, Comput. Phys. Comm., 163 (3), 143-171 (2004)^,ootnotetextL. Chac'on et al., 33rd EPS Conf. Plasma Physics, Rome, Italy, 2006 by discussing earlier algorithmic breakthroughs in 2D reduced MHDootnotetextL. Chac'on et al., J. Comput. Phys. 178 (1), 15- 36 (2002) and 2D Hall MHD.ootnotetextL. Chac'on et al., J. Comput. Phys., 188 (2), 573-592 (2003)

The effect of extreme ionization rates during the initial collapse of a molecular cloud core

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wurster, James; Bate, Matthew R.; Price, Daniel J.

2018-05-01

What cosmic ray ionization rate is required such that a non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation of a collapsing molecular cloud will follow the same evolutionary path as an ideal MHD simulation or as a purely hydrodynamics simulation? To investigate this question, we perform three-dimensional smoothed particle non-ideal MHD simulations of the gravitational collapse of rotating, one solar mass, magnetized molecular cloud cores, which include Ohmic resistivity, ambipolar diffusion, and the Hall effect. We assume a uniform grain size of ag = 0.1 μm, and our free parameter is the cosmic ray ionization rate, ζcr. We evolve our models, where possible, until they have produced a first hydrostatic core. Models with ζcr ≳ 10-13 s-1 are indistinguishable from ideal MHD models, and the evolution of the model with ζcr = 10-14 s-1 matches the evolution of the ideal MHD model within 1 per cent when considering maximum density, magnetic energy, and maximum magnetic field strength as a function of time; these results are independent of ag. Models with very low ionization rates (ζcr ≲ 10-24 s-1) are required to approach hydrodynamical collapse, and even lower ionization rates may be required for larger ag. Thus, it is possible to reproduce ideal MHD and purely hydrodynamical collapses using non-ideal MHD given an appropriate cosmic ray ionization rate. However, realistic cosmic ray ionization rates approach neither limit; thus, non-ideal MHD cannot be neglected in star formation simulations.

Long Pulse Operation on Tore-Supra: Towards Steady State

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moreau, P.; Bucalossi, J.; Brosset, C.

The experimental programme of Tore Supra is devoted to the study of technology and physics issues associated to long-duration high performance discharges. This new domain of operation requires simultaneously and in steady state: heat removal capability, particle exhaust, fully non-inductive current drive, advanced technology integration and real time plasma control. The long discharge allows for addressing new time scale physic such as the wall particle retention and erosion. Moreover, the physics of fully non-inductive discharges is full of novelty, namely: the MHD stability, the slow spontaneous oscillation of the central electron temperature or the outstanding inward particle pinch.

Congruence Approximations for Entrophy Endowed Hyperbolic Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barth, Timothy J.; Saini, Subhash (Technical Monitor)

1998-01-01

Building upon the standard symmetrization theory for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws, congruence properties of the symmetrized system are explored. These congruence properties suggest variants of several stabilized numerical discretization procedures for hyperbolic equations (upwind finite-volume, Galerkin least-squares, discontinuous Galerkin) that benefit computationally from congruence approximation. Specifically, it becomes straightforward to construct the spatial discretization and Jacobian linearization for these schemes (given a small amount of derivative information) for possible use in Newton's method, discrete optimization, homotopy algorithms, etc. Some examples will be given for the compressible Euler equations and the nonrelativistic MHD equations using linear and quadratic spatial approximation.

The Spectral Web of stationary plasma equilibria. II. Internal modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goedbloed, J. P.

2018-03-01

The new method of the Spectral Web to calculate the spectrum of waves and instabilities of plasma equilibria with sizeable flows, developed in the preceding Paper I [Goedbloed, Phys. Plasmas 25, 032109 (2018)], is applied to a collection of classical magnetohydrodynamic instabilities operating in cylindrical plasmas with shear flow or rotation. After a review of the basic concepts of the complementary energy giving the solution path and the conjugate path, which together constitute the Spectral Web, the cylindrical model is presented and the spectral equations are derived. The first example concerns the internal kink instabilities of a cylindrical force-free magnetic field of constant α subjected to a parabolic shear flow profile. The old stability diagram and the associated growth rate calculations for static equilibria are replaced by a new intricate stability diagram and associated complex growth rates for the stationary model. The power of the Spectral Web method is demonstrated by showing that the two associated paths in the complex ω-plane nearly automatically guide to the new class of global Alfvén instabilities of the force-free configuration that would have been very hard to predict by other methods. The second example concerns the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of a rotating theta-pinch. The old literature is revisited and shown to suffer from inconsistencies that are remedied. The most global n = 1 instability and a cluster sequence of more local but much more unstable n =2 ,3 ,…∞ modes are located on separate solution paths in the hydrodynamic (HD) version of the instability, whereas they merge in the MHD version. The Spectral Web offers visual demonstration of the central position the HD flow continuum and of the MHD Alfvén and slow magneto-sonic continua in the respective spectra by connecting the discrete modes in the complex plane by physically meaningful curves towards the continua. The third example concerns the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) thought to be operating in accretion disks about black holes. The sequence n =1 ,2 ,… of unstable MRIs is located on one continuous solution path, but also on infinitely many separate loops ("pancakes") of the conjugate path with just one MRI on each of them. For narrow accretion disks, those sequences are connected with the slow magneto-sonic continuum, which is far away though from the marginal stability transition. In this case, the Spectral Web method is the first to effectively incorporate the MRIs into the general MHD spectral theory of equilibria with background flows. Together, the three examples provide compelling evidence of the computational power of the Spectral Web Method.

A summary of the ECAS MHD power plant results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seikel, G. R.; Harris, L. P.

1976-01-01

The performance and the cost of electricity (COE) for MHD systems utilizing coal or coal derived fuels are summarized along with a conceptual open cycle MHD plant design. The results show that open cycle coal fired recuperatively preheated MHD systems have potentially one of the highest coal-pile-to-bus bar efficiencies (48.3%) and also one of the lowest COE of the systems studied. Closed cycle, inert gas systems do not appear to have the potential of exceeding the efficiency of or competing with the COE of advanced steam plants.

H2-O2 combustion powered steam-MHD central power systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seikel, G. R.; Smith, J. M.; Nichols, L. D.

1974-01-01

Estimates are made for both the performance and the power costs of H2-O2 combustion powered steam-MHD central power systems. Hydrogen gas is assumed to be transmitted by pipe from a remote coal gasifier into the city and converted to electricity in a steam MHD plant having an integral gaseous oxygen plant. These steam MHD systems appear to offer an attractive alternative to both in-city clean fueled conventional steam power plants and to remote coal fired power plants with underground electric transmission into the city.

Coupling MHD and PIC models in 2 dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daldorff, L.; Toth, G.; Sokolov, I.; Gombosi, T. I.; Lapenta, G.; Brackbill, J. U.; Markidis, S.; Amaya, J.

2013-12-01

Even for extended fluid plasma models, like Hall, anisotropic ion pressure and multi fluid MHD, there are still many plasma phenomena that are not well captured. For this reason, we have coupled the Implicit Particle-In-Cell (iPIC3D) code with the BATSRUS global MHD code. The PIC solver is applied in a part of the computational domain, for example, in the vicinity of reconnection sites, and overwrites the MHD solution. On the other hand, the fluid solver provides the boundary conditions for the PIC code. To demonstrate the use of the coupled codes for magnetospheric applications, we perform a 2D magnetosphere simulation, where BATSRUS solves for Hall MHD in the whole domain except for the tail reconnection region, which is handled by iPIC3D.

MHD modeling of a DIII-D low-torque QH-mode discharge and comparison to observations

DOE PAGES

King, Jacob R.; Kruger, S. E.; Burrell, K. H.; ...

2017-03-07

Extended-MHD modeling of DIII-D tokamak quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) discharges with nonlinear NIMROD simulations saturates into a turbulent state but does not saturate when the steady-state flow inferred from measurements is not included. This is consistent with the experimental observations of the quiescent regime on DIII-D. The simulation with flow develops into a saturated turbulent state where the n Φ = 1 and 2 toroidal modes become dominant through an inverse cascade. Each mode in the range of n Φ = 1–5 is dominant at a different time. Consistent with experimental observations during QH-mode, the simulated state leads to large particlemore » transport relative to the thermal transport. Analysis shows that the amplitude and phase of the density and temperature perturbations differ resulting in greater fluctuation-induced convective particle transport relative to the convective thermal transport. As a result, comparison to magnetic-coil measurements shows that rotation frequencies differ between the simulation and experiment, which indicates that more sophisticated extended-MHD two-fluid modeling is required.« less

Passive MHD Spectroscopy for Enabling Magnetic Reconstructions on Spherical Tokamak Plasmas at General Fusion Inc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Shea, Peter; Laberge, Michel; Mossman, Alex; Reynolds, Meritt

2017-10-01

Magnetic reconstructions on lab based plasma injectors at General Fusion relies heavily on edge magnetic (``Bdot'') probes. On plasma experiments built for field compression (PCS) tests, the number and locations of Bdot probes is limited by mechanical constraints. Additional information about the q profiles near the core in our Spector plasmas is obtained using passive MHD spectroscopy. The coaxial helicity injection (CHI) formation process naturally generates hollow current profiles and reversed shear early in each discharge. Central Ohmic heating naturally peaks the current profiles as our plasmas evolve in time, simultaneously reducing the core safety factor, q(0), and reverse shear. As the central, non-monotonic q-profile crosses rational flux surfaces, we observe transient magnetic reconnection events (MRE's) due to the double tearing mode. Modal analysis allows us to infer the q surfaces involved in each burst. The parametric dependence of the timing of MRE's allows us to estimate the continuous time evolution of the core q profile. Combining core MHD spectroscopy with edge magnetic probe measurements greatly enhances our certainty of the overall q profile.

Magnetohydrodynamic waves with relativistic electrons and positrons in degenerate spin-1/2 astrophysical plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maroof, R.; Ali, S.; Mushtaq, A.; Qamar, A.

2015-11-01

Linear properties of high and low frequency waves are studied in an electron-positron-ion (e-p-i) dense plasma with spin and relativity effects. In a low frequency regime, the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves, namely, the magnetoacoustic and Alfven waves are presented in a magnetized plasma, in which the inertial ions are taken as spinless and non-degenerate, whereas the electrons and positrons are treated quantum mechanically due to their smaller mass. Quantum corrections associated with the spin magnetization and density correlations for electrons and positrons are re-considered and a generalized dispersion relation for the low frequency MHD waves is derived to account for relativistic degeneracy effects. On the basis of angles of propagation, the dispersion relations of different modes are discussed analytically in a degenerate relativistic plasma. Numerical results reveal that electron and positron relativistic degeneracy effects significantly modify the dispersive properties of MHD waves. Our present analysis should be useful for understanding the collective interactions in dense astrophysical compact objects, like, the white dwarfs and in atmosphere of neutron stars.

MHD modeling of a DIII-D low-torque QH-mode discharge and comparison to observations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, Jacob R.; Kruger, S. E.; Burrell, K. H.

Extended-MHD modeling of DIII-D tokamak quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) discharges with nonlinear NIMROD simulations saturates into a turbulent state but does not saturate when the steady-state flow inferred from measurements is not included. This is consistent with the experimental observations of the quiescent regime on DIII-D. The simulation with flow develops into a saturated turbulent state where the n Φ = 1 and 2 toroidal modes become dominant through an inverse cascade. Each mode in the range of n Φ = 1–5 is dominant at a different time. Consistent with experimental observations during QH-mode, the simulated state leads to large particlemore » transport relative to the thermal transport. Analysis shows that the amplitude and phase of the density and temperature perturbations differ resulting in greater fluctuation-induced convective particle transport relative to the convective thermal transport. As a result, comparison to magnetic-coil measurements shows that rotation frequencies differ between the simulation and experiment, which indicates that more sophisticated extended-MHD two-fluid modeling is required.« less

Fitting Flux Ropes to a Global MHD Solution: A Comparison of Techniques. Appendix 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riley, Pete; Linker, J. A.; Lionello, R.; Mikic, Z.; Odstrcil, D.; Hidalgo, M. A.; Cid, C.; Hu, Q.; Lepping, R. P.; Lynch, B. J.

2004-01-01

Flux rope fitting (FRF) techniques are an invaluable tool for extracting information about the properties of a subclass of CMEs in the solar wind. However, it has proven difficult to assess their accuracy since the underlying global structure of the CME cannot be independently determined from the data. In contrast, large-scale MHD simulations of CME evolution can provide both a global view as well as localized time series at specific points in space. In this study we apply 5 different fitting techniques to 2 hypothetical time series derived from MHD simulation results. Independent teams performed the analysis of the events in "blind tests", for which no information, other than the time series, was provided. F rom the results, we infer the following: (1) Accuracy decreases markedly with increasingly glancing encounters; (2) Correct identification of the boundaries of the flux rope can be a significant limiter; and (3) Results from techniques that infer global morphology must be viewed with caution. In spite of these limitations, FRF techniques remain a useful tool for describing in situ observations of flux rope CMEs.

Resolving the Kinetic Reconnection Length Scale in Global Magnetospheric Simulations with MHD-EPIC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toth, G.; Chen, Y.; Cassak, P.; Jordanova, V.; Peng, B.; Markidis, S.; Gombosi, T. I.

2016-12-01

We have recently developed a new modeling capability: the Magnetohydrodynamics with Embedded Particle-in-Cell (MHD-EPIC) algorithm with support from Los Alamos SHIELDS and NSF INSPIRE grants. We have implemented MHD-EPIC into the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) using the implicit Particle-in-Cell (iPIC3D) and the BATS-R-US extended magnetohydrodynamic codes. The MHD-EPIC model allows two-way coupled simulations in two and three dimensions with multiple embedded PIC regions. Both BATS-R-US and iPIC3D are massively parallel codes. The MHD-EPIC approach allows global magnetosphere simulations with embedded kinetic simulations. For small magnetospheres, like Ganymede or Mercury, we can easily resolve the ion scales around the reconnection sites. Modeling the Earth magnetosphere is very challenging even with our efficient MHD-EPIC model due to the large separation between the global and ion scales. On the other hand the large separation of scales may be exploited: the solution may not be sensitive to the ion inertial length as long as it is small relative to the global scales. The ion inertial length can be varied by changing the ion mass while keeping the MHD mass density, the velocity, and pressure the same for the initial and boundary conditions. Our two-dimensional MHD-EPIC simulations for the dayside reconnection region show in fact, that the overall solution is not sensitive to ion inertial length. The shape, size and frequency of flux transfer events are very similar for a wide range of ion masses. Our results mean that 3D MHD-EPIC simulations for the Earth and other large magnetospheres can be made computationally affordable by artificially increasing the ion mass: the required grid resolution and time step in the PIC model are proportional to the ion inertial length. Changing the ion mass by a factor of 4, for example, speeds up the PIC code by a factor of 256. In fact, this approach allowed us to perform an hour-long 3D MHD-EPIC simulations for the Earth magnetosphere.

Nonlinear Dynamics of Non-uniform Current-Vortex Sheets in Magnetohydrodynamic Flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuoka, C.; Nishihara, K.; Sano, T.

2017-04-01

A theoretical model is proposed to describe fully nonlinear dynamics of interfaces in two-dimensional MHD flows based on an idea of non-uniform current-vortex sheet. Application of vortex sheet model to MHD flows has a crucial difficulty because of non-conservative nature of magnetic tension. However, it is shown that when a magnetic field is initially parallel to an interface, the concept of vortex sheet can be extended to MHD flows (current-vortex sheet). Two-dimensional MHD flows are then described only by a one-dimensional Lagrange parameter on the sheet. It is also shown that bulk magnetic field and velocity can be calculated from their values on the sheet. The model is tested by MHD Richtmyer-Meshkov instability with sinusoidal vortex sheet strength. Two-dimensional ideal MHD simulations show that the nonlinear dynamics of a shocked interface with density stratification agrees fairly well with that for its corresponding potential flow. Numerical solutions of the model reproduce properly the results of the ideal MHD simulations, such as the roll-up of spike, exponential growth of magnetic field, and its saturation and oscillation. Nonlinear evolution of the interface is found to be determined by the Alfvén and Atwood numbers. Some of their dependence on the sheet dynamics and magnetic field amplification are discussed. It is shown by the model that the magnetic field amplification occurs locally associated with the nonlinear dynamics of the current-vortex sheet. We expect that our model can be applicable to a wide variety of MHD shear flows.

Accelerating 3D Hall MHD Magnetosphere Simulations with Graphics Processing Units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bard, C.; Dorelli, J.

2017-12-01

The resolution required to simulate planetary magnetospheres with Hall magnetohydrodynamics result in program sizes approaching several hundred million grid cells. These would take years to run on a single computational core and require hundreds or thousands of computational cores to complete in a reasonable time. However, this requires access to the largest supercomputers. Graphics processing units (GPUs) provide a viable alternative: one GPU can do the work of roughly 100 cores, bringing Hall MHD simulations of Ganymede within reach of modest GPU clusters ( 8 GPUs). We report our progress in developing a GPU-accelerated, three-dimensional Hall magnetohydrodynamic code and present Hall MHD simulation results for both Ganymede (run on 8 GPUs) and Mercury (56 GPUs). We benchmark our Ganymede simulation with previous results for the Galileo G8 flyby, namely that adding the Hall term to ideal MHD simulations changes the global convection pattern within the magnetosphere. Additionally, we present new results for the G1 flyby as well as initial results from Hall MHD simulations of Mercury and compare them with the corresponding ideal MHD runs.

Emission of magnetosound from MHD-unstable shear flow boundaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turkakin, H.; Rankin, R.; Mann, I. R.

2016-09-01

The emission of propagating MHD waves from the boundaries of flow channels that are unstable to the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability (KHI) in magnetized plasma is investigated. The KHI and MHD wave emission are found to be two competing processes. It is shown that the fastest growing modes of the KHI surface waves do not coincide with efficient wave energy transport away from a velocity shear boundary. MHD wave emission is found to be inefficient when growth rates of KHI surface waves are maximum, which corresponds to the situation where the ambient magnetic field is perpendicular to the flow channel velocity vector. The efficiency of wave emission increases with increasing magnetic field tension, which in Earth's magnetosphere likely dominates along the nightside magnetopause tailward of the terminator, and within earthward Bursty Bulk Flows (BBFs) in the inner plasma sheet. MHD wave emission may also dominate in Supra-Arcade Downflows (SADs) in the solar corona. Our results suggest that efficient emission of propagating MHD waves along BBF and SAD boundaries can potentially explain observations of deceleration and stopping of BBFs and SADs.

Heat and mass transfer analysis of unsteady MHD nanofluid flow through a channel with moving porous walls and medium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zubair Akbar, Muhammad; Ashraf, Muhammad; Farooq Iqbal, Muhammad; Ali, Kashif

2016-04-01

The paper presents the numerical study of heat and mass transfer analysis in a viscous unsteady MHD nanofluid flow through a channel with porous walls and medium in the presence of metallic nanoparticles. The two cases for effective thermal conductivity are discussed in the analysis through H-C model. The impacts of the governing parameters on the flow, heat and mass transfer aspects of the issue are talked about. Under the patronage of small values of permeable Reynolds number and relaxation/contraction parameter, we locate that, when wall contraction is together with suction, flow turning is encouraged close to the wall where the boundary layer is shaped. On the other hand, when the wall relaxation is coupled with injection, the flow adjacent to the porous walls decreased. The outcome of the exploration may be beneficial for applications of biotechnology. Numerical solutions for the velocity, heat and mass transfer rate at the boundary are obtained and analyzed.

Soret and Dufour effects on MHD peristaltic flow of Prandtl fluid in a rotating channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayat, Tasawar; Zahir, Hina; Tanveer, Anum; Alsaedi, Ahmed

2018-03-01

An analysis has been arranged to study the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) peristaltic flow of Prandtl fluid in a channel with flexible walls. Both fluid and channel are in a state of solid body rotation. Simultaneous effects of heat and mass transfer with thermal-diffusion (Soret) and diffusion-thermo (Dufour) effects are considered. Convective conditions for heat and mass transfer in the formulation are adopted. Ordinary differential systems using low Reynolds number and long wavelength approximation are obtained. Resulting equations have been solved numerically. The discussion of axial and secondary velocities, temperature, concentration and heat transfer coefficient with respect to emerging parameters embedded in the flow model is presented after sketching plots.

Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of the Jovian Magnetosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Walker, Raymond

2005-01-01

Under this grant we have undertaken a series of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation and data analysis studies to help better understand the configuration and dynamics of Jupiter's magnetosphere. We approached our studies of Jupiter's magnetosphere in two ways. First we carried out a number of studies using our existing MHD code. We carried out simulation studies of Jupiter s magnetospheric boundaries and their dependence on solar wind parameters, we studied the current systems which give the Jovian magnetosphere its unique configuration and we modeled the dynamics of Jupiter s magnetosphere following a northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Second we worked to develop a new simulation code for studies of outer planet magnetospheres.

Design of stabilized platforms for deep space optical communications (DSOC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacka, N.; Walter, R.; Laughlin, D.; McNally, J.

2017-02-01

Numerous Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) demonstrations are planned by NASA to provide the basis for future implementation of optical communications links in planetary science missions and eventually manned missions to Mars. There is a need for a simple, robust precision optical stabilization concept for long-range free space optical communications applications suitable for optical apertures and masses larger than the current state of the art. We developed a stabilization concept by exploiting the ultra-low noise and wide bandwidth of ATA-proprietary Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) angular rate sensors and building on prior practices of flexure-based isolation. We detail a stabilization approach tailored for deep space optical communications, and present an innovative prototype design and test results. Our prototype system provides sub-micro radian stabilization for a deep space optical link such as NASA's integrated Radio frequency and Optical Communications (iROC) and NASA's DSOC programs. Initial test results and simulations suggest that >40 dB broadband jitter rejection is possible without placing unrealistic expectations on the control loop bandwidth and flexure isolation frequency. This approach offers a simple, robust method for platform stabilization without requiring a gravity offload apparatus for ground testing or launch locks to survive a typical launch environment. This paper reviews alternative stabilization concepts, their advantages and disadvantages, as well as, their applicability to various optical communications applications. We present results from testing that subjected the prototype system to realistic spacecraft base motion and confirmed predicted sub-micro radian stabilization performance with a realistic 20-cm aperture.

A summary of the ECAS performance and cost results for MHD system. [Energy Conversion Alternatives Study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seikel, G. R.; Sovie, R. J.; Burns, R. K.; Barna, G. J.; Burkhart, J. A.; Nainiger, J. J.; Smith, J. M.

1976-01-01

The interagency-funded, NASA-coordinated Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS) has studied the potential of various advanced power plant concepts using coal and coal-derived fuel. Principle studies were conducted through prime contracts with the General Electric Company and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The results indicate that open-cycle coal-fired direct-preheat MHD systems have potentially one of the highest coal-pile-to-bus-bar efficiencies and also one of the lowest costs of electricity (COE) of the systems studied. Closed-cycle MHD systems may have the potential to approach the efficiency and COE of open-cycle MHD. The 1200-1500 F liquid-metal MHD systems studied do not appear to have the potential of exceeding the efficiency or competing with the COE of advanced steam plants.

[Output standard in the mental health services of Reggio Emilia, Italy. Methodological issues].

PubMed

Grassi, G

2000-01-01

The project Output Standards of the Mental Health Department (MHD) of Reggio Emilia is set out to define outputs and quality standards and to guarantee transparency and to facilitate organizational improvement. The MHD started an interprofessional working group that defined the MHD outputs as long as process, quality peculiarities, indicators and standards for each output. The MHD Director validated the group results. The MHD defined 9 outputs and its indicators and standards and consequently modified its data registration system, the way to supply free and partially charged services and budget indicators. As a result, a new instrument for management and quality control has been provided. The A. maintains that to define outputs, indicators and standards will allow to compare several services of the Department, get them omogeneous and guarantee and improve quality.

Laser-powered MHD generators for space application

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jalufka, N. W.

1986-01-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy conversion systems of the pulsed laser-supported detonation (LSD) wave, plasma MHD, and liquid-metal MHD (LMMHD) types are assessed for their potential as space-based laser-to-electrical power converters. These systems offer several advantages as energy converters relative to the present chemical, nuclear, and solar devices, including high conversion efficiency, simple design, high-temperature operation, high power density, and high reliability. Of these systems, the Brayton cycle liquid-metal MHD system appears to be the most attractive. The LMMHD technology base is well established for terrestrial applications, particularly with regard to the generator, mixer, and other system components. However, further research is required to extend this technology base to space applications and to establish the technology required to couple the laser energy into the system most efficiently. Continued research on each of the three system types is recommended.

Experimental identification of nonlinear coupling between (intermediate, small)-scale microturbulence and an MHD mode in the core of a superconducting tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, P. J.; Li, Y. D.; Ren, Y.; Zhang, X. D.; Wu, G. J.; Xu, L. Q.; Chen, R.; Li, Q.; Zhao, H. L.; Zhang, J. Z.; Shi, T. H.; Wang, Y. M.; Lyu, B.; Hu, L. Q.; Li, J.; The EAST Team

2018-01-01

In this paper, we present clear experimental evidence of core region nonlinear coupling between (intermediate, small)-scale microturbulence and an magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) mode during the current ramp-down phase in a set of L-mode plasma discharges in the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST, Wan et al (2006 Plasma Sci. Technol. 8 253)). Density fluctuations of broadband microturbulence (k\\perpρi˜2{-}5.2 ) and the MHD mode (toroidal mode number m = -1 , poloidal mode number n = 1 ) are measured simultaneously, using a four-channel tangential CO2 laser collective scattering diagnostic in core plasmas. The nonlinear coupling between the broadband microturbulence and the MHD mode is directly demonstrated by showing a statistically significant bicoherence and modulation of turbulent density fluctuation amplitude by the MHD mode.

Equilibrium and Stability Properties of Low Aspect Ratio Mirror Systems: from Neutron Source Design to the Parker Spiral

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peterson, Ethan; Anderson, Jay; Clark, Mike; Egedal, Jan; Endrizzi, Douglass; Flanagan, Ken; Harvey, Robert; Lynn, Jacob; Milhone, Jason; Wallace, John; Waleffe, Roger; Mirnov, Vladimir; Forest, Cary

2017-10-01

Equilibrium reconstructions of rotating magnetospheres in the lab are computed using a user-friendly extended Grad-Shafranov solver written in Python and various magnetic and kinetic measurements. The stability of these equilibria are investigated using the NIMROD code with two goals: understand the onset of the classic ``wobble'' in the heliospheric current sheet and demonstrating proof-of-principle for a laboratory source of high- β turbulence. Using the same extended Grad-Shafranov solver, equilibria for an axisymmetric, non-paraxial magnetic mirror are used as a design foundation for a high-field magnetic mirror neutron source. These equilibria are numerically shown to be stable to the m=1 flute instability, with higher modes likely stabilized by FLR effects; this provides stability to gross MHD modes in an axisymmetric configuration. Numerical results of RF heating and neutral beam injection (NBI) from the GENRAY/CQL3D code suite show neutron fluxes promising for medical radioisotope production as well as materials testing. Synergistic effects between NBI and high-harmonic fast wave heating show large increases in neutron yield for a modest increase in RF power. work funded by DOE, NSF, NASA.

Novel residual-based large eddy simulation turbulence models for incompressible magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sondak, David

The goal of this work was to develop, introduce, and test a promising computational paradigm for the development of turbulence models for incompressible magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). MHD governs the behavior of an electrically conducting fluid in the presence of an external electromagnetic (EM) field. The incompressible MHD model is used in many engineering and scientific disciplines from the development of nuclear fusion as a sustainable energy source to the study of space weather and solar physics. Many interesting MHD systems exhibit the phenomenon of turbulence which remains an elusive problem from all scientific perspectives. This work focuses on the computational perspective and proposes techniques that enable the study of systems involving MHD turbulence. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) is not a feasible approach for studying MHD turbulence. In this work, turbulence models for incompressible MHD were developed from the variational multiscale (VMS) formulation wherein the solution fields were decomposed into resolved and unresolved components. The unresolved components were modeled with a term that is proportional to the residual of the resolved scales. Two additional MHD models were developed based off of the VMS formulation: a residual-based eddy viscosity (RBEV) model and a mixed model that partners the VMS formulation with the RBEV model. These models are endowed with several special numerical and physics features. Included in the numerical features is the internal numerical consistency of each of the models. Physically, the new models are able to capture desirable MHD physics such as the inverse cascade of magnetic energy and the subgrid dynamo effect. The models were tested with a Fourier-spectral numerical method and the finite element method (FEM). The primary test problem was the Taylor-Green vortex. Results comparing the performance of the new models to DNS were obtained. The performance of the new models was compared to classic and cutting-edge dynamic Smagorinsky eddy viscosity (DSEV) models. The new models typically outperform the classical models.

A nuclear driven metallic vapor MHD coupled with MPD thrusters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Anghaie, Samim; Kumar, Ratan

1991-01-01

Nuclear energy as a source of power for space missions, represents an enabling technology for advanced and ambitious space applications. Nuclear fuel in a gaseous or liquid form has been configured as a promising and practical candidate in this regard. The present study investigates and performs a feasibility analysis of an innovative concept for space power generation and propulsion. The system embodies a conceptual nuclear reactor with an MHD generator and coupled to MPD thrusters. The reactor utilizes liquid uranium in droplet form as fuel and superheated metallic vapor as the working fluid. This ultrahigh temperature vapor core reactor brings forward varied and challenging technical issues, and it has been addressed to in this paper. A parametric study of the conceived system has been performed in a qualitative and quantitative manner. Preliminary results show enough promise for further indepth analysis of this novel system.

Cattaneo-Christov Heat Flux Model for MHD Three-Dimensional Flow of Maxwell Fluid over a Stretching Sheet.

PubMed

Rubab, Khansa; Mustafa, M

2016-01-01

This letter investigates the MHD three-dimensional flow of upper-convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid over a bi-directional stretching surface by considering the Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model. This model has tendency to capture the characteristics of thermal relaxation time. The governing partial differential equations even after employing the boundary layer approximations are non linear. Accurate analytic solutions for velocity and temperature distributions are computed through well-known homotopy analysis method (HAM). It is noticed that velocity decreases and temperature rises when stronger magnetic field strength is accounted. Penetration depth of temperature is a decreasing function of thermal relaxation time. The analysis for classical Fourier heat conduction law can be obtained as a special case of the present work. To our knowledge, the Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model law for three-dimensional viscoelastic flow problem is just introduced here.

Feedback Control of Resistive Wall Modes in Slowly Rotating DIII-D Plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okabayashi, M.; Chance, M. S.; Takahashi, H.; Garofalo, A. M.; Reimerdes, H.; in, Y.; Chu, M. S.; Jackson, G. L.; La Haye, R. J.; Strait, E. J.

2006-10-01

In slowly rotating plasmas on DIII-D, the requirement of RWM control feedback have been identified, using a MHD code along with measured power supply characteristics. It was found that a small time delay is essential for achieving high beta if no rotation stabilization exists. The overall system delay or the band pass time constant should be in the range of 0.4 of the RWM growth time. Recently the control system was upgraded using twelve linear audio amplifiers and a faster digital control system, reducing the time-delay from 600 to 100 μs. The advantage has been clearly observed when the RWMs excited by ELMs were effectively controlled by feedback even if the rotation transiently slowed nearly to zero. This study provides insight on stability in the low- rotation plasmasw with balanced NBI in DIII-D and also in ITER.

Initial exploration of scenarios with Internal Transport Barrier in the first NBI-heated L-mode TCV plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piron, Chiara; Sauter, Olivier; Coda, Stefano; Merle, Antoine; Karpushov, Alexander; Pigatto, Leonardo; Bolzonella, Tommaso; Piovesan, Paolo; Vianello, Nicola; TCV Team; EUROfusion MST1 Team

2016-10-01

Fully non-inductive operation of high performance plasmas is one of the main objectives of contemporary Tokamak research. In this perspective, plasmas with Internal Transport Barriers (ITBs) are an attractive scenario, since they can attain a high fraction of bootstrap current. In this work we start exploring ITB scenarios on the Tokamak à Configuration Variable (TCV) heated by a newly available 1MW Neutral Beam Injector (NBI). Here we investigate for the first time in this device the impact of the additional NBI power on the performance and stability of L-mode plasmas with ITBs. Results of both experimental data analyses and ASTRA transport simulations are presented. The work examines also the Magneto Hydro-Dynamics (MHD) activity and stability of the explored plasmas. In particular, the role of plasma magnetic equilibrium parameters, such as plasma elongation and triangularity, on the sustainment of these NBI-heated ITB scenarios is discussed.

Correlation of the tokamak H-mode density limit with ballooning stability at the separatrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eich, T.; Goldston, R. J.; Kallenbach, A.; Sieglin, B.; Sun, H. J.; ASDEX Upgrade Team; Contributors, JET

2018-03-01

We show for JET and ASDEX Upgrade, based on Thomson-scattering measurements, a clear correlation of the density limit of the tokamak H-mode high-confinement regime with the approach to the ideal ballooning instability threshold at the periphery of the plasma. It is shown that the MHD ballooning parameter at the separatrix position α_sep increases about linearly with the separatrix density normalized to Greenwald density, n_e, sep/n_GW for a wide range of discharge parameters in both devices. The observed operational space is found to reach at maximum n_e, sep/n_GW≈ 0.4 -0.5 at values for α_sep≈ 2 -2.5, in the range of theoretical predictions for ballooning instability. This work supports the hypothesis that the H-mode density limit may be set by ballooning stability at the separatrix.

Multi-Fluid Block-Adaptive-Tree Solar Wind Roe-Type Upwind Scheme: Magnetospheric Composition and Dynamics During Geomagnetic Storms, Initial Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gkocer, A.; Toth, G.; Ma, Y.; Gombosi, T.; Zhang, J. C.; Kistler, L. M.

2010-01-01

The magnetosphere contains a significant amount of ionospheric O{+}, particularly during geomagnetically active times. The presence of ionospheric plasma in the magnetosphere has a notable impact on magnetospheric composition and processes. We present a new multifluid MHD version of the BATS-R-US model of the magnetosphere to track the fate and consequences of ionospheric outflow. The multi-fluid MHD equations are presented as are the novel techniques for overcoming the formidable challenges associated with solving them. Our new model is then applied to the May 4, 1998 and March 31, 2001 geomagnetic storms. The results are juxtaposed with traditional single- fluid MHD and multispecies MHD simulations from a previous study, thereby allowing us to assess the benefits of using a more complex model with additional physics. We find that our multi-fluid MHD model (with outflow) gives comparable results to the multi-species MHD model (with outflow), including a more strongly negative Dst, reduced CPCP, and a drastically improved magnetic field at geosynchronous orbit, as compared to single-fluid MHD with no outflow. Significant differences in composition and magnetic field are found between the multi-species and multi-fluid approach further away from the Earth. We further demonstrate the ability to explore pressure and bulk velocity differences between H{+} and O(+}, which is not possible when utilizing the other techniques considered.

Multifluid Block-Adaptive-Tree Solar Wind Roe-Type Upwind Scheme: Magnetospheric Composition and Dynamics During Geomagnetic Storms-Initial Results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glocer, A.; Toth, G.; Ma, Y.; Gombosi, T.; Zhang, J.-C.; Kistler, L. M.

2009-01-01

The magnetosphere contains a significant amount of ionospheric O+, particularly during geomagnetically active times. The presence of ionospheric plasma in the magnetosphere has a notable impact on magnetospheric composition and processes. We present a new multifluid MHD version of the Block-Adaptive-Tree Solar wind Roe-type Upwind Scheme model of the magnetosphere to track the fate and consequences of ionospheric outflow. The multifluid MHD equations are presented as are the novel techniques for overcoming the formidable challenges associated with solving them. Our new model is then applied to the May 4, 1998 and March 31, 2001 geomagnetic storms. The results are juxtaposed with traditional single-fluid MHD and multispecies MHD simulations from a previous study, thereby allowing us to assess the benefits of using a more complex model with additional physics. We find that our multifluid MHD model (with outflow) gives comparable results to the multispecies MHD model (with outflow), including a more strongly negative Dst, reduced CPCP, and a drastically improved magnetic field at geosynchronous orbit, as compared to single-fluid MHD with no outflow. Significant differences in composition and magnetic field are found between the multispecies and multifluid approach further away from the Earth. We further demonstrate the ability to explore pressure and bulk velocity differences between H+ and O+, which is not possible when utilizing the other techniques considered

MHD technology transfer, integration, and review committee

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1990-05-01

As part of Task 8 of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Integrated Topping Cycle (ITC) project, TRW was given the responsibility to organize, charter and co-chair, with the Department of Energy (DOE), an MHD Technology Transfer, Integration and Review Committee (TTIRC). The TTIRC consists of an Executive Committee (EC) which acts as the governing body, and a General Committee (GC), also referred to as the main or full committee, consisting of representatives from the various POC contractors, participating universities and national laboratories, utilities, equipment suppliers, and other potential MHD users or investors. The purpose of the TTIRC is to: (1) review all Proof-of-Concept (POC) projects and schedules in the national MHD program; to assess their compatibility with each other and the first commercial MHD retrofit plant; (2) establish and implement technology transfer formats for users of this technology; (3) identify interfaces, issues, and funding structures directly impacting the success of the commercial retrofit; (4) investigate and identify the manner in which, and by whom, the above should be resolved; and (5) investigate and assess other participation (foreign and domestic) in the U.S. MHD Program. There are seven sections: introduction; Executive Committee and General Committee activity; Committee activities related to technology transfer; ongoing POC integration activities being performed under the auspices of the Executive Committee; recommendations passed on to the DOE by the Executive Committee; Planned activities for the next six months.

Broken Ergodicity in MHD Turbulence in a Spherical Domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shebalin, John V.; wang, Yifan

2011-01-01

Broken ergodicity (BE) occurs in Fourier method numerical simulations of ideal, homogeneous, incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. Although naive statistical theory predicts that Fourier coefficients of fluid velocity and magnetic field are zero-mean random variables, numerical simulations clearly show that low-wave-number coefficients have non-zero mean values that can be very large compared to the associated standard deviation. In other words, large-scale coherent structure (i.e., broken ergodicity) in homogeneous MHD turbulence can spontaneously grow out of random initial conditions. Eigenanalysis of the modal covariance matrices in the probability density functions of ideal statistical theory leads to a theoretical explanation of observed BE in homogeneous MHD turbulence. Since dissipation is minimal at the largest scales, BE is also relevant for resistive magnetofluids, as evidenced in numerical simulations. Here, we move beyond model magnetofluids confined by periodic boxes to examine BE in rotating magnetofluids in spherical domains using spherical harmonic expansions along with suitable boundary conditions. We present theoretical results for 3-D and 2-D spherical models and also present computational results from dynamical simulations of 2-D MHD turbulence on a rotating spherical surface. MHD turbulence on a 2-D sphere is affected by Coriolus forces, while MHD turbulence on a 2-D plane is not, so that 2-D spherical models are a useful (and simpler) intermediate stage on the path to understanding the much more complex 3-D spherical case.

A theoretical and simulation study of the contact discontinuities based on a Vlasov simulation code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, T. C.; Lyu, L. H.; Chao, J. K.; Chen, M. Q.; Tsai, W. H.

2009-12-01

Contact discontinuity (CD) is the simplest solution that can be obtained from the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions. Due to the limitations of the previous kinetic simulation models, the stability of the CD has become a controversial issue in the past 10 years. The stability of the CD is reexamined analytically and numerically. Our theoretical analysis shows that the electron temperature profile and the ion temperature profile must be out of phase across the CD if the CD structure is to be stable in the electron time scale and with zero electron heat flux on either side of the CD. Both a newly developed fourth-order implicit electrostatic Vlasov simulation code and an electromagnetic finite-size particle code are used to examine the stability and the electrostatic nature of the CD structure. Our theoretical prediction is verified by both simulations. Our results of Vlasov simulation also indicate that a simulation with initial electron temperature profile and ion temperature profile varying in phase across the CD will undergo very transient changes in the electron time scale but will relax into a quasi-steady CD structure within a few ion plasma oscillation periods if a real ion-electron mass ratio is used in the simulation and if the boundary conditions allow nonzero heat flux to be presented at the boundaries of the simulation box. The simulation results of this study indicate that the Vlasov simulation is a powerful tool to study nonlinear phenomena with nonperiodic boundary conditions and with nonzero heat flux at the boundaries of the simulation box.

Analysis and Modeling of DIII-D Experiments With OMFIT and Neural Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meneghini, O.; Luna, C.; Smith, S. P.; Lao, L. L.; GA Theory Team

2013-10-01

The OMFIT integrated modeling framework is designed to facilitate experimental data analysis and enable integrated simulations. This talk introduces this framework and presents a selection of its applications to the DIII-D experiment. Examples include kinetic equilibrium reconstruction analysis; evaluation of MHD stability in the core and in the edge; and self-consistent predictive steady-state transport modeling. The OMFIT framework also provides the platform for an innovative approach based on neural networks to predict electron and ion energy fluxes. In our study a multi-layer feed-forward back-propagation neural network is built and trained over a database of DIII-D data. It is found that given the same parameters that the highest fidelity models use, the neural network model is able to predict to a large degree the heat transport profiles observed in the DIII-D experiments. Once the network is built, the numerical cost of evaluating the transport coefficients is virtually nonexistent, thus making the neural network model particularly well suited for plasma control and quick exploration of operational scenarios. The implementation of the neural network model and benchmark with experimental results and gyro-kinetic models will be discussed. Work supported in part by the US DOE under DE-FG02-95ER54309.

Statistical Theory of the Ideal MHD Geodynamo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shebalin, J. V.

2012-01-01

A statistical theory of geodynamo action is developed, using a mathematical model of the geodynamo as a rotating outer core containing an ideal (i.e., no dissipation), incompressible, turbulent, convecting magnetofluid. On the concentric inner and outer spherical bounding surfaces the normal components of the velocity, magnetic field, vorticity and electric current are zero, as is the temperature fluctuation. This allows the use of a set of Galerkin expansion functions that are common to both velocity and magnetic field, as well as vorticity, current and the temperature fluctuation. The resulting dynamical system, based on the Boussinesq form of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, represents MHD turbulence in a spherical domain. These basic equations (minus the temperature equation) and boundary conditions have been used previously in numerical simulations of forced, decaying MHD turbulence inside a sphere [1,2]. Here, the ideal case is studied through statistical analysis and leads to a prediction that an ideal coherent structure will be found in the form of a large-scale quasistationary magnetic field that results from broken ergodicity, an effect that has been previously studied both analytically and numerically for homogeneous MHD turbulence [3,4]. The axial dipole component becomes prominent when there is a relatively large magnetic helicity (proportional to the global correlation of magnetic vector potential and magnetic field) and a stationary, nonzero cross helicity (proportional to the global correlation of velocity and magnetic field). The expected angle of the dipole moment vector with respect to the rotation axis is found to decrease to a minimum as the average cross helicity increases for a fixed value of magnetic helicity and then to increase again when average cross helicity approaches its maximum possible value. Only a relatively small value of cross helicity is needed to produce a dipole moment vector that is aligned at approx.10deg with the rotation axis.

Amplification of large scale magnetic fields in a decaying MHD system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Kiwan

2017-10-01

Dynamo theory explains the amplification of magnetic fields in the conducting fluids (plasmas) driven by the continuous external energy. It is known that the nonhelical continuous kinetic or magnetic energy amplifies the small scale magnetic field; and the helical energy, the instability, or the shear with rotation effect amplifies the large scale magnetic field. However, recently it was reported that the decaying magnetic energy independent of helicity or instability could generate the large scale magnetic field. This phenomenon may look somewhat contradictory to the conventional dynamo theory. But it gives us some clues to the fundamental mechanism of energy transfer in the magnetized conducting fluids. It also implies that an ephemeral astrophysical event emitting the magnetic and kinetic energy can be a direct cause of the large scale magnetic field observed in space. As of now the exact physical mechanism is not yet understood in spite of several numerical results. The plasma motion coupled with a nearly conserved vector potential in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) system may transfer magnetic energy to the large scale. Also the intrinsic property of the scaling invariant MHD equation may decide the direction of energy transfer. In this paper we present the simulation results of inversely transferred helical and nonhelical energy in a decaying MHD system. We introduce a field structure model based on the MHD equation to show that the transfer of magnetic energy is essentially bidirectional depending on the plasma motion and initial energy distribution. And then we derive α coefficient algebraically in line with the field structure model to explain how the large scale magnetic field is induced by the helical energy in the system regardless of an external forcing source. And for the algebraic analysis of nonhelical magnetic energy, we use the eddy damped quasinormalized Markovian approximation to show the inverse transfer of magnetic energy.

Serum VEGF-C levels as a candidate biomarker of hypervolemia in chronic kidney disease

PubMed Central

Sahutoglu, Tuncay; Sakaci, Tamer; Hasbal, Nuri B.; Ahbap, Elbis; Kara, Ekrem; Sumerkan, Mutlu C.; Sevinc, Mustafa; Akgol, Cuneyt; Koc, Yener; Basturk, Taner; Unsal, Abdulkadir

2017-01-01

Abstract Attaining and maintaining optimal “dry weight” is one of the principal goals during maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). Recent studies have shown a close relationship between Na+ load and serum vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) levels; thus, we aimed to investigate the role of VEGF-C as a candidate biomarker of hypervolemia. Physical examination, basic laboratory tests, N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-ProBNP), echocardiography, and bioimpedance spectroscopy data of 3 groups of study subjects (euvolemic MHD patients, healthy controls, and hypervolemic chronic kidney disease [CKD] patients) were analyzed. Research data for MHD patients were obtained both before the first and after the last hemodialysis (HD) sessions of the week. Data of 10 subjects from each study groups were included in the analysis. Serum VEGF-C levels were significantly higher in hypervolemic CKD versus in MHD patients both before the first and after the last HD sessions (P = .004 and P = .000, respectively). Healthy controls had serum VEGF-C levels similar to and higher than MHD patients before the first and after the last HD sessions of the week (P = .327 and P = .021, respectively). VEGF-C levels were correlated with bioimpedance spectroscopy results (r2 0.659, P = .000) and edema (r2 0.494, P =0.006), but not with ejection fraction (EF) (r2 −0.251, P = .134), blood pressures (systolic r2 0.037, P = 0.824, diastolic r2 −0.067, P = .691), and NT-ProBNP (r2 −0.047, P = .773). These findings suggest that serum VEGF-C levels could be a potential new biomarker of hypervolemia. The lack of correlation between VEGF-C and EF may hold a promise to eliminate this common confounder. Further studies are needed to define the clinical utility of VEGF-C in volume management. PMID:28471955

Sedative and antinociceptive effects of different combinations of detomidine and methadone in standing horses.

PubMed

Gozalo-Marcilla, Miguel; Luna, Stelio Pl; Crosignani, Nadia; Filho, José Np Puoli; Possebon, Fábio S; Pelligand, Ludovic; Taylor, Polly M

2017-09-01

To evaluate intravenous (IV) detomidine with methadone in horses to identify a combination which provides sedation and antinociception without adverse effects. Randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded, crossover. A group of eight adult healthy horses aged (mean ± standard deviation) 7 ± 2 years and 372 ± 27 kg. A total of six treatments were administered IV: saline (SAL); detomidine (5 μg kg -1 ; DET); methadone (0.2 mg kg -1 ; MET) alone or combined with detomidine [2.5 (MLD), 5 (MMD) or 10 (MHD) μg kg -1 ]. Thermal, mechanical and electrical nociceptive thresholds were measured, and sedation, head height above ground (HHAG), cardiopulmonary variables and intestinal motility were evaluated at 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 120 and 180 minutes. Normal data were analyzed by mixed-model analysis of variance and non-normal by Kruskal-Wallis (p < 0.05). Nociceptive thresholds in horses administered methadone with the higher doses of detomidine (MMD, MHD) were increased above baseline to a greater degree and for longer duration (MMD: 15-30 minutes, MHD: 30-60 minutes) than in horses administered low dose with methadone or detomidine alone (MLD, DET: 5-15 minutes). No increases in nociceptive thresholds were recorded in SAL or MET. Compared with baseline, HHAG was lower for 30 minutes in MMD and DET, and for 45 minutes in MHD. No significant sedation was observed in SAL, MET or MLD. Intestinal motility was reduced for 75 minutes in MHD and for 30 minutes in all other treatments. Methadone (0.2 mg kg -1 ) potentiated the antinociception produced by detomidine (5 μg kg -1 ), with minimal sedative effects. Detomidine (5 μg kg -1 ) with methadone (0.2 mg kg -1 ) produced antinociception without the adverse effects of higher doses of detomidine. Copyright © 2017 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Local properties of magnetic reconnection in nonlinear resistive- and extended-magnetohydrodynamic toroidal simulations of the sawtooth crash

DOE PAGES

Beidler, M. T.; Cassak, P. A.; Jardin, S. C.; ...

2016-12-15

We diagnose local properties of magnetic reconnection during a sawtooth crash employing the three-dimensional toroidal, extended-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code M3D-C 1. To do so, we sample simulation data in the plane in which reconnection occurs, the plane perpendicular to the helical (m, n) = (1, 1) mode at the q = 1 surface, where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers and q is the safety factor. We study the nonlinear evolution of a particular test equilibrium in a non-reduced field representation using both resistive-MHD and extended-MHD models. We find growth rates for the extended-MHD reconnection process exhibitmore » a nonlinear acceleration and greatly exceed that of the resistive-MHD model, as is expected from previous experimental, theoretical, and computational work. We compare the properties of reconnection in the two simulations, revealing the reconnecting current sheets are locally different in the two models and we present the first observation of the quadrupole out-of-plane Hall magnetic field that appears during extended-MHD reconnection in a 3D toroidal simulation (but not in resistive-MHD). We also explore the dependence on toroidal angle of the properties of reconnection as viewed in the plane perpendicular to the helical magnetic field, finding qualitative and quantitative effects due to changes in the symmetry of the reconnection process. Furthermore, this study is potentially important for a wide range of magnetically confined fusion applications, from confirming simulations with extended-MHD effects are sufficiently resolved to describe reconnection, to quantifying local reconnection rates for purposes of understanding and predicting transport, not only at the q = 1 rational surface for sawteeth, but also at higher order rational surfaces that play a role in disruptions and edge-confinement degradation.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beidler, M. T.; Cassak, P. A.; Jardin, S. C.

We diagnose local properties of magnetic reconnection during a sawtooth crash employing the three-dimensional toroidal, extended-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code M3D-C 1. To do so, we sample simulation data in the plane in which reconnection occurs, the plane perpendicular to the helical (m, n) = (1, 1) mode at the q = 1 surface, where m and n are the poloidal and toroidal mode numbers and q is the safety factor. We study the nonlinear evolution of a particular test equilibrium in a non-reduced field representation using both resistive-MHD and extended-MHD models. We find growth rates for the extended-MHD reconnection process exhibitmore » a nonlinear acceleration and greatly exceed that of the resistive-MHD model, as is expected from previous experimental, theoretical, and computational work. We compare the properties of reconnection in the two simulations, revealing the reconnecting current sheets are locally different in the two models and we present the first observation of the quadrupole out-of-plane Hall magnetic field that appears during extended-MHD reconnection in a 3D toroidal simulation (but not in resistive-MHD). We also explore the dependence on toroidal angle of the properties of reconnection as viewed in the plane perpendicular to the helical magnetic field, finding qualitative and quantitative effects due to changes in the symmetry of the reconnection process. Furthermore, this study is potentially important for a wide range of magnetically confined fusion applications, from confirming simulations with extended-MHD effects are sufficiently resolved to describe reconnection, to quantifying local reconnection rates for purposes of understanding and predicting transport, not only at the q = 1 rational surface for sawteeth, but also at higher order rational surfaces that play a role in disruptions and edge-confinement degradation.« less

Relativistic self-similar dynamic gravitational collapses of a quasi-spherical general polytropic magnetofluid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lou, Yu-Qing; Xia, Yu-Kai

2017-05-01

We study magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) self-similar collapses and void evolution, with or without shocks, of a general polytropic quasi-spherical magnetofluid permeated by random transverse magnetic fields under the Paczynski-Wiita gravity that captures essential general relativistic effects of a Schwarzschild black hole (BH) with a growing mass. Based on the derived set of non-linear MHD ordinary differential equations, we obtain various asymptotic MHD solutions, the geometric and analytical properties of the magnetosonic critical curve (MSCC) and MHD shock jump conditions. Novel asymptotic MHD solution behaviours near the rim of central expanding voids are derived analytically. By exploring numerical global MHD solutions, we identify allowable boundary conditions at large radii that accommodate a smooth solution and show that a reasonable amount of magnetization significantly increases the mass accretion rate in the expansion-wave-collapse solution scenario. We also construct the counterparts of envelope-expansion-core-collapse solutions that cross the MSCC twice, which are found to be closely paired with a sequence of global smooth solutions satisfying a novel type of central MHD behaviours. MHD shocks with static outer and various inner flow profiles are also examined. Astrophysical applications include dynamic core collapses of magnetized massive stars and compact objects as well as formation of supermassive, hypermassive, dark matter and mixed matter BHs in the Universe, including the early Universe. Such gigantic BHs can be detected in X-ray/gamma-ray sources, quasars, ultraluminous infrared galaxies or extremely luminous infrared galaxies and dark matter overwhelmingly dominated elliptical galaxies as well as massive dark matter halos, etc. Gravitational waves and electromagnetic wave emissions in broad band (including e.g., gamma-ray bursts and fast radio bursts) can result from this type of dynamic collapses of forming BHs involving magnetized media.

MHD-EMP protection guidelines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, P. R.; Vance, E. F.

A nuclear detonation at altitudes several hundred kilometers above the earth will severely distort the earth's magnetic field and result in a strong magnetohydrodynamic electromagnetic pulse (MHD-EMP). The geomagnetic disturbance interacts with the soil to induce current and horizontal electric gradients. MHD-EMP, also called E3 since it is the third component of the high-altitude EMP (HEMP), lasts over 100 s after an exoatmospheric burst. MHD-EMP is similar to solar geomagnetic storms in it's global and low frequency (less than 1 Hz) nature except that E3 can be much more intense with a far shorter duration. When the MHD-EMP gradients are integrated over great distances by power lines, communication cables, or other long conductors, the induced voltages are significant. (The horizontal gradients in the soil are too small to induce major responses by local interactions with facilities.) The long pulse waveform for MHD-EMP-induced currents on long lines has a peak current of 200 A and a time-to-half-peak of 100 s. If this current flows through transformer windings, it can saturate the magnetic circuit and cause 60 Hz harmonic production. To mitigate the effects of MHD-EMP on a facility, long conductors must be isolated from the building and the commercial power harmonics and voltage swings must be addressed. The transfer switch would be expected to respond to the voltage fluctuations as long as the harmonics have not interfered with the switch control circuitry. The major sources of MHD-EMP induced currents are the commercial power lines and neutral; neutral current indirect coupling to the facility power or ground system via the metal fence, powered gate, parking lights, etc; metal water pipes; phone lines; and other long conductors that enter or come near the facility. The major source of harmonics is the commercial power system.

Concept for a high performance MHD airbreathing-IEC fusion rocket

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Froning, H. D.; Miley, G. H.; Nadler, J.; Shaban, Y.; Momota, H.; Burton, E.

2001-02-01

Previous studies have shown that Single-State-to-Orbit (SSTO) vehicle propellant can be reduced by Magnets-Hydro-Dynamic (MHD) processes that minimize airbreathing propulsion losses and propellant consumption during atmospheric flight, and additional reduction in SSTO propellant is enabled by Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion, whose more energetic reactions reduce rocket propellant needs. MHD airbreathing propulsion during an SSTO vehicle's initial atmospheric flight phase and IEC fusion propulsion during its final exo-atmospheric flight phase is therefore being explored. Accomplished work is not yet sufficient for claiming such a vehicle's feasibility. But takeoff and propellant mass for an MHD airbreathing and IEC fusion vehicle could be as much as 25 and 40 percent less than one with ordinary airbreathing and IEC fusion; and as much as 50 and 70 percent less than SSTO takeoff and propellant mass with MHD airbreathing and chemical rocket propulsion. .

The STD/MHD codes - Comparison of analyses with experiments at AEDC/HPDE, Reynolds Metal Co., and Hercules, Inc. [for MHD generator flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vetter, A. A.; Maxwell, C. D.; Swean, T. F., Jr.; Demetriades, S. T.; Oliver, D. A.; Bangerter, C. D.

1981-01-01

Data from sufficiently well-instrumented, short-duration experiments at AEDC/HPDE, Reynolds Metal Co., and Hercules, Inc., are compared to analyses with multidimensional and time-dependent simulations with the STD/MHD computer codes. These analyses reveal detailed features of major transient events, severe loss mechanisms, and anomalous MHD behavior. In particular, these analyses predicted higher-than-design voltage drops, Hall voltage overshoots, and asymmetric voltage drops before the experimental data were available. The predictions obtained with these analyses are in excellent agreement with the experimental data and the failure predictions are consistent with the experiments. The design of large, high-interaction or advanced MHD experiments will require application of sophisticated, detailed and comprehensive computational procedures in order to account for the critical mechanisms which led to the observed behavior in these experiments.

Successful experiments on an external MHD Accelerator: wall confinement of the plasma, annihilation of the electrothermal instability by magnetic gradient inversion, creation of a stable spiral current pattern

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petit, Jean-Pierre; Dore, Jean-Christophe

2013-09-01

MHD propulsion has been extensively studied since the fifties. To shift from propulsion to an MHD Aerodyne, one only needs to accelerate the air externally, along its outer skin, using Lorentz forces. We present a set of successful experiments, obtained around a model, placed in low density air. We successfully dealt with various problems: wall confinement of two-temperature plasma obtained by inversion of the magnetic pressure gradient, annihilation of the Velikhov electrothermal instability by magnetic confinement of the streamers, establishment of a stable spiral distribution of the current, obtained by an original method. Another direction of research is devoted to the study of an MHD-controlled inlet which, coupled with a turbofan engine and implying an MHD-bypass system, would extend the flight domain to hypersonic conditions. Research manager

Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence and the Geodynamo

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shebalin, John V.

2016-01-01

Recent research results concerning forced, dissipative, rotating magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence will be discussed. In particular, we present new results from long-time Fourier method (periodic box) simulations in which forcing contains varying amounts of magnetic and kinetic helicity. Numerical results indicate that if MHD turbulence is forced so as to produce a state of relatively constant energy, then the largest-scale components are dominant and quasistationary, and in fact, have an effective dipole moment vector that aligns closely with the rotation axis. The relationship of this work to established results in ideal MHD turbulence, as well as to models of MHD turbulence in a spherical shell will also be presented. These results appear to be very pertinent to understanding the Geodynamo and the origin of its dominant dipole component. Our conclusion is that MHD turbulence, per se, may well contain the origin of the Earth's dipole magnetic field.

Disk MHD generator study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Retallick, F. D.

1980-01-01

Directly-fired, separately-fired, and oxygen-augmented MHD power plants incorporating a disk geometry for the MHD generator were studied. The base parameters defined for four near-optimum-performance MHD steam power systems of various types are presented. The finally selected systems consisted of (1) two directly fired cases, one at 1920 K (2996F) preheat and the other at 1650 K (2500 F) preheat, (2) a separately-fired case where the air is preheated to the same level as the higher temperature directly-fired cases, and (3) an oxygen augmented case with the same generator inlet temperature of 2839 (4650F) as the high temperature directly-fired and separately-fired cases. Supersonic Mach numbers at the generator inlet, gas inlet swirl, and constant Hall field operation were specified based on disk generator optimization. System pressures were based on optimization of MHD net power. Supercritical reheat stream plants were used in all cases. Open and closed cycle component costs are summarized and compared.

Resonant behavior of MHD waves on magnetic flux tubes. IV - Total resonant absorption and MHD radiating eigenmodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goossens, Marcel; Hollweg, Joseph V.

1993-01-01

Resonant absorption of MHD waves on a nonuniform flux tube is investigated as a driven problem for a 1D cylindrical equilibrium. The variation of the fractional absorption is studied as a function of the frequency and its relation to the eigenvalue problem of the MHD radiating eigenmodes of the nonuniform flux tube is established. The optimal frequencies producing maximal fractional absorption are determined and the condition for total absorption is obtained. This condition defines an impedance matching and is fulfilled for an equilibrium that is fine tuned with respect to the incoming wave. The variation of the spatial wave solutions with respect to the frequency is explained as due to the variation of the real and imaginary parts of the dispersion relation of the MHD radiating eigenmodes with respect to the real driving frequency.

On the local well-posedness and a Prodi-Serrin-type regularity criterion of the three-dimensional MHD-Boussinesq system without thermal diffusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larios, Adam; Pei, Yuan

2017-07-01

We prove a Prodi-Serrin-type global regularity condition for the three-dimensional Magnetohydrodynamic-Boussinesq system (3D MHD-Boussinesq) without thermal diffusion, in terms of only two velocity and two magnetic components. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Prodi-Serrin-type criterion for such a 3D hydrodynamic system which is not fully dissipative, and indicates that such an approach may be successful on other systems. In addition, we provide a constructive proof of the local well-posedness of solutions to the fully dissipative 3D MHD-Boussinesq system, and also the fully inviscid, irresistive, non-diffusive MHD-Boussinesq equations. We note that, as a special case, these results include the 3D non-diffusive Boussinesq system and the 3D MHD equations. Moreover, they can be extended without difficulty to include the case of a Coriolis rotational term.

Gas-Kinetic Theory Based Flux Splitting Method for Ideal Magnetohydrodynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Xu, Kun

1998-01-01

A gas-kinetic solver is developed for the ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations. The new scheme is based on the direct splitting of the flux function of the MHD equations with the inclusion of "particle" collisions in the transport process. Consequently, the artificial dissipation in the new scheme is much reduced in comparison with the MHD Flux Vector Splitting Scheme. At the same time, the new scheme is compared with the well-developed Roe-type MHD solver. It is concluded that the kinetic MHD scheme is more robust and efficient than the Roe- type method, and the accuracy is competitive. In this paper the general principle of splitting the macroscopic flux function based on the gas-kinetic theory is presented. The flux construction strategy may shed some light on the possible modification of AUSM- and CUSP-type schemes for the compressible Euler equations, as well as to the development of new schemes for a non-strictly hyperbolic system.

Equilibrium, confinement and stability of runaway electrons in tokamaks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spong, D A

1976-03-01

Some of the ramifications of the runaway population in tokamak experiments are investigated. Consideration is given both to the normal operating regime of tokamaks where only a small fraction of high energy runaways are present and to the strong runaway regime where runaways are thought to carry a significant portion of the toroidal current. In particular, the areas to be examined are the modeling of strong runaway discharges, single particle orbit characteristics of runaways, macroscopic beam-plasma equilibria, and stability against kink modes. A simple one-dimensional, time-dependent model has been constructed in relation to strong runaway discharges. Single particle orbits aremore » analyzed in relation to both the strong runaway regime and the weak regime. The effects of vector E x vector B drifts are first considered in strong runaway discharges and are found to lead to a slow inward shrinkage of the beam. Macroscopic beam-plasma equilibria are treated assuming a pressureless relativistic beam with inertia and using an ideal MHD approximation for the plasma. The stability of a toroidal relativistic beam against kink perturbations is examined using several models. (MOW)« less

M3D-K Simulations of Beam-Driven Alfven Eigenmodes in ASDEX-U

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ge; Fu, Guoyong; Lauber, Philipp; Schneller, Mirjam

2013-10-01

Core-localized Alfven eigenmodes are often observed in neutral beam-heated plasma in ASDEX-U tokamak. In this work, hybrid simulations with the global kinetic/MHD hybrid code M3D-K have been carried out to investigate the linear stability and nonlinear dynamics of beam-driven Alfven eigenmodes using experimental parameters and profiles of an ASDEX-U discharge. The safety factor q profile is weakly reversed with minimum q value about qmin = 3.0. The simulation results show that the n = 3 mode transits from a reversed shear Alfven eigenmode (RSAE) to a core-localized toroidal Alfven eigenmode (TAE) as qmin drops from 3.0 to 2.79, consistent with results from the stability code NOVA as well as the experimental measurement. The M3D-K results are being compared with those of the linear gyrokinetic stability code LIGKA for benchmark. The simulation results will also be compared with the measured mode frequency and mode structure. This work was funded by the Max-Planck/Princeton Center for Plasma Physics.

Equilibrium and stability of flow-dominated Plasmas in the Big Red Ball

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siller, Robert; Flanagan, Kenneth; Peterson, Ethan; Milhone, Jason; Mirnov, Vladimir; Forest, Cary

2017-10-01

The equilibrium and linear stability of flow-dominated plasmas are studied numerically using a spectral techniques to model MRI and dynamo experiments in the Big Red Ball device. The equilibrium code solves for steady-state magnetic fields and plasma flows subject to boundary conditions in a spherical domain. It has been benchmarked with NIMROD (non-ideal MHD with rotation - open discussion), Two different flow scenarios are studied. The first scenario creates a differentially rotating toroidal flow that is peaked at the center. This is done to explore the onset of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in a spherical geometry. The second scenario creates a counter-rotating von Karman-like flow in the presence of a weak magnetic field. This is done to explore the plasma dynamo instability in the limit of a weak applied field. Both scenarios are numerically modeled as axisymmetric flow to create a steady-state equilibrium solution, the stability and normal modes are studied in the lowest toroidal mode number. The details of the observed flow, and the structure of the fastest growing modes will be shown. DoE, NSF.

Dependency of Tearing Mode Stability on Current and Pressure Profiles in DIII-D Hybrid Discharges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, K.; Park, J. M.; Murakami, M.; La Haye, R. J.; Na, Y.-S.; SNU/ORAU; ORNL; Atomics, General; SNU; DIII-D Team

2016-10-01

Understanding the physics of the onset and evolution of tearing modes (TMs) in tokamak plasmas is important for high- β steady-state operation. Based on DIII-D steady-state hybrid experiments with accurate equilibrium reconstruction and well-measured plasma profiles, the 2/1 tearing mode can be more stable with increasing local current and pressure gradient at rational surface and with lower pressure peaking and plasma inductance. The tearing stability index Δ', estimated by the Rutherford equation with experimental mode growth rate was validated against Δ' calculated by linear eigenvalue solver (PEST3); preliminary comprehensive MHD modeling by NIMROD reproduced the TM onset reasonably well. We present a novel integrated modeling for the purpose of predicting TM onset in experiment by combining a model equilibrium reconstruction using IPS/FASTRAN, linear stability Δ' calculation using PEST3, and fitting formula for critical Δ' from NIMROD. Work supported in part by the US DoE under DE-AC05-06OR23100, DE-AC05-00OR22725, and DEFC02-04ER54698.

Overview of RWM Stabilization and Other Experiments With New Internal Coils in the DIII-D Tokamak

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, G. L.; Evans, T. E.; La Haye, R. J.; Kellman, A. G.; Schaffer, M. J.; Scoville, J. T.; Strait, E. J.; Szymanski, D. D.; Bialek, J.; Garofalo, A. M.; Navratil, G. A.; Reimerdes, H.; Edgell, D. H.; Okabayashi, M.; Hatcher, R.

2003-10-01

A set of 12 single-turn internal coils (I-coils) has been installed and operated in the DIII-D tokamak. The primary purpose of these coils (A_coil = 1.1 m^2, I ≤,7 kA, d_wall = 1.47 cm) is to improve stabilization of the n=1 resistive wall mode (RWM), compared to the existing external C-coil set, especially for high βN advanced tokamak discharges in low toroidal rotation plasmas. The versatility of the I-coil set and its associated power systems allow for a variety of experiments: fast feedback stabilization of RWMs, dc error field correction, edge stochastic fields, n=1,2, or 3 toroidal magnetic braking, and MHD spectroscopy (0-60 Hz). The resonant field amplification from an applied n=1 field was found to be completely suppressed, demonstrating successfully the controllability with the new system. With the I-coils, the high βN regime (above the no wall limit) has been explored both with RWM feedback and with dynamic error field correction. Experiments on edge ergodization will also be discussed.

[Resting metabolic rate estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis and its determinants in maintenance hemodialysis patients].

PubMed

Da, J J; Peng, H Y; Lin, X; Shen, Y; Zhao, J Q; He, S; Zha, Y

2018-03-27

Objective: To explore the level of resting energy expenditure (REE) estimated by bioelectrical impedance analysis and the association of resting metabolic rate (RMR) with clinical related factors, and provide new ideas for improving protein energy wasting (PEW) in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods: Seven hundred and sixty-five subjects receiving MHD between July 2015 and September 2016 in 11 hemodialysis centers in Guizhou province were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to measure RMR and body composition, such as lean body mass, fat mass and body cell mass (BCM). Baseline characteristics, routine blood test indexes and biochemical data of hemodialysis patients were collected. The level of RMR and body composition in hemodialysis patients was compared by gender grouping. Then the patients were divided into four groups according to the cutoff value of RMR quartile. Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the relationships between RMR and clinical related factors. Results: The average age of MHD patients was (54.96±15.78) years and the duriation of dialysis was (42.3±9.0) months. The level of RMR in male patients (474 cases, 61.96%) was significantly higher than that in female patients [1 591(1 444, 1 764) kcal/d vs 1 226 (1 104, 1 354) kcal/d, P <0.001]. However, this significant difference of RMR between different genders disappeared after adjusting for lean body mass ( P =0.193). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that RMR was positively correlated with body surface area (β=0.817) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (β=0.198), and negatively correlated with age (β=-0.141), all P <0.05. Conclusion: RMR levels in patients with maintenance hemodialysis are associated with lactate dehydrogenase level, which may become a new index to evaluate energy consumption.

9 CFR 3.104 - Space requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... required minimum horizontal dimension (MHD) of a pool for Group I cetaceans shall be 7.32 meters (24.0 feet... area requirements are met based on an MHD of 7.32 meters (24.0 feet) or two times the average adult... maturity. (ii) The MHD of a pool for Group II cetaceans shall be 7.32 meters (24.0 feet) or four times the...

Multirail electromagnetic launcher powered from a pulsed magnetohydrodynamic generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afonin, A. G.; Butov, V. G.; Panchenko, V. P.; Sinyaev, S. V.; Solonenko, V. A.; Shvetsov, G. A.; Yakushev, A. A.

2015-09-01

The operation of an electromagnetic multirail launcher of solids powered from a pulsed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator is studied. The plasma flow in the channel of the pulsed MHD generator and the possibility of launching solids in a rapid-fire mode of launcher operation are considered. It is shown that this mode of launcher operation can be implemented by matching the plasma flow dynamics in the channel of the pulsed MHD generator and the launching conditions. It is also shown that powerful pulsed MHD generators can be used as a source of electrical energy for rapid-fire electromagnetic rail launchers operating in a burst mode.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lingam, Manasvi; Abdelhamid, Hamdi M.; Hudson, Stuart R.

The recent formulations of multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics (MRxMHD) have generalized the famous Woltjer-Taylor states by incorporating a collection of “ideal barriers” that prevent global relaxation and flow. In this paper, we generalize MRxMHD with flow to include Hall effects, and thereby obtain the partially relaxed counterparts of the famous double Beltrami states as a special subset. The physical and mathematical consequences arising from the introduction of the Hall term are also presented. We demonstrate that our results (in the ideal MHD limit) constitute an important subset of ideal MHD equilibria, and we compare our approach against other variational principles proposedmore » for deriving the partially relaxed states.« less

Energy structure of MHD flow coupling with outer resistance circuit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Z. Y.; Liu, Y. J.; Chen, Y. Q.; Peng, Z. L.

2015-08-01

Energy structure of MHD flow coupling with outer resistance circuit is studied to illuminate qualitatively and quantitatively the energy relation of this basic MHD flow system with energy input and output. Energy structure are analytically derived based on the Navier-Stocks equations for two-dimensional fully-developed flow and generalized Ohm's Law. The influences of applied magnetic field, Hall parameter and conductivity on energy structure are discussed based on the analytical results. Associated energies in MHD flow are deduced and validated by energy conservation. These results reveal that energy structure consists of two sub structures: electrical energy structure and internal energy structure. Energy structure and its sub structures provide an integrated theoretical energy path of the MHD system. Applied magnetic field and conductivity decrease the input energy, dissipation by fluid viscosity and internal energy but increase the ratio of electrical energy to input energy, while Hall parameter has the opposite effects. These are caused by their different effects on Bulk velocity, velocity profiles, voltage and current in outer circuit. Understanding energy structure helps MHD application designers to actively adjust the allocation of different parts of energy so that it is more reasonable and desirable.