| 1. |
- Harrison, J.R., et al.
(författare)
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Overview of new MAST physics in anticipation of first results from MAST Upgrade
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nuclear Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-4326 .- 0029-5515. ; 59:11
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mega amp spherical tokamak (MAST) was a low aspect ratio device (R/a = 0.85/0.65 ∼ 1.3) with similar poloidal cross-section to other medium-size tokamaks. The physics programme concentrates on addressing key physics issues for the operation of ITER, design of DEMO and future spherical tokamaks by utilising high resolution diagnostic measurements closely coupled with theory and modelling to significantly advance our understanding. An empirical scaling of the energy confinement time that favours higher power, lower collisionality devices is consistent with gyrokinetic modelling of electron scale turbulence. Measurements of ion scale turbulence with beam emission spectroscopy and gyrokinetic modelling in up-down symmetric plasmas find that the symmetry of the turbulence is broken by flow shear. Near the non-linear stability threshold, flow shear tilts the density fluctuation correlation function and skews the fluctuation amplitude distribution. Results from fast particle physics studies include the observation that sawteeth are found to redistribute passing and trapped fast particles injected from neutral beam injectors in equal measure, suggesting that resonances between the m = 1 perturbation and the fast ion orbits may be playing a dominant role in the fast ion transport. Measured D-D fusion products from a neutron camera and a charged fusion product detector are 40% lower than predictions from TRANSP/NUBEAM, highlighting possible deficiencies in the guiding centre approximation. Modelling of fast ion losses in the presence of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMPs) can reproduce trends observed in experiments when the plasma response and charge-exchange losses are accounted for. Measurements with a neutral particle analyser during merging-compression start-up indicate the acceleration of ions and electrons. Transport at the plasma edge has been improved through reciprocating probe measurements that have characterised a geodesic acoustic mode at the edge of an ohmic L-mode plasma and particle-in-cell modelling has improved the interpretation of plasma potential estimates from ball-pen probes. The application of RMPs leads to a reduction in particle confinement in L-mode and H-mode and an increase in the core ionization source. The ejection of secondary filaments following type-I ELMs correlates with interactions with surfaces near the X-point. Simulations of the interaction between pairs of filaments in the scrape-off layer suggest this results in modest changes to their velocity, and in most cases can be treated as moving independently. A stochastic model of scrape-off layer profile formation based on the superposition of non-interacting filaments is in good agreement with measured time-average profiles. Transport in the divertor has been improved through fast camera imaging, indicating the presence of a quiescent region devoid of filament near the X-point, extending from the separatrix to ψ n ∼ 1.02. Simulations of turbulent transport in the divertor show that the angle between the divertor leg on the curvature vector strongly influences transport into the private flux region via the interchange mechanism. Coherence imaging measurements show counter-streaming flows of impurities due to gas puffing increasing the pressure on field lines where the gas is ionised. MAST Upgrade is based on the original MAST device, with substantially improved capabilities to operate with a Super-X divertor to test extended divertor leg concepts. SOLPS-ITER modelling predicts the detachment threshold will be reduced by more than a factor of 2, in terms of upstream density, in the Super-X compared with a conventional configuration and that the radiation front movement is passively stabilised before it reaches the X-point. 1D fluid modelling reveals the key role of momentum and power loss mechanisms in governing detachment onset and evolution. Analytic modelling indicates that long legs placed at large major radius, or equivalently low at the target compared with the X-point are more amenable to external control. With MAST Upgrade experiments expected in 2019, a thorough characterisation of the sources of the intrinsic error field has been carried out and a mitigation strategy developed.
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| 2. |
- Hood Highcock, Edmund, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Optimisation of confinement in a fusion reactor using a nonlinear turbulence model
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Plasma Physics. - 0022-3778 .- 1469-7807. ; 84:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The confinement of heat in the core of a magnetic fusion reactor is optimised using a multidimensional optimisation algorithm. For the first time in such a study, the loss of heat due to turbulence is modelled at every stage using first-principles nonlinear simulations which accurately capture the turbulent cascade and large-scale zonal flows. The simulations utilise a novel approach, with gyrofluid treatment of the small-scale drift waves and gyrokinetic treatment of the large-scale zonal flows. A simple near-circular equilibrium with standard parameters is chosen as the initial condition. The figure of merit, fusion power per unit volume, is calculated, and then two control parameters, the elongation and triangularity of the outer flux surface, are varied, with the algorithm seeking to optimise the chosen figure of merit. A twofold increase in the plasma power per unit volume is achieved by moving to higher elongation and strongly negative triangularity.
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| 3. |
- van Wyk, F, et al.
(författare)
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Transition to subcritical turbulence in a tokamak plasma
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Plasma Physics. - 0022-3778 .- 1469-7807. ; 82:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tokamak turbulence, driven by the ion-temperature gradient and occurring in the presence of flow shear, is investigated by means of local, ion-scale, electrostatic gyrokinetic simulations (with both kinetic ions and electrons) of the conditions in the outer core of the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST). A parameter scan in the local values of the ion-temperature gradient and flow shear is performed. It is demonstrated that the experimentally observed state is near the stability threshold and that this stability threshold is nonlinear: sheared turbulence is subcritical, i.e. the system is formally stable to small perturbations, but, given a large enough initial perturbation, it transitions to a turbulent state. A scenario for such a transition is proposed and supported by numerical results: close to threshold, the nonlinear saturated state and the associated anomalous heat transport are dominated by long-lived coherent structures, which drift across the domain, have finite amplitudes, but are not volume filling; as the system is taken away from the threshold into the more unstable regime, the number of these structures increases until they overlap and a more conventional chaotic state emerges. Whereas this appears to represent a new scenario for transition to turbulence in tokamak plasmas, it is reminiscent of the behaviour of other subcritically turbulent systems, e.g. pipe flows and Keplerian magnetorotational accretion flows.
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| 4. |
- Wilkie, George, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Fundamental form of the electrostatic δf-PIC algorithm and discovery of a converged numerical instability
- 2016
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Ingår i: Physics of Plasmas. - : AIP Publishing. - 1089-7674 .- 1070-664X. ; 23:5, s. 052111-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The δf particle-in-cell algorithm has been a useful tool in studying the physics of plasmas, particularly turbulent magnetized plasmas in the context of gyrokinetics. The reduction in noise due to not having to resolve the full distribution function indicates an efficiency advantage over the standard (“full-f”) particle-in-cell. Despite its successes, the algorithm behaves strangely in some circumstances. In this work, we document a fully resolved numerical instability that occurs in the simplest of multiple-species test cases: the electrostatic ΩH mode. There is also a poorly understood numerical instability that occurs when one is under-resolved in particle number, which may require a prohibitively large number of particles to stabilize. Both of these are independent of the time-stepping scheme, and we conclude that they exist if the time advancement were exact. The exact analytic form of the algorithm is presented, and several schemes for mitigating these instabilities are also presented.
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| 5. |
- Wilkie, George, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Global anomalous transport of ICRH and NBI-heated fast ions
- 2017
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Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 1361-6587 .- 0741-3335. ; 59:4, s. 044007-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By taking advantage of the trace approximation, one can gain an enormous computational advantage when solving for the global turbulent transport of impurities.In particular, this makes feasible the study of non-Maxwellian transport coupled in radius and energy, allowing collisions and transport to be accounted for on similar time scales, as occurs for fast ions. In this work, we study the fully-nonlinear ITG-driven trace turbulent transport of locally heated and injected fast ions. Previousresults indicated the existence of MeV-range minorities heated by cyclotron resonance,and an associated density pinch e ect. Here, we build upon this result using the t3core code to solve for the distribution of these minorities, consistently including the e ects of collisions, gyrokinetic turbulence, and heating. Using the same tool to study the transport of injected fast ions, we contrast the qualitative features of their transport with that of the heated minorities. Furthermore, we move beyond the trace approximation to develop a model which allows one to easily account for the reduction of anomalous transport due to the presence of fast ions in electrostatic turbulence.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Wilkie, George, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Transport and deceleration of fusion products in microturbulence
- 2016
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Ingår i: Physics of Plasmas. - : AIP Publishing. - 1089-7674 .- 1070-664X. ; 23:6, s. 060703-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The velocity-space distribution of alpha particles born in fusion devices is subject to modification at moderateenergies due to turbulent transport. Therefore, one must calculate the evolution of an equilibrium distributionwhose functional form is not known a priori. Using a novel technique, applicable to any trace impurity, wehave made this calculation for fully nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations not only possible, but particularlyefficient. We demonstrate a microturbulence-induced departure from the local slowing-down distribution, aninversion of the energy distribution, and associated modifications to the alpha heating and pressure profilesin an ITER-like scenario.
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