Engineering topics

Ghosh, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Ghosh, D..

9 records

DOE OSTI2021

Nonlinear kinetic simulation study of the ion–ion streaming instability in single- and multi-ion species plasmas

The nonlinear evolution of the ion–ion streaming instability (IISI) is studied using numerical techniques novel to this problem that afford direct insight into the evolution of the particle distributions of each species. Here, during the linear phase of the instability, we demonstrate quantitative agreement with linear kinetic theory. Subsequently, the electrostatic field generated by the IISI causes ring-like velocity distributions of ions to form that are both heated and slowed to varying degrees relative to their initial flows. Due to variation in the trapping conditions for ion species of differing charge-to-mass ratio, when flows of multiple species interact, the nonlinear evolution of each species can be starkly different: we show a case where a lighter ion species is completely stopped by a heavier ion species via the IISI alone (i.e., without collisions) and, for the first time, demonstrate how the IISI can introduce a relative flow between ion species that initially have the same flow velocities, thereby separating them.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

A multispecies, multifluid model for laser–induced counterstreaming plasma simulations

The interpenetration of counterstreaming plasmas is a critical phenomenon in several application areas, such as astrophysical flows, design of controlled fusion devices, and laser–induced plasma experiments. Multispecies “single-fluid” codes are unable to model this phenomenon due to the single velocity representation for all the species/fluids. Kinetic codes, though capable of modeling interpenetration, are computationally prohibitive for at-scale simulations. Here, we introduce a multifluid model that solves the fluid equations for each ion fluid or stream. This allows distinct flows that interact with each other through electrostatic and collisional forces. We observe and describe our code, EUCLID, that uses a conservative finite-difference formulation to discretize the governing equations in space. The 5th-order Monotonicity-Preserving WENO scheme is used for the upwind approximation of the hyperbolic flux, and the explicit 4th-order Runge–Kutta scheme is used for time integration. The code is verified for several benchmark cases and manufactured solutions. We simulate one- and two-dimensional interactions of counterstreaming plasmas in vacuum as well as in the presence of gas fill, where the setups are representative of laser-induced plasma experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Linearized Coulomb Collision Operator for Simulation of Interpenetrating Plasma Streams

We present an extension of a linearized Coulomb collision operator, previously used in several Eulerian kinetic codes for like-species collisions and unlike-species collisions in the case where the backgrounds about which the linearization is made all are in collisional equilibrium, to the situation of interpenetrating plasma streams. In the latter case, the backgrounds can not be taken to be in equilibrium and a significant generalization is required. Our development is targeted towards the Eulerian kinetic plasma code LOKI, which evolves the Vlasov- Poisson or Vlasov-Maxwell system in a Cartesian “2+2-dimensional” phase space. The extended operator has been implemented in a test code, and results of both quantitative verification and qualitative “realizability” tests are presented.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2018

High-order finite-volume modeling of drift waves

The study discusses high-order finite-volume numerical modeling of drift waves, which is an ubiquitous phenomenon in magnetized plasmas. It is found that some standard discretization methods applied to the conservative form of the governing equations can lead to a numerical instability. A method to stabilize high-order discretization is proposed and demonstrated to work in numerical simulations performed with the fourth-order finite-volume code COGENT. As practical examples, a stable drift-wave solution with adiabatic electrons and the collisionless (universal) drift-wave instability driven by electron kinetic effects are considered. Finally, application of the present analysis to a broader range of computational fluid dynamics systems is discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2016

Continuum Gyrokinetic Edge New Technology

COGENT is a simulation code that models the plasma evolution in the edge region of a tokamak fusion reactor, from the open field line scrape-off layer, across the separatrix, and into the core. The model is based on the 4D gyrokinetic closure of the kinetic equations for a plasma coupled to an electrostatic potential field. The background magnetic field is prescribed either analytically or generated from experimental data, and the grid is aligned with magnetic flux surfaces. Multiple collision operator options are provided, from Krook to fully nonlinear Fokker-Planck.

Dorr, M.R.↗

DOE OSTI2016

Continuum Gyrokinetic Edge New Technology

Dorr, M. R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Linear estimation and control studies of vibration suppression of SCOLE flexible mast

A Kalman filter and a controller are presented for vibration suppression of the Spacecraft Control Laboratory Experiment flexible mast mounted in the cantilevered configuration. Mode shapes and frequencies of the structure obtained from a finite element analysis are used to compute the controller and filter gains. The paper presents results and discussion from simulation and experimental studies. Comparison of experimental results with those obtained by simulation show close agreement.

Ghosh, D.↗

NASA NTRS1988

LQC control for the Mini-Mast experiment

The Mini-Mast system is briefly reviewed, and results of a simulation study of the LQG control for the Mini-Mast experiment are reported. In particular, attention is given to problems and limitations related to the testing of control laws using reaction mass actuators, such as accounting for force and stroke limits of these devices. The local controller used in the study and the algorithm for converting the force commands of the LQG algorithm to position commands for the reaction mass device are described. It is shown that the LQG generated damping is reduced when a local controller is used and the position command is not saturated; it drops still further when the position command is saturated.

Montgomery, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Problems associated with reaction mass actuators used in conjunction with LQG control on the Mini-Mast

The work being done at NASA LaRC on developing control laws for the Mini-Mast experimental facility is reviewed with particular attention given to the problems associated with the stroke limit of the reaction mass actuators used in conjunction with the LQG control. An algorithm for converting the force commands of the LQG algorithm into position command for the reaction mass devices is described. It is shown that the position command can be used as an input to a local controller so that the relative position of the reaction mass would track the commanded relative position. The stabilization of the integration scheme makes it possible to avoid the position drift arising in the direct double integration method of converting force commands to position commands.

Ghosh, D.↗