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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Relativistic modeling capabilities in PERSEUS extended MHD simulation code for HED plasmas

We discuss the incorporation of relativistic modeling capabilities into the PERSEUS extended MHD simulation code for high-energy-density (HED) plasmas, and present the latest hybrid X-pinch simulation results. The use of fully relativistic equations enables the model to remain self-consistent in simulations of such relativistic phenomena as X-pinches and laser-plasma interactions. By suitable formulation of the relativistic generalized Ohm’s law as an evolution equation, we have reduced the recovery of primitive variables, a major technical challenge in relativistic codes, to a straightforward algebraic computation. Our code recovers expected results in the non-relativistic limit, and reveals new physics in the modeling of electron beam acceleration following an X-pinch. Through the use of a relaxation scheme, relativistic PERSEUS is able to handle nine orders of magnitude in density variation, making it the first fluid code, to our knowledge, that can simulate relativistic HED plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of Cu-water nanofluid due to a rotating disk with partial slip

This paper investigates MHD steady flow of viscous nanofluid due to a rotating disk. Water is treated as a base fluid and copper as nanoparticle. Nanofluid fills the porous medium. Effects of partial slip, viscous dissipation and thermal radiation are also considered. Similarity transformations reduce the nonlinear partial differential equations to ordinary differential equations. Flow and heat transfer characteristics are computed by HAM solutions. Also computations for skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number are presented and examined for pertinent parameters. It is noted that higher velocity slip parameter decreases the radial and azimuthal velocities while temperature decreases for larger values of the thermal slip parameter. Also the rate of heat transfer enhances when the nanoparticle volume fraction increases.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fractional boundary layer flow and radiation heat transfer of MHD viscoelastic fluid over an unsteady stretching surface

This paper presents an investigation for magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) viscoelastic fluid boundary layer flow and radiation heat transfer over an unsteady stretching sheet in presence of heat source. Time dependent fractional derivative is first introduced in formulating the boundary layer equations. Numerical solutions are obtained by using the finite difference scheme and L1-algorithm approximation. Results indicate that the proposed model describes a basic delaying times framework for viscoelastic flow and radiation heat transfer. The effects of involved parameters on velocity and temperature fields are shown graphically and analyzed in detail.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

A note on convective heat transfer of an MHD Jeffrey fluid over a stretching sheet

This article focuses on the exact solution regarding convective heat transfer of a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Jeffrey fluid over a stretching sheet. The effects of joule and viscous dissipation, internal heat source/sink and thermal radiation on the heat transfer characteristics are taken in account in the presence of a transverse magnetic field for two types of boundary heating process namely prescribed power law surface temperature (PST) and prescribed heat flux (PHF). Similarity transformations are used to reduce the governing non-linear momentum and thermal boundary layer equations into a set of ordinary differential equations. The exact solutions of the reduced ordinary differential equations are developed in the form of confluent hypergeometric function. The influence of the pertinent parameters on the temperature profile is examined. In addition the results for the wall temperature gradient are also discussed in detail.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

MHD simulation of the Bastille day event

We describe a time-dependent, thermodynamic, three-dimensional MHD simulation of the July 14, 2000 coronal mass ejection (CME) and flare. The simulation starts with a background corona developed using an MDI-derived magnetic map for the boundary condition. Flux ropes using the modified Titov-Demoulin (TDm) model are used to energize the pre-event active region, which is then destabilized by photospheric flows that cancel flux near the polarity inversion line. More than 10{sup 33} ergs are impulsively released in the simulated eruption, driving a CME at 1500 km/s, close to the observed speed of 1700km/s. The post-flare emission in the simulation is morphologically similar to the observed post-flare loops. The resulting flux rope that propagates to 1 AU is similar in character to the flux rope observed at 1 AU, but the simulated ICME center passes 15° north of Earth.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Radial dependence of solar energetic particles derived from the 15 March 2013 solar energetic particle event and global MHD simulation

We study an unusual solar energetic particle (SEP) event that was associated with the coronal mass ejection (CME) on March 15, 2013. Enhancements of the SEP fluxes were first detected by the ACE spacecraft at 14:00 UT, ∼7 hours after the onset of the CME (07:00 UT), and the SEP’s peak intensities were recorded ∼36 hours after the onset of the CME. Our recent study showed that the CME-driven shock Mach number, based on a global three-dimensional (3-D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation, is well correlated with the time-intensity of 10-30 MeV and 30-80 MeV protons. Here we focus on the radial dependence (r{sup −α}) of {sup 4}He (3.43-41.2 MeV/n) and O (7.30-89.8 MeV/n) energetic particles from ACE/SIS. It is found that the scaling factor (α) ranges between 2 and 4 for most of the energy channels. We also found that the correlation coefficients tend to increase with SEP energies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Onset of transition from laminar to chaos in MHD mixed convection of a lid-driven trapezoidal cavity filled with Cu-water nanofluid

The present study investigates the thermal mixing scenarios of steady magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) mixed convection in a two-dimensional lid-driven trapezoidal cavity filled with Cu-water nanofluid. The top wall of the cavity slides with a uniform velocity from left to right direction, while the other walls are fixed. The bottom wall is kept with a constant higher temperature than the top one. The governing mass, momentum and energy equations are expressed in non-dimensional forms and Galerkin finite element method has been employed to solve these equations. Special attention is paid on investigating the onset of transition from laminar to chaos at pure mixed convection case. Hence, the computations are carried out for a wide range of Reynolds numbers (Re = 0.1 − 400) and Grashof numbers (Gr = 10{sup −2} − 1.6 × 10{sup 5}) at unity Richardson number and fixed Hartmann number (Ha = 10). The variation of average Nusselt number of the bottom heated wall indicates the influence of governing parameters (Re and Gr) on heat transfer characteristics. The results are presented and explained through the visualisation of isotherms, streamlines and heatlines.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

MHD effects and heat transfer for the UCM fluid along with Joule heating and thermal radiation using Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model

Present study examines the numerical analysis of MHD flow of Maxwell fluid with thermal radiation and Joule heating by considering the recently developed Cattaneo-Christov heat flux model which explains the time relaxation characteristics for the heat flux. The objective is to analyze the governing parameters such as viscoelastic fluid parameter, Magnetic parameter, Eckert and Prandtl number’s impact on the velocity and temperature profiles through graphs and tables. Suitable similarity transformations have been used to reduce the formulated PDEs into a system of coupled non-linear ODEs. Shooting technique has been invoked for finding the numerical solutions of the dimensionless velocity and temperature profiles. Additionally, the MATLAB built-in routine bvp4c has also been used to verify and strengthen the results obtained by shooting method. From some special cases of the present work, a comparison with the previously published results has been presented.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Structure and computation of two-dimensional incompressible extended MHD

A comprehensive study of the extended magnetohydrodynamic model obtained from the two-fluid theory for electrons and ions with the enforcement of quasineutrality is given. Starting from the Hamiltonian structure of the fully three-dimensional theory, a Hamiltonian two-dimensional incompressible four-field model is derived. In this way, the energy conservation along with four families of Casimir invariants is naturally obtained. The construction facilitates various limits leading to the Hamiltonian forms of Hall, inertial, and ideal MHD, with their conserved energies and Casimir invariants. Basic linear theory of the four-field model is treated, and the growth rate for collisionless reconnection is obtained. Finally, results from nonlinear simulations of collisionless tearing are presented and interpreted using, in particular, normal fields, a product of the Hamiltonian theory that gives rise to simplified equations of motion.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Extended MHD modeling of tearing-driven magnetic relaxation

Discrete relaxation events in reversed-field pinch relevant configurations are investigated numerically with nonlinear extended magnetohydrodynamic modeling, including the Hall term in Ohm’s law and first-order ion finite Larmor radius effects. Our results show variability among relaxation events, where the Hall dynamo effect may help or impede the MHD dynamo effect in relaxing the parallel current density profile. The competitive behavior arises from multi-helicity conditions where the dominant magnetic fluctuation is relatively small. The resulting changes in parallel current density and parallel flow are aligned in the core, consistent with experimental observations. Analysis of simulation results also confirms that force density from fluctuation-induced Reynolds stress arises subsequent to the drive from fluctuation-induced Lorentz force density. Transport of momentum density is found to be dominated by the fluctuation-induced Maxwell stress over most of the cross section with viscous and gyroviscous contributions being large in the edge region. The findings resolve a discrepancy with respect to the relative orientation of current density and flow relaxation, which had not been realized or investigated in Ref. [King et. al. Phys. Plasmas 19, 055905 (2012)], where only the magnitude of flow relaxation is actually consistent with experimental results.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Impact of E × B shear flow on low-n MHD instabilities

Recently, the stationary high confinement operations with improved pedestal conditions have been achieved in DIII-D [K. H. Burrell et al., Phys. Plasmas 23, 056103 (2016)], accompanying the spontaneous transition from the coherent edge harmonic oscillation (EHO) to the broadband MHD turbulence state by reducing the neutral beam injection torque to zero. It is crucial for the burning plasma devices such as ITER. Simulations about the effects of E×B shear flow on the quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) are carried out using the three-field two-fluid model in the field-aligned coordinate under the BOUT++ framework. Using the shifted circular cross-section equilibriums including bootstrap current, the results demonstrate that the E×B shear flow strongly destabilizes low-n peeling modes, which are mainly driven by the gradient of parallel current in peeling-dominant cases and are sensitive to the E r shear. Adopting the much more general shape of E×B shear (ω E =E r /RB θ ) profiles, the linear and nonlinear BOUT++ simulations show qualitative consistence with the experiments. The stronger shear flow shifts the most unstable mode to lower-n and narrows the mode spectrum. At the meantime, the nonlinear simulations of the QH-mode indicate that the shear flow in both co- and counter directions of diamagnetic flow has some similar effects. The nonlinear mode interaction is enhanced during the mode amplitude saturation phase. These findings reveal that the fundamental physics mechanism of the QH-mode may be shear flow and are significant for understanding the mechanism of EHO and QH-mode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Using motional Stark splitting of D$_α$ emission to constrain MHD equilibrium analysis in DIII-D plasmas

Herein we report tests of an alternate technique for constraining MHD equilibrium analysis in tokamak plasmas using internal magnetic field measurements based on |$B$| measurements from the motional Stark splitting of D$_α$ spectral lines emitted by a neutral heating beam (MSE-LS). We compare results using MSE-LS with those of the standard equilibrium analysis technique based on line polarization of the D$_α$ emission (MSE-LP). An alternative to MSE-LP is needed in future devices such as ITER where MSE-LP will be difficult due to a plasma-induced coating of the first optical element. The tests utilized data from 10 DIII-D shots with 7 MSE-LS and 14 MSE-LP views covering a range of radii along the outer midplane of the plasma. Seven MSE-LS measurements can contribute significantly to the equilibrium reconstruction of pressure and q profiles using both synthetic and experimental DIII-D MSE-LS data. For example, 7 MSE-LS plus seven MSE-LP measurements give a fit quality that is as good as the same cases with 14 MSE-LP measurements. Analyzing synthetic data for 14 MSE-LS measurements shows significant improvement in fitting quality over the case with 7 MSE-LS locations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Experimental investigation of the compression and heating of an MHD-driven jet impacting a target cloud

Herein adiabatic compression has been investigated by having an MHD-driven plasma jet impact a gas target cloud. Compression and heating of the jet upon impact were observed and compared to theoretical predictions. Diagnostics for comprehensive measurements included a Thomson scattering system, a fast movie camera, a translatable fiber-coupled interferometer, a monochromator, a visible-light photodiode, and a magnetic probe array. Measurements using these diagnostics provided the time-dependent electron density, electron temperature, continuum emission, line emission, and magnetic field profile. Increases in density and magnetic field and a decrease in jet velocity were observed during the compression. The electron temperature had a complicated time dependence, increasing at first, but then rapidly declining in less than 1 μs which is less than the total compression time. Analysis indicates that this sudden temperature drop is a consequence of radiative loss from hydrogen atoms spontaneously generated via three-body recombination in the high-density compressed plasma. A criterion for how fast compression must be to outrun radiative loss is discussed not only for the Caltech experiment but also for fusion-grade regimes. In addition, the results are analyzed in the context of shocks the effects of which are compared to adiabatic compression.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Generalized Grad–Shafranov equation for non-axisymmetric MHD equilibria

The structure of static MHD equilibria that admit continuous families of Euclidean symmetries is well understood. Such field configurations are governed by the classical Grad–Shafranov equation, which is a single elliptic partial differential equation in two space dimensions. By revealing a hidden symmetry, here we show that in fact all smooth solutions of the equilibrium equations with non-vanishing pressure gradients away from the magnetic axis satisfy a generalization of the Grad–Shafranov equation. In contrast to solutions of the classical Grad–Shafranov equation, solutions of the generalized equation are not automatically equilibria, but instead only satisfy force balance averaged over the one-parameter hidden symmetry. We then explain how the generalized Grad–Shafranov equation can be used to reformulate the problem of finding exact three-dimensional smooth solutions of the equilibrium equations as finding an optimal volume-preserving symmetry.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Using extended MHD to explore lasers as a trigger for x-pinches

X-pinches have been shown to be a source of extremely intense x-ray emissions useful for diagnosing plasma dynamics and imaging biological objects. The most striking feature of an x-pinch is the hotspot, the point source from where all the x rays come from. Unfortunately, the exact timing and location of the hotspot are still unpredictable. Since an x-pinch hotspot forms from instabilities (like an m = 0 mode), we will computationally explore whether we can use a high-power laser to control the timing and location of these instabilities. Our goal is to reduce the temporal and spatial jitter associated with the x-ray burst. Using an extended MHD (XMHD) code, we explore the non-relativistic instability generation using a current profile of a 250 kA linear transformer driver system and laser characteristics of SLAC's Matter in Extreme Conditions laboratory. Our results include both laser-penetration results using a boundary-defined electromagnetic (EM) wave and instability results from a power-deposition method.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

A resistive MHD model and simulation on plasma flow evolution in the presence of resonant magnetic perturbation in a tokamak

Nonaxisymmetric magnetic fields such as the intrinsic error field and the externally applied resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) in a tokamak are known to influence the plasma momentum transport and flow evolution through plasma response, which itself strongly depends on the plasma flow as well. The nonlinear interaction between plasma response and flow has been previously modeled in the conventional error field theory with the “no-slip” condition, which has been recently extended to allow the “free-slip” condition. In this work, we further target this specific process and numerically simulate the nonlinear plasma response and flow evolution in the presence of a single-helicity RMP in a circular-shaped model tokamak configuration, based on the full resistive MHD model in the initial-value code NIMROD. Time evolution of the parallel (to k) flow or “slip frequency” profile and its asymptotic steady state obtained from the NIMROD simulations are compared with both conventional and extended nonlinear response theories. Here, k is the wave vector of the propagating island. Good agreement with the extended theory with free-slip condition has been achieved for the parallel flow profile evolution in response to RMP in all resistive regimes, whereas the difference from the conventional theory with the no-slip condition tends to diminish as the plasma resistivity approaches zero.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Super-Fermi acceleration in multiscale MHD reconnection

We investigate the Fermi acceleration of charged particles in 2D MHD anti-parallel plasmoid reconnection, finding a drastic enhancement in energization rate ε ˙ over a standard Fermi model of ε ˙ ~ ε. The shrinking particle orbit width around a magnetic island due to E → × B → drift produces a ε ˙ ∥ ~ ε ∥ 1 + 1 / 2 χ power law with χ ~ 0.75. The increase in the maximum possible energy gain of a particle within a plasmoid due to the enhanced efficiency increases with the plasmoid size and is by multiple factors of 10 in the case of solar flares and much more for larger plasmas. Including the effects of the non-constant E → × B → drift rates leads to further variation in power law indices from ≳ 2 to ≲ 1, decreasing with plasmoid size at the time of injection. The implications for energetic particle spectra are discussed alongside applications to 3D plasmoid reconnection and the effects of a guide field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

X-point effects on the ideal MHD modes in tokamaks in the description of dual-poloidal-region safety factor

The flux coordinates with dual-region safety factor (q) in the poloidal direction are developed in this work. The X-point effects on the ideal MHD modes in tokamaks are then analyzed using this coordinate system. Since the X-point effects mainly affect the edge region, the modes localized at the tokamak edge are particularly examined. Two types of modes are studied. The first is related to the conventional peeling or peeling-ballooning modes. The mode existence aligned with the local magnetic field in the poloidally core region as observed experimentally is confirmed. The X points are shown to contribute to a stabilizing effect for the conventionally treated modes with the surface-averaged q and with the tokamak edge portion truncated. The other is the axisymmetric modes localized in the vicinity of X points, which can affect the cross-field-line transport near the X points. The existence of axisymmetric modes points to the possibility of applying a toroidally axisymmetric resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) in the X-point area for mitigating the edge localized modes, which can be an alternative to the current RMP design. The dual q description also has important implications for the existing non-axisymmetric RMP concept. It helps to understand why the RMP suppression of edge localized modes is difficult to achieve in the double-null tokamak configurations and points to the possibility of further improving the current RMP concept by considering the alignment to the local q.

Fourier analysis↗