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DOE OSTI2025

Nonlinear Alfvén instability simulation and EP transport for ITER reversed shear (steady-state) and monotonic q-profile regimes *

The nonlinear evolution and dynamics of energetic particle (EP) driven instabilities in both steady-state (reversed shear q-profile) and monotonic q-profile regimes of ITER are examined using the global gyro-Landau closure model FAR3d. Both neutral beam and alpha components are included, leading to synergistic effects between the two populations. In order to maintain computational feasibility, the present nonlinear simulation includes all toroidal mode numbers ranging from n = 0 to 15. It cannot be excluded that n’s above this range could introduce larger linear growth rates; however, as indicated from the results, the n = 0 to 15 range is sufficient to provide a strong linear drive and significant nonlinear transport effects. While the toroidal mode numbers n = 6,13 dominate the linear instability growth phase, nonlinear energy transfers in the saturated phase reverse this trend, leading to the dominance of lower n’s in the saturated phase of the simulation. Zonal flow structure generation and EP density flattening are further consequences of the nonlinear phase. The density profile flattening is caused by collectively driven EP radial transport fluxes, which have non-local characteristics. Instantaneous alpha particle transport fluxes are significant (Γ α ~ 2 x 10 20 m –2 s –1 ) for the reversed shear regime and lower (Γ α ~ 1.1 x 10 20 m –2 s –1 ) for the monotonic q-profile case.

AE↗

NASA NTRS1986

The quasi-linear relaxation of thick-target electron beams in solar flares

The effects of quasi-linear interactions on thick-target electron beams in the solar corona are investigated. Coulomb collisions produce regions of positive gradient in electron distributions which are initially monotonic decreasing functions of energy. In the resulting two-stream instability, energy and momentum are transferred from electrons to Langmuir waves and the region of positive slope in the electron distribution is replaced by a plateau. In the corona, the timescale for this quasi-linear relaxation is very short compared to the collision time. It is therefore possible to model the effects of quasi-linear relaxation by replacing any region of positive slop in the distribution by a plateau at each time step, in such a way as to conserve particle number. The X-ray bremsstrahlung and collisional heating rate produced by a relaxed beam are evaluated. Although the analysis is strictly steady state, it is relevant to the theoretical interpretation of hard X-ray bursts with durations of the order of a few seconds (i.e., the majority of such bursts).

Mcclements, K. G.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Beam-generated waves in a large plasma chamber

The beam plasma discharge (BPD) and pre-BPD states of plasma waves generated in a large vacuum chamber by an electron beam of energy 0.5-2 keV are measured, and three wave categories are found. The low-frequency waves are suggested to be surface waves on a nonneutral plasma column, with measured properties consistent with the lower hybrid drift instability. The whistler mode spectrum is thought to be a Cerenkov resonance with the lower Trivelpiece-Gould mode, and it may not play an important role in modifying the particle distributions. The high frequency spectrum is seen to be a Cerenkov resonance with the upper Trivelpiece-Gould mode, and it is responsible for the major perturbation of the BPD beam energy.

Kellogg, Paul J.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Phase instabilities in austenitic steels during particle bombardment at high and low dose rates

Disruption of phase stability by energetic particle bombardment is a major challenge in designing advanced radiation-tolerant alloys and ion beam processing of nanocomposites. Particularly, ballistic dissolution susceptibility of different solute nanocluster species in alloys is poorly understood. Here, low dose rate neutron irradiations were conducted on a Fe-Cr-Ni based austenitic steel in the BOR-60 reactor (9.4 × 10 -7 dpa/s, 318 °C) followed by accelerated dose rate ion irradiations at multiple temperatures ( 10 -3 dpa/s, 380 – 420 °C). Using atom probe tomography, the stability of radiation-enhanced Cu-rich and radiation-induced Ni-Si-Mn-rich nanoclusters was evaluated. During neutron irradiation, Cu-rich clusters nucleated with their core concentrations progressively increasing with dose, while Ni-Si-Mn-rich clusters formed and evolved into G-phase precipitates. Ion irradiations dramatically altered the nanoclusters. Cu-rich clusters were ballistically dissolved, but Ni-Si-Mn-rich clusters remained stable and coarsened with dose at 400 and 420 °C, highlighting that different nanocluster species in a single microstructure can have innately distinct ballistic dissolution susceptibilities. Solute-specific recoil rates were incorporated into the Heinig precipitate stability model, which shows that in addition to radiation-enhanced diffusion, recovery from ballistic dissolution depends on solute concentration gradient near cluster interfaces. Finally, the combined experimental-modeling study quantified the critical temperatures and damage rates where ballistic dissolution dominates for each cluster species.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS1992

Radiative instabilities and 1000 second fluctuations in astrophysical masers

A stability analysis for small (linear) perturbations is presented for the radiation in astrophysical masers treated in the usual, linear maser approximation. Instabilities that oscillate with a period of about L/c, where L is the length of the maser are found. They occur (1) when the maser is partly but not heavily saturated, (2) when the decay rate Gamma for the molecular states is near c/L, and (3) when the product of the brightness temperature T sub 0 of the incident radiation and the angle for the beaming is less than a critical value that depends upon the particular masing transition. A fourth parameter, the fractional inversion in the pumping multiplied by (T sub 0/frequency), determines the importance of spontaneous emission which can eliminate the instabilities. These instabilities are a likely cause for the fluctuations in the radiation from the 18 cm OH masers that have been reported to occur on time scales as short as 1000 s. The calculations are applicable to other types of astrophysical masers as well, and suggest that spontaneous emission will prevent similar instabilities in the H2O and SiO masers.

Scappaticci, Gerardo A.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Pedestal fluctuation measurements with charge exchange imaging at the DIII-D tokamak

A new high radial resolution 2D multichannel Charge eXchange Imaging (CXI) diagnostic is under development for deployment at DIII-D. Here, the diagnostic system will measure low-to-intermediate radial wavenumber carbon density fluctuations by observing the n = 8 – 7 (λ = 529.06 nm) C-VI emission line, resulting from charge exchange collisions between heating neutral beam atoms and the intrinsic carbon ion density. The new CXI diagnostic will provide measurements with ΔR ~ 0.4 cm to access higher k r instabilities (k r < 8 cm –1 ) predicted to arise in the steep-gradient region of the H-mode pedestal. The CXI system will feature 60 fiber bundles in a 12 × 5 arrangement, with each bundle consisting of four 1 mm fibers. A custom optical system has been designed to filter and image incoming signals onto an 8 × 8 avalanche photodiode array. Additionally, a novel electronics suite has been designed and commissioned to amplify and digitize the relatively low-intensity carbon signal at a 2 MHz bandwidth. Forward modeling results of the active C-VI emission suggest sufficient signal to noise ratios to resolve turbulent fluctuations. Prototype measurements demonstrate the ability to perform high frequency pedestal measurements.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Instantaneous difference frequency locking observed during toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmode coupling in the DIII-D tokamak

In magnetic confinement fusion, toroidicity-induced Alfvén eigenmodes (TAEs) are well-studied, weakly stable solutions of the linearized ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations. Driven unstable by suprathermal populations of energetic particles, TAE pose a key vulnerability to the confinement of high-energy alpha particles generated by fusion reactions. Hence, it is paramount to understand TAE dynamics if a working reactor is to be realized. In this work, we detect and characterize signatures of nonstationary nonlinear coupling between TAE using a novel, time-resolved bispectral analysis; results are supported by analytic signal of band-passed data. Crucially, a stationary phase relationship between two TAE and a nascent low frequency fluctuation is observed precisely when the triple product of magnetic fluctuation amplitudes is enhanced. Local mode number and frequency spectrum, gleaned from beam-emission spectroscopy, corroborates simultaneous satisfaction of nonlinear matching conditions, and provides a tool to identify theorized pathways of energy transfer, e.g. TAE parametric instability.

bispectral analysis↗

NASA NTRS1982

The influence of Coriolis forces on gyroscopic motion of spinning blades

Turbomachine blades on spinning and precessing rotors experience gyroscopically induced instabilities and forcing. With vehicle-mounted turbomachines, either constant or harmonic precession occurs, depending on vehicle or mount motion. Responses of uniform cantilever beams at arbitrary stagger, subjected to the noted rotor motion, are predicted in both self-excited and forced-excitation modes taking into account Coriolis acceleration.

Sisto, F.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Adaptive control of large space structures using recursive lattice filters

The use of recursive lattice filters for identification and adaptive control of large space structures was studied. Lattice filters are used widely in the areas of speech and signal processing. Herein, they are used to identify the structural dynamics model of the flexible structures. This identified model is then used for adaptive control. Before the identified model and control laws are integrated, the identified model is passed through a series of validation procedures and only when the model passes these validation procedures control is engaged. This type of validation scheme prevents instability when the overall loop is closed. The results obtained from simulation were compared to those obtained from experiments. In this regard, the flexible beam and grid apparatus at the Aerospace Control Research Lab (ACRL) of NASA Langley Research Center were used as the principal candidates for carrying out the above tasks. Another important area of research, namely that of robust controller synthesis, was investigated using frequency domain multivariable controller synthesis methods.

Goglia, G. L.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Hybrid target design for imprint mitigation in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion

A target design for mitigating the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is proposed for use in high energy density and direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments. In this scheme, a thin gold membrane is offset from the main target by several-hundred microns. A strong picket on the drive beams is incident upon this membrane to produce x rays which generate the initial shock through the target. The main drive follows shortly thereafter, passing through the ablated shell and directly driving the main target. The efficacy of this scheme is demonstrated through experiments performed at the OMEGA EP facility, showing a reduction of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth which scales exponentially with frequency, suppressing development by at least a factor of 5 for all wavelengths below 100 μm. Furthermore, this results in a delay in the time of target perforation by ~40%.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1983

Mirror instability and origin of morningside auroral structure

Auroral optical imagery shows marked differences between auroral features of the evening and morning sectors: the separation between diffuse and discrete auroras in the evening sector is not distinct in the morning sector, which is dominated by auroral patches and multiple banded structures aligned along some direction. Plasma distribution function signatures also show marked differences: downward electron beams and inverted-V signatures prefer the evening sector, while the electron spectra on the morning sector are similar to the diffuse aurora. A theory of morningside auroras consistent with these features was constructed. The theory is based on modulation of the growth rates of electron cyclotron waves by the mirror instability, which is in turn driven by inward-convected ions that have become anisotropic. This modulation produces alternating bands of enhanced and reduced electron precipitation which approximate the observed multiple auroral bands and patches of the morning sector.

Chiu, Y. T.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Mirror instability and the origin of morningside auroral structure

Auroral optical imagery shows marked differences between auroral features of the evening and morning sectors: The separation between diffuse and discrete auroras in the evening sector is not distinct in the morning sector, which is dominated by auroral patches and multiple banded structures aligned along some direction. Plasma distribution function signatures also show marked differences: downward electron beams and inverted-V signatures prefer the evening sector, while the electron spectra on the morning sector are similar to the diffuse aurora. We have constructed a theory of morningside auroras consistent with these features. The theory is based on modulation of the growth rates of electron cyclotron waves by the mirror instability, which is in turn driven by inward-convected ions that have become anisotropic. This modulation produces alternating bands of enhanced and reduced electron precipitation which approximate the observed multiple auroral bands and patches of the morning sector.

Chiu, Y. T.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Azimuthal structures and turbulent transport in Penning discharge

Azimuthal structures in cylindrical Penning discharge are studied with a 2D3V radial–azimuthal PIC/MCC model with the axial magnetic field. The discharge is self-consistently supported by ionization due to the axial injection of electrons. It is shown that the steady-state discharge can be supported in two different regimes with different types of observed azimuthal structures. The transition between the regimes is controlled by the mechanism of the energy input to the discharge. In the first regime (low energy of the injected electrons), with the pronounced m = 1 spoke activity, the power input is dominated by the energy absorption due to the radial current and self-consistent electric field. In the other regime (higher energy of the injected electrons), with prevalent small-scale m > 1 spiral structures, and the lower values of the anomalous transport, the total energy deposited to the discharge is lower and is mostly due to the direct input of the kinetic energy from the axial electron beam. Here we show that the large (m = 1) spoke and small-scale structures occur as a result of Simon–Hoh and lower hybrid instabilities driven by the electric field, density gradient, and collisions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1971

Turbulent resistivity, diffusion and heating

Experimental and theoretical studies are reported on ion acoustic and ion cyclotron turbulence and their roles in anomalous resistivity, viscosity, diffusion and heating and in the structure of collisionless electrostatic shocks. Resistance due to ion acoustic turbulence has been observed in experiments with a streaming cesium plasma in which electron current, potential rise due to turbulent resistivity, spectrum of unstable ion acoustic waves, and associated electron heating were all measured directly. Kinetic theory calculations for an expanding, unstable plasma, give results in agreement with the experiment. In a strong magnetic field, with T sub e/T sub i approximately 1 and current densities typical for present Tokomaks, the plasma is stable to ion acoustic but unstable to current driven electrostatic ion cyclotron waves. Relevant characteristics of these waves are calculated and it is shown that for ion, beta greater than m sub e/m sub i, the electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave has a lower instability threshold than the electrostatic one. However, when ion acoustic turbulence is present experiments with double plasma devices show rapid anomalous heating of an ion beam streaming through a plasma.

Fried, B. D.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Nonlinear production of suprathermal tails in auroral electrons

New rocket data on auroral electron energy spectra are presented. Two regions of the aurora are sharply defined: the peak energy region, called the beam, and a strongly altitude-dependent tail of slowed-down secondary and backscattered electrons. It is shown that the oscillating two-stream instability described by Papadopoulos and Coffey (1974) accounts for the observed features of the tail.

Matthews, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Low-frequency electromagnetic waves driven by gyrotropic gyrating ion beams

The origin of left- and right-hand-polarized low-frequency waves in space plasmas is analyzed. It has been shown that a gyrotropic gyrating ion beam, a ring in velocity space, can excite electromagnetic modes in the plasma near the beam gyrofrequency. It excites left-hand-polarized shear Alfven waves and their harmonics via the coupling of Alfven modes with the beam modes. It can also excite right-hand-polarized fast-mode magnetosonic waves and their harmonics as well. The excitation is possible for beam ions heavier than the plasma ions. The growth rate varies as one-third power of the beam density and decreases with the angle of wave propagation with respect to the ambient magnetic field. The nonlocality has a stabilizing effect on the instability. The predicted values of the wave frequencies compare reasonably well with those observed in satellite data.

Sharma, O. P.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Cyclotron harmonic lines in magnetic fluctuations of spiralling electrons in plasmas

The magnetic fluctuation spectrum in a magnetoplasma containing energetic electrons is observed to exhibit many lines at the cyclotron harmonics. It is shown that these fluctuations are neither due to cyclotron radiation nor due to velocity-space instabilities but due to coherent solenoidal fields produced by electron cyclotron orbits and excited by thermal fluctuations. Such line spectra, observed in discharges and beam-plasma systems, may be useful for precise magnetic field diagnostics in plasmas.

Golubiatnikov, G.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Generation of plasma waves by thick-target electron beams, and the expected radiation signature

The production of plasma waves by a nonthermal beam of high-energy electrons injected into a background thermal plasma was investigated. The coupled kinetic equations for nonthermal electrons were solved, and the level of the plasma waves produced by the bump-on-tail instability arising as a result of the Coulomb collisions of nonthermal electrons with background plasma was estimated. In addition, the radiation signatures of these waves were examined. It is shown that the wave-particle interactions have a significant effect on the overall distribution of the electrons and that it is unlikely that such effects can be discerned in the observed bremsstrahlung or synchrotron radiation of the nonthermal electrons. However, a significant fraction of the energy lost by the beam is transferred to plasma waves and is then dissipated by the thermal plasma.

Hamilton, Russell J.↗