Transport hysteresis and zonal flow stimulation in magnetized plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Gravier, E.; Lesur, M.; Reveille, T.; Drouot, T.; Médina, J.

2017-12-01

A hysteresis in the relationship between zonal flows and electron heating is observed numerically by using gyrokinetic simulations in fusion plasmas. As the electron temperature increases, a first transition occurs, at a given electron/ion temperature ratio, above which zonal flows are much weaker than before the transition, leading to a poorly confined plasma. Beyond this transition, even if the electron temperature is lowered to a moderate value, the plasma fails to recover a dynamic state with strong zonal flows. Then, as the electron temperature decreases further, a new transition appears, at a temperature lower than the first transition, below which the zonal flows are stronger than they were initially. The confinement of the plasma and the heat flux are thus found to be sensitive to the history of the magnetized plasma. These transitions are associated with large exchanges of energy between the modes corresponding to instabilities ( m> 0 ) and zonal flows ( m = 0 ). We also observe that up to the first transition it is possible to use a control method to stimulate the appearance of zonal flows and therefore the confinement of the plasma. Beyond that transition, this control method is no longer effective.

Estimation of Flow Channel Parameters for Flowing Gas Mixed with Air in Atmospheric-pressure Plasma Jets

Science.gov (United States)

Yambe, Kiyoyuki; Saito, Hidetoshi

2017-12-01

When the working gas of an atmospheric-pressure non-equilibrium (cold) plasma flows into free space, the diameter of the resulting flow channel changes continuously. The shape of the channel is observed through the light emitted by the working gas of the atmospheric-pressure plasma. When the plasma jet forms a conical shape, the diameter of the cylindrical shape, which approximates the conical shape, defines the diameter of the flow channel. When the working gas flows into the atmosphere from the inside of a quartz tube, the gas mixes with air. The molar ratio of the working gas and air is estimated from the corresponding volume ratio through the relationship between the diameter of the cylindrical plasma channel and the inner diameter of the quartz tube. The Reynolds number is calculated from the kinematic viscosity of the mixed gas and the molar ratio. The gas flow rates for the upper limit of laminar flow and the lower limit of turbulent flow are determined by the corresponding Reynolds numbers estimated from the molar ratio. It is confirmed that the plasma jet length and the internal plasma length associated with strong light emission increase with the increasing gas flow rate until the rate for the upper limit of laminar flow and the lower limit of turbulent flow, respectively. Thus, we are able to explain the increasing trend in the plasma lengths with the diameter of the flow channel and the molar ratio by using the cylindrical approximation.

Energy distribution and transfer in flowing hydrogen microwave plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapman, R.A.

1987-01-01

This thesis is an experimental investigation of the physical and chemical properties of a hydrogen discharge in a flowing microwave plasma system. The plasma system is the mechanisms utilized in an electrothermal propulsion concept to convert electromagnetic energy into the kinetic energy of flowing hydrogen gas. The plasmas are generated inside a 20-cm ID resonant cavity at a driving frequency of 2.45 GHz. The flowing gas is contained in a coaxially positioned 22-mm ID quartz discharge tube. The physical and chemical properties are examined for absorbed powers of 20-100 W, pressures of 0.5-10 torr, and flow rates of 0-10,000 μ-moles/sec. A calorimetry system enclosing the plasma system to accurately measure the energy inputs and outputs has been developed. The rate of energy that is transferred to the hydrogen gas as it flows through the plasma system is determined as a function of absorbed power, pressure, and flow rate to +/-1.8 W from an energy balance around the system. The percentage of power that is transferred to the gas is found to increase with increasing flow rate, decrease with increasing pressure, and to be independent of absorbed power

Plasma flow in a pressure pulsed argon cascade arc

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Haas, J.C.M.; Bol, L.; Kroesen, G.M.W.; Timmermans, C.J.; Timmermans, C.J.

1985-01-01

Flowing thermal plasmas are frequently used e . g. in welding, cutting, plasma deposition and testing materials at high temperatures . In most of the applications the geometry is complex . In the cascade arc the argon plasma flows through a straight circular channel with a constant area. The study

On steady poloidal and toroidal flows in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClements, K. G.; Hole, M. J.

2010-01-01

The effects of poloidal and toroidal flows on tokamak plasma equilibria are examined in the magnetohydrodynamic limit. ''Transonic'' poloidal flows of the order of the sound speed multiplied by the ratio of poloidal magnetic field to total field B θ /B can cause the (normally elliptic) Grad-Shafranov (GS) equation to become hyperbolic in part of the solution domain. It is pointed out that the range of poloidal flows for which the GS equation is hyperbolic increases with plasma beta and B θ /B, thereby complicating the problem of determining spherical tokamak plasma equilibria with transonic poloidal flows. It is demonstrated that the calculation of the hyperbolicity criterion can be easily modified when the assumption of isentropic flux surfaces is replaced with the more tokamak-relevant one of isothermal flux surfaces. On the basis of the latter assumption, a simple expression is obtained for the variation of density on a flux surface when poloidal and toroidal flows are simultaneously present. Combined with Thomson scattering measurements of density and temperature, this expression could be used to infer information on poloidal and toroidal flows on the high field side of a tokamak plasma, where direct measurements of flows are not generally possible. It is demonstrated that there are four possible solutions of the Bernoulli relation for the plasma density when the flux surfaces are assumed to be isothermal, corresponding to four distinct poloidal flow regimes. Finally, observations and first principles-based theoretical modeling of poloidal flows in tokamak plasmas are briefly reviewed and it is concluded that there is no clear evidence for the occurrence of supersonic poloidal flows.

Effect of toroidal plasma flow and flow shear on global MHD modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, M.S.; Greene, J.M.; Jensen, T.H.; Miller, R.L.; Bondeson, A.; Johnson, R.W.; Mauel, M.E.

1995-01-01

The effect of a subsonic toroidal flow on the linear magnetohydrodynamic stability of a tokamak plasma surrounded by an external resistive wall is studied. A complex non-self-adjoint eigenvalue problem for the stability of general kink and tearing modes is formulated, solved numerically, and applied to high β tokamaks. Results indicate that toroidal plasma flow, in conjunction with dissipation in the plasma, can open a window of stability for the position of the external wall. In this window, stable plasma beta values can significantly exceed those predicted by the Troyon scaling law with no wall. Computations utilizing experimental data indicate good agreement with observations

Anisotropic plasma with flows in tokamak: Steady state and stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ilgisonis, V.I.

1996-01-01

An adequate description of equilibrium and stability of anisotropic plasma with macroscopic flows in tokamaks is presented. The Chew-Goldberger-Low (CGL) approximation is consistently used to analyze anisotropic plasma dynamics. The admissible structure of a stationary flow is found to be the same as in the ideal magnetohydrodynamics with isotropic pressure (MHD), which means an allowance for the same relabeling symmetry as in ideal MHD systems with toroidally nested magnetic surfaces. A generalization of the Grad-Shafranov equation for the case of anisotropic plasma with flows confined in the axisymmetric magnetic field is derived. A variational principle was obtained, which allows for a stability analysis of anisotropic pressure plasma with flows, and takes into account the conservation laws resulting from the relabeling symmetry. This principle covers the previous stability criteria for static CGL plasma and for ideal MHD flows in isotropic plasma as well. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

Flow morphing by coaxial type plasma actuator

Science.gov (United States)

Toyoizumi, S.; Aono, H.; Ishikawa, H.

2017-04-01

The purpose of study is to achieve the fluid drag reduction of a circular disk by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuator (DBD-PA). We here introduced “Flow Morphing” concept that flow around the body was changed by DBD-PA jet, such as the body shape morphing. Coaxial type DBD-PA injected axisymmetric jet, generating the vortex region on the pressure side of the circular disk. The vortex generated by axisymmetric plasma jet and flow around circular disk were visualized by tracer particles method. The fluid drag was measured by compression type load cell. In addition streamwise velocity was measured by an X-type hot wire probe. The extent of fluid drag reduction by coaxial type DBD-PA jet was influenced by the volume of vortex region and the diameter of plasma electrode.

A simple estimation of the renal plasma flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinpo, Takako

1987-01-01

The renal plasma flow was determined conventionally by the excretive ratio to urine using a 131 I-Hippuran renogram. In this report, we proposed the renal clearance, the product of the disappearance rate coefficient and the maximum counts of the bladder, for the simple quantitative value of renal plasma flow. The disappearance rate coefficient was calculated by approximating the exponential function of the initial slope from the disappearance curve of the heart. The renal clearances was compared with the renal plasma flow calculated by the conventional method. The results gave a high correlation coefficient of r = 0.91. The renal clearances can be calculated easily and it offers useful renogram information. (author)

Bluff Body Flow Control Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Flint; Kozlov, Alexey

2008-11-01

The results of an experimental investigation involving the use of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators to control bluff body flow is presented. The motivation for the work is plasma landing gear noise control for commercial transport aircraft. For these flow control experiments, the cylinder in cross-flow is chosen for study since it represents a generic flow geometry that is similar in all essential aspects to a landing gear strut. The current work is aimed both at extending the plasma flow control concept to Reynolds numbers typical of landing approach and take-off and on the development of optimum plasma actuation strategies. The cylinder wake flow with and without actuation are documented in detail using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and constant temperature hot-wire anemometry. The experiments are performed over a Reynolds number range extending to ReD=10^5. Using either steady or unsteady plasma actuation, it is demonstrated that even at the highest Reynolds number Karman shedding is totally eliminated and turbulence levels in the wake decrease by more than 50%. By minimizing the unsteady flow separation from the cylinder and associated large-scale wake vorticity, the radiated aerodynamic noise is also reduced.

Spectroscopic studies of a high Mach-number rotating plasma flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ando, Akira; Ashino, Masashi; Sagi, Yukiko; Inutake, Masaaki; Hattori, Kunihiko; Yoshinuma, Mikirou; Imasaki, Atsushi; Tobari, Hiroyuki; Yagai, Tsuyoshi

2001-01-01

Characteristics of an axially-magnetized rotating plasma are investigated by spectroscopy in the HITOP device of Tohoku University. A He plasma flows our axially and rotates azimuthally near the muzzle region of the MPD arcjet. Flow and rotational velocities and temperature of He ions and atoms are measured by Doppler shift and broadening of the HeII (γ=468.58 nm) and HeI (γ=587.56 nm) lines. Rotational velocity increases with the increase of axially-applied magnetic field strength and discharge current. As discharge current increases and mass flow rate decreases, the plasma flow velocity increases and T i increases. Ion acoustic Mach number of the plasma flow also increases, but tends to saturate at near 1. Radial profile of space potential is calculated from the obtained rotational velocity. The potential profile in the core region is parabolic corresponding to the observed rigid-body rotation of the core plasma. (author)

Spectroscopic studies of a high Mach-number rotating plasma flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ando, Akira; Ashino, Masashi; Sagi, Yukiko; Inutake, Masaaki; Hattori, Kunihiko; Yoshinuma, Mikirou; Imasaki, Atsushi; Tobari, Hiroyuki; Yagai, Tsuyoshi [Tohoku Univ., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Sendai, Miyagi (Japan)

2001-07-01

Characteristics of an axially-magnetized rotating plasma are investigated by spectroscopy in the HITOP device of Tohoku University. A He plasma flows our axially and rotates azimuthally near the muzzle region of the MPD arcjet. Flow and rotational velocities and temperature of He ions and atoms are measured by Doppler shift and broadening of the HeII ({gamma}=468.58 nm) and HeI ({gamma}=587.56 nm) lines. Rotational velocity increases with the increase of axially-applied magnetic field strength and discharge current. As discharge current increases and mass flow rate decreases, the plasma flow velocity increases and T{sub i} increases. Ion acoustic Mach number of the plasma flow also increases, but tends to saturate at near 1. Radial profile of space potential is calculated from the obtained rotational velocity. The potential profile in the core region is parabolic corresponding to the observed rigid-body rotation of the core plasma. (author)

Plasma flow and transport on the tokamak ISTTOK boundary plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Figueiredo, H.; Silva, C.; Goncalves, B.; Duarte, P.; Fernandes, H.

2011-01-01

The ISTTOK boundary plasma velocity near the outer midplane is measured on the parallel and perpendicular directions in four different configurations by reversing independently the toroidal magnetic field and the plasma current directions. The parallel flow is found to not depend significantly on both the toroidal magnetic field and plasma current directions, being always directed towards the nearest limiter in the scrape-off layer. On the contrary, the perpendicular flow is found to follow the E r x B drift direction. The poloidal velocity has also been derived from the correlation of floating potential signals measured on poloidally separated probes and a good agreement with the value derived with the Gundestrup probe is found. Finally, the dynamical interplay between parallel momentum and turbulent particle flux has been investigated and a clear dynamical coupling between these quantities is found in the region inside the limiter.

Optimization of plasma flow parameters of the magnetoplasma compressor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dojcinovic, I P; Kuraica, M M; Obradovc, B M; Cvetanovic, N; Puric, J

2007-01-01

Optimization of the working conditions of the magnetoplasma compressor (MPC) has been performed through analysing discharge and compression plasma flow parameters in hydrogen, nitrogen and argon at different pressures. Energy conversion rate, volt-ampere curve exponent and plasma flow velocities have been studied to optimize the efficiency of energy transfer from the supply source to the plasma. It has been found that the most effective energy transfer from the supply to the plasma is in hydrogen as a working gas at 1000 Pa pressure. It was found that the accelerating regime exists for hydrogen up to 3000 Pa pressures, in nitrogen up to 2000 Pa and in argon up to 1000 Pa pressure. At higher pressures MPC in all the gases works in the decelerating regime. At pressures lower than 200 Pa, high cathode erosion is observed. MPC plasma flow parameter optimization is very important because this plasma accelerating system may be of special interest for solid surface modification and other technology applications

Plasma extraction by centrifugo-pneumatically induced gating of flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burger, Robert; Ducrée, Jens; Reis, Nuno; Da Fonseca, João Garcia

2013-01-01

We present a novel valving mechanism to implement plasma extraction from whole blood on a centrifugal microfluidic ‘lab-on-a-disc’ platform. The new scheme is based on pressure-induced deflection of a liquid membrane which gates the centrifugally driven flow through a microfluidic structure. Compared to conventional concepts such as capillary burst valves, siphons or sacrificial materials, the valving structure presented here is represented by a compact, small-footprint design which obviates the need for (local) surface functionalization or hybrid materials integration, thus significantly reducing the complexity (and hence cost) of manufacture. As a pilot study of this new centrifugal flow control element, we demonstrate here the efficient separation of metered plasma from whole blood. While the flow is stopped, blood is separated into plasma and its cellular constituents by centrifugally induced sedimentation. After completion, the flow resumes by elevating the spinning frequency, providing up to 80% of the original plasma content to an overflow chamber within a short, 2 min interval. The amount of residual cells in the plasma amounts to less than 20 cells μl −1 . (paper)

Diagnostic methods of thermal dusty plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nefedov, A.P.

1995-01-01

The presence in the high-temperature flows of condensed disperse phase (CDP) particles may lead either to an increase of the electron number density n e if the particles assume a positive charge or to its decrease if the charge is negative. The existence of CDP also may effect on optical parameters of the thermal dusty plasma flows, on heat and radiative transfer in the plasma. The entire range of states, from a Debye plasma to a highly nonideal system of charged particles, is realized in a thermal dusty plasma under standard conditions T=2000-3000 K, n e =10 8 - 10 14 cm -3 . The advanced probe and optical diagnostic instruments are needed to study the optical and electrophysical properties of thermal dusty plasma flows. The diagnostic techniques must give the data about such parameters of gas and dispersed phase as temperatures of gas and particles, number densities of electrons, atoms and ions of alkali metals, sizes, velocities and concentrations of CDP particles. It should be noted that number density of alkali metal atoms and gas temperature may be measured by the well known full absorption and generalized reversal methods. This paper describes the probe and optical techniques for diagnostic of dusty plasma flows developed in High Energy Density Research Center of Russian Academy of Sciences. The Forward Angle Scattering Transmissometer (FAST) allows measurement of the average size (Sauter diameter), mass number density, and refractive index of particles in the 0.5-15.0 gm size range. The basis of the method is a dependence of the measured extinction of radiation upon an angular acceptance aperture of the photo detector. The FAST instrument allows one to determine the mass density and the Sauter diameter of a polydispersion of particles without a priori specification of the particle size distribution model and exact data about the article refractive index

Diagnostic methods of thermal dusty plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nefedov, A.P.

1995-01-01

The presence in the high-temperature flows of condensed disperse phase (CDP) particles may lead either to an increase of the electron number density n e if the particles assume a positive charge or to its decrease if the charge is negative. The existence of CDP also may effect on optical parameters of the thermal dusty plasma flows, on heat and radiative transfer in the plasma. The entire range of states, from a Debye plasma to a highly nonideal system of charged particles, is realized in a thermal dusty plasma under standard conditions T=2000-3000 K, n e =10 8 -10 14 cm -3 . The advanced probe and optical diagnostic instruments are needed to study the optical and electrophysical properties of thermal dusty plasma flows. The diagnostic techniques must give the data about such parameters of gas and dispersed phase as temperatures of gas and particles, number densities of electrons, atoms and ions of alkali metals, sizes, velocities and concentrations of CDP particles. It should be noted that number density of alkali metal atoms and gas temperature may be measured by the well known full absorption and generalized reversal methods. This paper describes the probe and optical techniques for diagnostic of dusty plasma flows developed in High Energy Density Research Center of Russian Academy of Sciences. The Forward Angle Scattering Transmissometer (FAST) allows measurement of the average size (Sauter diameter), mass number density, and refractive index of particles in the 0.5-15.0 μm size range. The basis of the method is a dependence of the measured extinction of radiation upon an angular acceptance aperture of the photo detector. The FAST instrument allows one to determine the mass density and the Sauter diameter of a polydispersion of particles without a priori specification of the particle size distribution model and exact data about the particle refractive index

Statistical study of high-latitude plasma flow during magnetospheric substorms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Provan

2004-11-01

Full Text Available We have utilised the near-global imaging capabilities of the Northern Hemisphere SuperDARN radars, to perform a statistical superposed epoch analysis of high-latitude plasma flows during magnetospheric substorms. The study involved 67 substorms, identified using the IMAGE FUV space-borne auroral imager. A substorm co-ordinate system was developed, centred on the magnetic local time and magnetic latitude of substorm onset determined from the auroral images. The plasma flow vectors from all 67 intervals were combined, creating global statistical plasma flow patterns and backscatter occurrence statistics during the substorm growth and expansion phases. The commencement of the substorm growth phase was clearly observed in the radar data 18-20min before substorm onset, with an increase in the anti-sunward component of the plasma velocity flowing across dawn sector of the polar cap and a peak in the dawn-to-dusk transpolar voltage. Nightside backscatter moved to lower latitudes as the growth phase progressed. At substorm onset a flow suppression region was observed on the nightside, with fast flows surrounding the suppressed flow region. The dawn-to-dusk transpolar voltage increased from ~40kV just before substorm onset to ~75kV 12min after onset. The low-latitude return flow started to increase at substorm onset and continued to increase until 8min after onset. The velocity flowing across the polar-cap peaked 12-14min after onset. This increase in the flux of the polar cap and the excitation of large-scale plasma flow occurred even though the IMF Bz component was increasing (becoming less negative during most of this time. This study is the first to statistically prove that nightside reconnection creates magnetic flux and excites high-latitude plasma flow in a similar way to dayside reconnection and that dayside and nightside reconnection, are two separate time-dependent processes.

Plasma flow discharge researches at the PIRIT-2000 facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popkov, N.F.; Ryaslov, E.A.; Kargin, V.I.; Pikar', A.S.; Vorontsov, V.I.; Kotel'nikov, D.V.; Melkozerov, A.V.

1996-01-01

Investigation of a plasma flow switch at the PIRIT-2000 fast operating capacitor bank is reported. The maximum current of the plasma flow discharge (PFD) reaches 5 MA, the current rise time being as low as 100 ns. The magnetic field strength of the plasma flow switch (0.15 T) is about 15 times higher than that of the plasma erosion switch used earlier. Both magnetic probe and optical methods were used in the experiments. From the magnetic probes data the propagating velocity of a current carrying shell (205 cm/s) has been derived, while the optical method is used for determining the velocity of a glowing plasma layer. At varying the operation delay in the range 2-10 s the PFD load current rise time increases up to 150-200 ns, the prepulse increment reaching its maximum at the delays higher than 6 s. (J.U.). 5 figs., 5 refs

Plasma flow discharge researches at the PIRIT-2000 facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Popkov, N F; Ryaslov, E A; Kargin, V I; Pikar` , A S; Vorontsov, V I; Kotel` nikov, D V; Melkozerov, A V [All-Russian Scientific Research Inst. of Experimental Physics, Sarov (Russian Federation)

1997-12-31

Investigation of a plasma flow switch at the PIRIT-2000 fast operating capacitor bank is reported. The maximum current of the plasma flow discharge (PFD) reaches 5 MA, the current rise time being as low as 100 ns. The magnetic field strength of the plasma flow switch (0.15 T) is about 15 times higher than that of the plasma erosion switch used earlier. Both magnetic probe and optical methods were used in the experiments. From the magnetic probes data the propagating velocity of a current carrying shell (205 cm/s) has been derived, while the optical method is used for determining the velocity of a glowing plasma layer. At varying the operation delay in the range 2-10 s the PFD load current rise time increases up to 150-200 ns, the prepulse increment reaching its maximum at the delays higher than 6 s. (J.U.). 5 figs., 5 refs.

Generation of zonal flows in rotating fluids and magnetized plasmas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juul Rasmussen, J.; Garcia, O.E.; Naulin, V.

2006-01-01

The spontaneous generation of large-scale flows by the rectification of small-scale turbulent fluctuations is of great importance both in geophysical flows and in magnetically confined plasmas. These flows regulate the turbulence and may set up effective transport barriers. In the present....... The analogy to large-scale flow generation in drift-wave turbulence dynamics in magnetized plasma is briefly discussed....

Thomson scattering measurements from asymmetric interpenetrating plasma flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ross, J. S., E-mail: ross36@llnl.gov; Moody, J. D.; Fiuza, F.; Ryutov, D.; Divol, L.; Huntington, C. M.; Park, H.-S. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, California 94551 (United States)

2014-11-15

Imaging Thomson scattering measurements of collective ion-acoustic fluctuations have been utilized to determine ion temperature and density from laser produced counter-streaming asymmetric flows. Two foils are heated with 8 laser beams each, 500 J per beam, at the Omega Laser facility. Measurements are made 4 mm from the foil surface using a 60 J 2ω probe laser with a 200 ps pulse length. Measuring the electron density and temperature from the electron-plasma fluctuations constrains the fit of the multi-ion species, asymmetric flows theoretical form factor for the ion feature such that the ion temperatures, ion densities, and flow velocities for each plasma flow are determined.

Nonlinear vortex structures and Rayleigh instability condition in shear flow plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haque, Q.; Saleem, H.; Mirza, A.M.

2009-01-01

Full text: It is shown that the shear flow produced by externally applied electric field can unstable the drift waves. Due to shear flow, the Rayleigh instability condition is modified, which is obtained for both electron-ion and electron-positron-ion plasmas. These shear flow driven drift waves can be responsible for large amplitude electrostatic fluctuations in tokamak edges. In the nonlinear regime, the stationary structures may appear in electron-positron-ion plasmas similar to electron-ion plasmas. The nonlinear vortex structures like counter rotating dipole vortices and vortex chains can be formed with the aid of special type of shear flows. The positrons can be used as a probe in laboratory plasmas, which make it a multi-component plasma. The presence of positrons in electron-ion plasma system can affect the speed and amplitude of the nonlinear vortex structures. This investigation can have application in both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. (author)

Interaction of counter-streaming plasma flows in dipole magnetic field

OpenAIRE

Shaikhislamov, I F; Posukh, V G; Melekhov, A V; Prokopov, P A; Boyarintsev, E L; Zakharov, Yu P; Ponomarenko, A G

2017-01-01

Transient interaction of counter-streaming super-sonic plasma flows in dipole magnetic dipole is studied in laboratory experiment. First quasi-stationary flow is produced by teta-pinch and forms a magnetosphere around the magnetic dipole while laser beams focused at the surface of the dipole cover launch second explosive plasma expanding from inner dipole region outward. Laser plasma is energetic enough to disrupt magnetic field and to sweep through the background plasma for large distances. ...

Thin film plasma coatings from dielectric free-flowing materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timofeeva, L.A.; Katrich, S.A.; Solntsev, L.A.

1994-01-01

Fabrication of thin film plasma coatings from insulating free-flowing materials is considered. Molybdenum-tart ammonium coating of 3...5 μ thickness deposited on glassy carbon, aluminium, silicon, nickel, cast iron and steel substrates in 'Bulat-ZT' machine using insulating free-flowing materials cathod was found to form due to adsorption, absorption and dissuasion processes. The use of insulating free-flowing materials coatings allow to exclude pure metals cathods in plasma-plating process

Study on dynamics of the influence exerted by plasma on gas flow field in non-thermal atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qaisrani, M. Hasnain; Xian, Yubin, E-mail: yubin.xian@hotmail.com; Li, Congyun; Pei, Xuekai; Ghasemi, Maede; Lu, Xinpei [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China)

2016-06-15

In this paper, first, steady state of the plasma jet at different operating conditions is investigated through Schlieren photography with and without applying shielding gas. Second, the dynamic process for the plasma impacting on the gas flow field is studied. When the discharge is ignited, reduction in laminar flow occurs. However, when the gas flow rate is too low or too high, this phenomenon is not obvious. What is more, both frequency and voltage have significant impact on the effect of plasma on the gas flow, but the former is more significant. Shielding gas provides a curtain for plasma to propagate further. High speed camera along with Schlieren photography is utilized to study the impact of plasma on the gas flow when plasma is switched on and off. The transition of the gas flow from laminar to turbulent or vice versa happens right after the turbulent front. It is concluded that appearance and propagation of turbulence front is responsible for the transition of the flow state.

Critical gradients and plasma flows in the edge plasma of Alcator C-Moda)

Science.gov (United States)

Labombard, B.; Hughes, J. W.; Smick, N.; Graf, A.; Marr, K.; McDermott, R.; Reinke, M.; Greenwald, M.; Lipschultz, B.; Terry, J. L.; Whyte, D. G.; Zweben, S. J.; Alcator C-Mod Team

2008-05-01

Recent experiments have led to a fundamental shift in our view of edge transport physics; transport near the last-closed flux surface may be more appropriately described in terms of a critical gradient phenomenon rather than a diffusive and/or convective paradigm. Edge pressure gradients, normalized by the square of the poloidal magnetic field strength, appear invariant in plasmas with the same normalized collisionality, despite vastly different currents and magnetic fields—a behavior that connects with first-principles electromagnetic plasma turbulence simulations. Near-sonic scrape-off layer (SOL) flows impose a cocurrent rotation boundary condition on the confined plasma when B ×∇B points toward the active x-point, suggesting a link to the concomitant reduction in input power needed to attain high-confinement modes. Indeed, low-confinement mode plasmas are found to attain higher edge pressure gradients in this configuration, independent of the direction of B, evidence that SOL flows may affect transport and "critical gradient" values in the edge plasma.

Marangoni flows induced by atmospheric-pressure plasma jets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berendsen, C W J; Van Veldhuizen, E M; Kroesen, G M W; Darhuber, A A

2015-01-01

We studied the interaction of atmospheric-pressure plasma jets of Ar or air with liquid films of an aliphatic hydrocarbon on moving solid substrates. The hydrodynamic jet-liquid interaction induces a track of lower film thickness. The chemical plasma-surface interaction oxidizes the liquid, leading to a local increase of the surface tension and a self-organized redistribution of the liquid film. We developed a numerical model that qualitatively reproduces the formation, instability and coarsening of the flow patterns observed in the experiments. Monitoring the liquid flow has potential as an in-situ, spatially and temporally resolved, diagnostic tool for the plasma-liquid surface interaction. (paper)

Investigations on interactions between the flowing liquid lithium limiter and plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren, J.; Zuo, G.Z.; Hu, J.S.; Sun, Z.; Li, J.G.; Zakharov, L.E.; Ruzic, D.N.; Xu, W.Y.

2016-01-01

Two different designs of flowing liquid lithium limiter were first tested for power exhaust and particle removal in HT-7 in 2012 autumn campaign. During the experiments, the reliability and compatibility of the limiters within Tokamak were experimentally demonstrated, and some positive results were achieved. It was found that the flowing liquid lithium limiter was effective for suppressing H concentration and led to a low ratio of H/(H + D). O impurity was slightly decreased by using limiters as well as when using a Li coating. A significant increase of the wall retention ratio was also observed which resulted from the outstanding D particles pumping ability of flowing liquid lithium limiters. The strong interaction between plasma and lithium surface could cause lithium ejection into plasma and lead to disruptions. The stable plasmas produced by uniform Li flow were in favor of lithium control. While the limiters were applied with a uniform Li flow, the normal plasma was easy to be obtained, and the energy confinement time increased from ∼0.025 s to 0.04 s. Furthermore, it was encouraging to note that the application of flowing liquid lithium limiters could further improve the confinement of plasma by ∼10% on the basis of Li coating. These remarkable results will help for the following design of flowing liquid lithium limiter in EAST to improve the plasma operation.

Control of open end plasma flow utilizing orbital stochasticity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hojo, Hitoshi

1995-01-01

It has been known that the control of plasma outside the confinement region of diverter plasma and others in a magnetic field confinement device is very important for improveing the confinement of bulk plasma. The control of plasma outside a confinement region bears two roles, one is the reduction of the thermal load on a diverter plate and others due to the plasma particles lost from the confinement region, and another is the restriction of the back flow of cold plasma and impurities generated outside the confinement region to a bulk plasma region. In this study, the new method of controlling plasma outside a confinement region called magnetic diverter is considered. To the plasma particles advancing along magnetic force lines, the reflection and capture of the plasma particles occur in the region of orbital stochasticity, and the thermal load on an end plate and the reverse flow to a bulk plasma region are restricted. The numerical computation model used regarding the particle control utilizing the orbital stochasticity and the results of calculating the orbit of plasma particles in a magnetic field are reported. (K.I.)

Ideal stability of cylindrical plasma in the presence of mass flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bondeson, A.; Iacono, R.

1988-11-01

The ideal stability of cylindrical plasma with mass flows is investigated using the guiding centre plasma (GCP) model of Grad. For rotating plasmas, the kinetic treatment of the parallel motion in GCP gives significantly different results than fluid models, where the pressures are obtained from equations of state. In particular, GCP removes the resonance with slow magnetoacoustic waves and the loss of stability that results in magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) for near-soni flows. Because of the strong kinetic damping of the sound waves in an isothermal plasma, the slow waves have little influence on plasma stability in GCP at low β. In the large aspect ratio, low-β tokamak ordering, Alfvenic flows are needed to change the ideal GCP stability significantly. At lowest order in the inverse aspect ratio, flow can be favorable or unfavorable for stability of local modes depending on the profiles, but external kinks are always destilized by flow if the velocity vanishes at the edge. For high-β, reversed field pinch equilibria, numerical computations show that flow can be stabilizing for local modes, but external modes are destabilized by flow. It is shown that in three dimensions, the MHD equilibrium problem becomes hyperbolic for arbitrarily small flows across the magnetic field, whereas in GCP the equilibrium remains elliptic for sub-Alfvenic flows. (author) 7 figs., 1 tab, 32 refs

Cross-field flow and electric potential in a plasma slab

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. De Keyser

2013-08-01

Full Text Available We consider cross-field plasma flow inside a field-aligned plasma slab embedded in a uniform background in a 1-dimensional geometry. This situation may arise, for instance, when long-lasting reconnection pulses inject plasma into the inner magnetosphere. The present paper presents a detailed analysis of the structure of the interfaces that separate the slab from the background plasma on either side; a fully kinetic model is used to do so. Since the velocity shear across both interfaces has opposite signs, and given the typical gyroradius differences between injected and background ions and electrons, the structure of both interfaces can be very different. The behaviour of the slab and its interfaces depends critically on the flow of the plasma transverse to the magnetic field; in particular, it is shown that there are bounds to the flow speed that can be supported by the magnetised plasma. Further complicating the picture is the effect of the potential difference between the slab and its environment.

Cross-tail velocity component in the plasma sheet fast flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. P. Dmitrieva

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The flux transfer in the magnetotail plasma sheet is mainly provided by the tail-aligned fast plasma flows (Bursty Bulk Flows – BBFs. In this paper we study the events with a large cross-tail velocity component, including their occurrence and relationship to the standard BBFs. We found out that a significant part of large Vy events are a subgroup connected with the BBFs propagation. The maximal deviation of the velocity vector from the X direction (about 40–50 degrees, on average is observed near the BBFs' leading front in the sheath, where the fast flow interacts with surrounding plasma. The average variation of the velocity direction in the vicinity of the BBF resembles a plasma vortex. Our results support the model, in which the BBF represents a polarized, bubble-like flux tube, propagating through the plasma sheet.

On the interplay between turbulence and poloidal flows in plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidalgo, C.; Pedrosa, M.A.; Garcia-Cortes, I.

1999-01-01

The radial profile of Reynolds stress has been measured in the plasma boundary region of tokamaks and stellarator plasmas. The electrostatic Reynolds stress (proportional to r E-tilde θ >) shows a radial gradient close to the velocity shear layer location, showing that this mechanism can drive significant poloidal flows in the plasma boundary region of fusion plasmas. The generation of poloidal flows by Ion Bernstein Wave (IBW) is under investigation in toroidal plasmas. The radial gradient in the Reynolds stress increases with RF power and radial electric fields are modified at the RF resonance layer. (author)

Jet flow and premixed jet flame control by plasma swirler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Gang, E-mail: ligang@iet.cn [Key laboratory of light duty gas turbine, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Jiang, Xi [School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS (United Kingdom); Zhao, Yujun [School of Mechanism, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044 (China); Liu, Cunxi [Key laboratory of light duty gas turbine, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China); Chen, Qi [School of Mechanism, Electronic and Control Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044 (China); Xu, Gang; Liu, Fuqiang [Key laboratory of light duty gas turbine, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190 (China)

2017-04-04

A swirler based on dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators is designed and its effectiveness in both jet flow and premixed jet flame control is demonstrated. In contrast to traditional spanwise-oriented actuators, plasma actuators are placed along the axial direction of the injector to induce a circumferential velocity to the main flow and create a swirl flow without any insertion or moving part. In the DBD plasma swirl injector, the discharge does not ignite the mixture nor does it induce flashback. Flame visualization is obtained by cameras while velocity profiles are obtained by Laser Doppler Anemometry measurements. The results obtained indicate the effectiveness of the new design. - Highlights: • The discharge does not ignite the mixture nor does it induce flashback. • The prominent advantage of this novel plasma swirler is its swirl number adjustable without any mechanical movement. • The frequency of the plasma swirler is adjustable. • The plasma swirler can be used as an oscillator to the reactants. • The plasma swirler can be used alone or combine with other traditional swirlers.

Transport in zonal flows in analogous geophysical and plasma systems

Science.gov (United States)

del-Castillo-Negrete, Diego

1999-11-01

Zonal flows occur naturally in the oceans and the atmosphere of planets. Important examples include the zonal flows in Jupiter, the stratospheric polar jet in Antarctica, and oceanic jets like the Gulf Stream. These zonal flows create transport barriers that have a crucial influence on mixing and confinement (e.g. the ozone depletion in Antarctica). Zonal flows also give rise to long-lasting vortices (e.g. the Jupiter red spot) by shear instability. Because of this, the formation and stability of zonal flows and their role on transport have been problems of great interest in geophysical fluid dynamics. On the other hand, zonal flows have also been observed in fusion plasmas and their impact on the reduction of transport has been widely recognized. Based on the well-known analogy between Rossby waves in quasigeostrophic flows and drift waves in magnetically confined plasmas, I will discuss the relevance to fusion plasmas of models and experiments recently developed in geophysical fluid dynamics. Also, the potential application of plasma physics ideas to geophysical flows will be discussed. The role of shear in the suppression of transport and the effect of zonal flows on the statistics of transport will be studied using simplified models. It will be shown how zonal flows induce large particle displacements that can be characterized as Lévy flights, and that the trapping effect of vortices combined with the zonal flows gives rise to anomalous diffusion and Lévy (non-Gaussian) statistics. The models will be compared with laboratory experiments and with atmospheric and oceanographic qualitative observations.

Modelling of flow stabilization by the swirl of a peripheral flow as applied to plasma reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volchkov, E.P.; Lebedev, V.P.; Terekhov, V.I.; Shishkin, N.E.

2000-01-01

The gas-swirl stabilization of plasma jets is one of effective methods of its retention in the near-axial area of channels in generators of low-temperature plasma. Except the effect of gas-dynamic compression, the peripheral swirl allows to solve another urgent problem - to protect the reactor walls from the heat influence of the plasma jet. Swirl flows are also used for the flow structure formation and control of the heat and gas-dynamic characteristics of different power devices and apparatuses, using high-temperature working media: in swirl furnaces and burners, in aviation engines, etc. Investigations show that during swirl stabilization the gas-dynamic structure of the flow influences significantly the spatial stability of the plasma column and its characteristics

Plasma actuators for bluff body flow control

Science.gov (United States)

Kozlov, Alexey V.

The aerodynamic plasma actuators have shown to be efficient flow control devices in various applications. In this study the results of flow control experiments utilizing single dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators to control flow separation and unsteady vortex shedding from a circular cylinder in cross-flow are reported. This work is motivated by the need to reduce landing gear noise for commercial transport aircraft via an effective streamlining created by the actuators. The experiments are performed at Re D = 20,000...164,000. Circular cylinders in cross-flow are chosen for study since they represent a generic flow geometry that is similar in all essential aspects to a landing gear oleo or strut. The minimization of the unsteady flow separation from the models and associated large-scale wake vorticity by using actuators reduces the radiated aerodynamic noise. Using either steady or unsteady actuation at ReD = 25,000, Karman shedding is totally eliminated, turbulence levels in the wake decrease significantly and near-field sound pressure levels are reduced by 13.3 dB. Unsteady actuation at an excitation frequency of St D = 1 is found to be most effective. The unsteady actuation also has the advantage that total suppression of shedding is achieved for a duty cycle of only 25%. However, since unsteady actuation is associated with an unsteady body force and produces a tone at the actuation frequency, steady actuation is more suitable for noise control applications. Two actuation strategies are used at ReD = 82,000: spanwise and streamwise oriented actuators. Near field microphone measurements in an anechoic wind tunnel and detailed study of the near wake using LDA are presented in the study. Both spanwise and streamwise actuators give nearly the same noise reduction level of 11.2 dB and 14.2 dB, respectively, and similar changes in the wake velocity profiles. The contribution of the actuator induced noise is found to be small compared to the natural shedding

Viscosity estimation utilizing flow velocity field measurements in a rotating magnetized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshimura, Shinji; Tanaka, Masayoshi Y.

2008-01-01

The importance of viscosity in determining plasma flow structures has been widely recognized. In laboratory plasmas, however, viscosity measurements have been seldom performed so far. In this paper we present and discuss an estimation method of effective plasma kinematic viscosity utilizing flow velocity field measurements. Imposing steady and axisymmetric conditions, we derive the expression for radial flow velocity from the azimuthal component of the ion fluid equation. The expression contains kinematic viscosity, vorticity of azimuthal rotation and its derivative, collision frequency, azimuthal flow velocity and ion cyclotron frequency. Therefore all quantities except the viscosity are given provided that the flow field can be measured. We applied this method to a rotating magnetized argon plasma produced by the Hyper-I device. The flow velocity field measurements were carried out using a directional Langmuir probe installed in a tilting motor drive unit. The inward ion flow in radial direction, which is not driven in collisionless inviscid plasmas, was clearly observed. As a result, we found the anomalous viscosity, the value of which is two orders of magnitude larger than the classical one. (author)

Effect of Energetic Plasma Flux on Flowing Liquid Lithium Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Kalathiparambil, Kishor; Jung, Soonwook; Christenson, Michael; Fiflis, Peter; Xu, Wenyu; Szott, Mathew; Ruzic, David

2014-10-01

An operational liquid lithium system with steady state flow driven by thermo-electric magneto-hydrodynamic force and capable of constantly refreshing the plasma exposed surface have been demonstrated at U of I. To evaluate the system performance in reactor relevant conditions, specifically to understand the effect of disruptive plasma events on the performance of the liquid metal PFCs, the setup was integrated to a pulsed plasma generator. A coaxial plasma generator drives the plasma towards a theta pinch which preferentially heats the ions, simulating ELM like flux, and the plasma is further guided towards the target chamber which houses the flowing lithium system. The effect of the incident flux is examined using diagnostic tools including triple Langmuir probe, calorimeter, rogowski coils, Ion energy analyzers, and fast frame spectral image acquisition with specific optical filters. The plasma have been well characterized and a density of ~1021 m-3, with electron temperature ~10 - 20 eV is measured, and final plasma velocities of 34 - 74 kms-1 have been observed. Calorimetric measurements using planar molybdenum targets indicate a maximum plasma energy (with 6 kV plasma gun and 20 kV theta pinch) of 0.08 MJm-2 with plasma divergence effects resulting in marginal reduction of 40 +/- 23 J in plasma energy. Further results from the other diagnostic tools, using the flowing lithium targets and the planar targets coated with lithium will be presented. DOE DE-SC0008587.

Heat flow during sawtooth collapse in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanada, Kazuaki

1994-01-01

Heat flow during sawtooth collapse was studied on the WT-3 tokamak by using temporal evolution of soft X-ray intensity profile in the poloidal cross section in a lower hybrid current driven plasma as well as an electron cyclotron heated plasma. Two phase in sawtooth collapses were observed. In the first phases, the hottest spot that is the peak of the soft X-ray distribution approaches the inversion surface and heat flows out through a narrow gate on the inversion surface. In the second phase, the hottest spot stays on the inversion surface, and heat flows out through the whole inversion surface. This suggests that magnetic reconnection as predicted by Kadomtsev's model occurs in the first phase, but in the second phase, a different mechanism dominates heat flow. (author)

Flow structure formation in an ion-unmagnetized plasma: The HYPER-II experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Terasaka, K.; Tanaka, M. Y.; Yoshimura, S.; Aramaki, M.; Sakamoto, Y.; Kawazu, F.; Furuta, K.; Takatsuka, N.; Masuda, M.; Nakano, R.

2015-01-01

The HYPER-II device has been constructed in Kyushu University to investigate the flow structure formation in an ion-unmagnetized plasma, which is an intermediate state of plasma and consists of unmagnetized ions and magnetized electrons. High density plasmas are produced by electron cyclotron resonance heating, and the flow field structure in an inhomogeneous magnetic field is investigated with a directional Langmuir probe method and a laser-induced fluorescence method. The experimental setup has been completed and the diagnostic systems have been installed to start the experiments. A set of coaxial electrodes will be introduced to control the azimuthal plasma rotation, and the effect of plasma rotation to generation of rectilinear flow structure will be studied. The HYPER-II experiments will clarify the overall flow structure in the inhomogeneous magnetic field and contribute to understanding characteristic feature of the intermediate state of plasma.

On plasma flows along vortex lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagewadi, C.S.; Prasanna Kumar, K.N.

1989-01-01

The plasma flows are discussed and various intrinsic relations along the vortex lines and their principal normals and binormals are obtained. The effects of rotations on Bernoulli surfaces are also studied. (M.K.V.)

Characteristics of an under-expanded supersonic flow in arcjet plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Namba, Shinichi; Shikama, Taiichi; Sasano, Wataru; Tamura, Naoki; Endo, Takuma

2018-06-01

A compact apparatus to produce arcjet plasma was fabricated to investigate supersonic flow dynamics. Periodic bright–dark emission structures were formed in the arcjets, depending on the plasma source and ambient gas pressures in the vacuum chamber. A directional Langmuir probe (DLP) and emission spectroscopy were employed to characterize plasma parameters such as the Mach number of plasma flows and clarify the mechanism for the generation of the emission pattern. In particular, in order to investigate the influence of the Mach number on probe size, we used two DLPs of different probe size. The results indicated that the arcjets could be classified into shock-free expansion and under-expansion, and the behavior of plasma flow could be described by compressible fluid dynamics. Comparison of the Langmuir probe results with emission and laser absorption spectroscopy showed that the small diameter probe was reliable to determine the Mach number, even for the supersonic jet.

Three Flow Features behind the Flow Control Authority of DBD Plasma Actuator: Result of High-Fidelity Simulations and the Related Experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kozo Fujii

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Both computational and experimental studies are conducted for understanding of the flow separation control mechanism of a DBD (dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator. Low speed flows over an airfoil are considered. A DBD plasma actuator is attached near the leading edge of an airfoil and the mechanism of flow control of this small device is discussed. The DBD plasma actuator, especially in burst mode, is shown to be very effective for controlling flow separation at Reynolds number of 6.3 × 104, when applied to the flows at an angle of attack higher than the stall. The analysis reveals that the flow structure includes three remarkable features that provide good authority for flow separation control with the appropriate actuator parameters. With proper setting of the actuator parameters to enhance the effective flow features for the application, good flow control can be achieved. Based on the analysis, guidelines for the effective use of DBD plasma actuators are proposed. A DBD plasma actuator is also applied to the flows under cruise conditions. With the DBD plasma actuator attached, a simple airfoil turns out to show higher lift-to-drag ratio than a well-designed airfoil.

Pyrolysis of methane in flowing microwave plasma. Pt. 1, 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carmi, U.; Inor, A.A.; Avni, R.; Nickel, H.

1978-04-01

The flowing microwave (2.45 G Hz) plasmas of methane and methane-argon mixtures were analyzed by the electrical double floating probe system (DFPS), along the flow stream. The measured electric variables of the microwave plasma were: current, current density, electric field strength, electron temperature, positive ion and electron concentrations. They indicate an irreversible process, of the polymerization of CH 4 and CH 4 +Ar mixtures, taking place in the plasma. The polymerization process reaches its maximum 'down stream'. after the position of the microwave cavity. The polymerization was correlated to the concentration of ions and electrons in the plasma. (orig.) [de

Finite toroidal flow generated by unstable tearing mode in a toroidal plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao, G. Z., E-mail: haogz@swip.ac.cn; Wang, A. K.; Xu, Y. H.; He, H. D.; Xu, M.; Qu, H. P.; Peng, X. D.; Xu, J. Q.; Qiu, X. M. [Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 432, Chengdu 610041 (China); Liu, Y. Q. [Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Sun, Y. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academic of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei 230031 (China); Cui, S. Y. [School of Mathematics and Statistics Science, Ludong University, Yantai 264025 (China)

2014-12-15

The neoclassical toroidal plasma viscosity torque and electromagnetic torque, generated by tearing mode (TM) in a toroidal plasma, are numerically investigated using the MARS-Q code [Liu et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 042503 (2013)]. It is found that an initially unstable tearing mode can intrinsically drive a toroidal plasma flow resulting in a steady state solution, in the absence of the external momentum input and external magnetic field perturbation. The saturated flow is in the order of 0.5%ω{sub A} at the q=2 rational surface in the considered case, with q and ω{sub A} being the safety factor and the Alfven frequency at the magnetic axis, respectively. The generation of the toroidal flow is robust, being insensitive to the given amplitude of the perturbation at initial state. On the other hand, the flow amplitude increases with increasing the plasma resistivity. Furthermore, the initially unstable tearing mode is fully stabilized by non-linear interaction with the self-generated toroidal flow.

Study of Plasma Flow Modes in Imploding Nested Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Mitrofanov, K. N.; Aleksandrov, V. V.; Gritsuk, A. N.; Branitsky, A. V.; Frolov, I. N.; Grabovski, E. V.; Sasorov, P. V.; Ol'khovskaya, O. G.; Zaitsev, V. I.

2018-02-01

Results from experimental studies of implosion of nested wire and fiber arrays at currents of up to 4 MA at the Angara-5-1 facility are presented. Depending on the ratio between the radii of the inner and outer arrays, different modes of the plasma flow in the space between the inner and outer arrays were implemented: the sub-Alfvénic ( V r V A ) modes and a mode with the formation of the transition shock wave (SW) region between the cascades. By varying the material of the outer array (tungsten wires or kapron fibers), it is shown that the plasma flow mode between the inner and outer arrays depends on the ratio between the plasma production rates ṁ in / ṁ out in the inner and outer arrays. The obtained experimental results are compared with the results of one-dimensional MHD simulation of the plasma flow between the arrays. Stable implosion of the inner array plasma was observed in experiments with combined nested arrays consisting of a fiber outer array and a tungsten inner array. The growth rates of magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instability in the inner array plasma at different numbers of fibers in the outer array and different ratios between the radii of the inner and outer arrays are compared. Suppression of MRT instability during the implosion of the inner array plasma results in the formation of a stable compact Z-pinch and generation of a soft X-ray pulse. A possible scenario of interaction between the plasmas of the inner and outer arrays is offered. The stability of the inner array plasma in the stage of final compression depends on the character of interaction of plasma jets from the outer array with the magnetic field of the inner array.

Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for a bounded plasma flow in a longitudinal magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burinskaya, T. M.; Shevelev, M. M.; Rauch, J.-L.

2011-01-01

Kelvin-Helmholtz MHD instability in a plane three-layer plasma is investigated. A general dispersion relation for the case of arbitrarily orientated magnetic fields and flow velocities in the layers is derived, and its solutions for a bounded plasma flow in a longitudinal magnetic field are studied numerically. Analysis of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability for different ion acoustic velocities shows that perturbations with wavelengths on the order of or longer than the flow thickness can grow in an arbitrary direction even at a zero temperature. Oscillations excited at small angles with respect to the magnetic field exist in a limited range of wavenumbers even without allowance for the finite width of the transition region between the flow and the ambient plasma. It is shown that, in a low-temperature plasma, solutions resulting in kink-like deformations of the plasma flow grow at a higher rate than those resulting in quasi-symmetric (sausage-like) deformations. The transverse structure of oscillatory-damped eigenmodes in a low-temperature plasma is analyzed. The results obtained are used to explain mechanisms for the excitation of ultra-low-frequency long-wavelength oscillations propagating along the magnetic field in the plasma sheet boundary layer of the Earth’s magnetotail penetrated by fast plasma flows.

Gas flow dependence for plasma-needle disinfection of S. mutans bacteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goree, J; Liu Bin; Drake, David

2006-01-01

The role of gas flow and transport mechanisms are studied for a small low-power impinging jet of weakly-ionized helium at atmospheric pressure. This plasma needle produces a non-thermal glow discharge plasma that kills bacteria. A culture of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) was plated onto the surface of agar, and spots on this surface were then treated with plasma. Afterwards, the sample was incubated and then imaged. These images, which serve as a biological diagnostic for characterizing the plasma, show a distinctive spatial pattern for killing that depends on the gas flow rate. As the flow is increased, the killing pattern varies from a solid circle to a ring. Images of the glow reveal that the spatial distribution of energetic electrons corresponds to the observed killing pattern. This suggests that a bactericidal species is generated in the gas phase by energetic electrons less than a millimetre from the sample surface. Mixing of air into the helium plasma is required to generate the observed O and OH radicals in the flowing plasma. Hydrodynamic processes involved in this mixing are buoyancy, diffusion and turbulence

Gas flow dependence for plasma-needle disinfection of S. mutans bacteria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goree, J [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States); Liu Bin [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States); Drake, David [Dows Institute for Dental Research, Dept. of Endodontics, College of Dentistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States)

2006-08-21

The role of gas flow and transport mechanisms are studied for a small low-power impinging jet of weakly-ionized helium at atmospheric pressure. This plasma needle produces a non-thermal glow discharge plasma that kills bacteria. A culture of Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) was plated onto the surface of agar, and spots on this surface were then treated with plasma. Afterwards, the sample was incubated and then imaged. These images, which serve as a biological diagnostic for characterizing the plasma, show a distinctive spatial pattern for killing that depends on the gas flow rate. As the flow is increased, the killing pattern varies from a solid circle to a ring. Images of the glow reveal that the spatial distribution of energetic electrons corresponds to the observed killing pattern. This suggests that a bactericidal species is generated in the gas phase by energetic electrons less than a millimetre from the sample surface. Mixing of air into the helium plasma is required to generate the observed O and OH radicals in the flowing plasma. Hydrodynamic processes involved in this mixing are buoyancy, diffusion and turbulence.

Plasma sheet fast flows and auroral dynamics during substorm: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. L. Borodkova

2002-03-01

Full Text Available Interball-1 observations of a substorm development in the mid-tail on 16 December 1998 are compared with the auroral dynamics obtained from the Polar UV imager. Using these data, the relationship between plasma flow directions in the tail and the location of the auroral activation is examined. Main attention is given to tailward and earth-ward plasma flows, interpreted as signatures of a Near Earth Neutral Line (NENL. It is unambiguously shown that in the mid-plasma sheet the flows were directed tailward when the auroral bulge developed equatorward of the spacecraft ionospheric footprint. On the contrary, when active auroras moved poleward of the Interball-1 projection, earthward fast flow bursts were observed. This confirms the concept that the NENL (or flow reversal region is the source of auroras forming the poleward edge of the auroral bulge. The observed earthward flow bursts have all typical signatures of Bursty Bulk Flows (BBFs, described by Angelopolous et al. (1992. These BBFs are related to substorm activations starting at the poleward edge of the expanded auroral bulge. We interpret the BBFs as a result of reconnection pulses occurring tail-ward of Interball-1. In addition, some non-typically observed phenomena were detected in the plasma sheet during this substorm: (i tailward/earthward flows were superimposed on a very strong duskward flow, and (ii wavy structures of both magnetic field and plasma density were registered. The latter observation is probably linked to the filamentary structure of the current sheet.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; plasma sheet; storms and substorms

Structure of the radial electric field and toroidal/poloidal flow in high temperature toroidal plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ida, Katsumi

2001-01-01

The structure of the radial electric field and toroidal/poloidal flow is discussed for the high temperature plasma in toroidal systems, tokamak and Heliotron type magnetic configurations. The spontaneous toroidal and poloidal flows are observed in the plasma with improved confinement. The radial electric field is mainly determined by the poloidal flow, because the contribution of toroidal flow to the radial electric field is small. The jump of radial electric field and poloidal flow are commonly observed near the plasma edge in the so-called high confinement mode (H-mode) plasmas in tokamaks and electron root plasma in stellarators including Heliotrons. In general the toroidal flow is driven by the momentum input from neutral beam injected toroidally. There is toroidal flow not driven by neutral beam in the plasma and it will be more significant in the plasma with large electric field. The direction of these spontaneous toroidal flows depends on the symmetry of magnetic field. The spontaneous toroidal flow driven by the ion temperature gradient is in the direction to increase the negative radial electric field in tokamak. The direction of spontaneous toroidal flow in Heliotron plasmas is opposite to that in tokamak plasma because of the helicity of symmetry of the magnetic field configuration. (author)

Excitation of nonlinear wave patterns in flowing complex plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Jaiswal, S.; Bandyopadhyay, P.; Sen, A.

2018-01-01

We describe experimental observations of nonlinear wave structures excited by a supersonic mass flow of dust particles over an electrostatic potential hill in a dusty plasma medium. The experiments have been carried out in a Π- shaped experimental (DPEx) device in which micron sized Kaolin particles are embedded in a DC glow discharge Argon plasma. An equilibrium dust cloud is formed by maintaining the pumping speed and gas flow rate and the dust flow is induced either by suddenly reducing the height of a potential hill or by suddenly reducing the gas flow rate. For a supersonic flow of the dust fluid precursor solitons are seen to propagate in the upstream direction while wake structures propagate in the downstream direction. For flow speeds with a Mach number greater than 2 the dust particles flowing over the potential hill give rise to dispersive dust acoustic shock waves. The experimental results compare favorably with model theories based on forced K-dV and K-dV Burger's equations.

Development of supersonic plasma flows by use of a magnetic nozzle and an ICRF heating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Inutake, M.; Ando, A.; Hattori, K.; Tobari, H.; Hosokawa, Y.; Sato, R.; Hatanaka, M.; Harata, K. [Tohoku Univ., Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Sendai (Japan)

2004-07-01

A high-beta, supersonic plasma flow plays a crucial role in MHD phenomena in space and fusion plasmas. There are a few experimental researches on production and control of a fast flowing plasma in spite of a growing significance in the magnetized-plasma flow dynamics. A magneto-plasma-dynamic arc-jet (MPDA) is one of promising devices to produce a supersonic plasma flow and has been utilized as an electric propulsion device with a higher specific impulse and a relatively larger thrust. We have improved the performance of an MPDA to produce a quasi-steady plasma flow with a transonic and supersonic Mach number in a highly-ionized state. There are two methods in order to control an ion-acoustic Mach number of the plasma flow exhausted from an MPDA: one is to use a magnetic Laval nozzle to convert a thermal energy to a flow energy and the other is a combined system of an ion heating and a divergent magnetic nozzle. The former is an analogous method to a compressible air flow and the latter is the method proposed in an advanced thruster for a manned interplanetary space mission. We have clarified the plasma flow characteristics in various shapes of a magnetic field configuration. It was demonstrated that the Mach number of the plasma flow could increase up to almost 3 in a divergent magnetic nozzle field. This paper reports recent results on the flow field improvements: one is on a magnetic-Laval-nozzle effects observed at the muzzle region of the MPDA, and the other is on ICRF (ion-cyclotron-range of frequency) heating of a supersonic plasma by use of a helical antenna. (authors)

Relaxation of plasma potential and poloidal flows in the boundary of tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hron, M.; Duran, I.; Stoeckel, J.; Hidalgo, C.; Gunn, J.

2003-01-01

The relaxation times of plasma parameters after a sudden change of electrode voltage have been measured in the plasma boundary during polarization experiments on the CASTOR tokamak (R = 0.4 m, a = 75 mm, B t = 1 T, I p ∼ 9 kA, q a ∼ 10). The time evolution of the floating potential after the biasing voltage switch-off can be well fitted by an exponential decay with characteristic time in the range of 10 - 20 μs. The poloidal flow shows a transient behaviour with a time scale of about 10 - 30 μs. These time scales are smaller than the expected damping time based on neoclassical parallel viscosity (which is in the range of 100 νs) and atomic physics via charge exchange (in the range of 100 - 1000 νs). But, they are larger than the correlation time of plasma turbulence (about 5 μs). These findings suggest that anomalous damping rate mechanisms for radial electric fields and poloidal flows may play a role in the boundary of tokamak plasmas. (authors)

Modeling plasma flow in straight and curved solenoids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boercker, D.B.; Sanders, D.M.; Storer, J.; Falabella, S.

1991-01-01

The ''flux-tube'' model originated by Morozov is a very simple and numerically efficient method for simulating ion motion in plasma filters. In order to test its utility as a design tool, we compare the predictions of the model to recent experimental measurements of plasma flow in both straight and curved solenoids

Improvement of Flow Characteristics for an Advanced Plasma Thruster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inutake, M.; Hosokawa, Y.; Sato, R.; Ando, A.; Tobari, H.; Hattori, K.

2005-01-01

A higher specific impulse and a larger thrust are required for a manned interplanetary space thruster. Until the realization of a fusion-plasma thruster, a magneto-plasma-dynamic arcjet (MPDA) powered by a fission reactor is one of the promising candidates for a manned Mars space thruster. The MPDA plasma is accelerated axially by a self-induced j x B force. Thrust performance of the MPDA is expected to increase by applying a magnetic nozzle instead of a solid nozzle. In order to get a much higher thruster performance, two methods have been investigated in the HITOP device, Tohoku University. One is to use a magnetic Laval nozzle in the vicinity of the MPDA muzzle for converting the high ion thermal energy to the axial flow energy. The other is to heat ions by use of an ICRF antenna in the divergent magnetic nozzle. It is found that by use of a small-sized Laval-type magnetic nozzle, the subsonic flow near the muzzle is converted to be supersonic through the magnetic Laval nozzle. A fast-flowing plasma is successfully heated by use of an ICRF antenna in the magnetic beach configuration

Advanced plasma flow simulations of cathodic-arc and ferroelectric plasma sources for neutralized drift compression experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam B. Sefkow

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Large-space-scale and long-time-scale plasma flow simulations are executed in order to study the spatial and temporal evolution of plasma parameters for two types of plasma sources used in the neutralized drift compression experiment (NDCX. The results help assess the charge neutralization conditions for ion beam compression experiments and can be employed in more sophisticated simulations, which previously neglected the dynamical evolution of the plasma. Three-dimensional simulations of a filtered cathodic-arc plasma source show the coupling efficiency of the plasma flow from the source to the drift region depends on geometrical factors. The nonuniform magnetic topology complicates the well-known general analytical considerations for evaluating guiding-center drifts, and particle-in-cell simulations provide a self-consistent evaluation of the physics in an otherwise challenging scenario. Plasma flow profiles of a ferroelectric plasma source demonstrate that the densities required for longitudinal compression experiments involving ion beams are provided over the drift length, and are in good agreement with measurements. Simulations involving azimuthally asymmetric plasma creation conditions show that symmetric profiles are nevertheless achieved at the time of peak on-axis plasma density. Also, the ferroelectric plasma expands upstream on the thermal expansion time scale, and therefore avoids the possibility of penetration into the acceleration gap and transport sections, where partial neutralization would increase the beam emittance. Future experiments on NDCX will investigate the transverse focusing of an axially compressing intense charge bunch to a sub-mm spot size with coincident focal planes using a strong final-focus solenoid. In order to fill a multi-tesla solenoid with the necessary high-density plasma for beam charge neutralization, the simulations predict that supersonically injected plasma from the low-field region will penetrate and

Investigation on Plasma Jet Flow Phenomena During DC Air Arc Motion in Bridge-Type Contacts

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Guofu; Bo, Kai; Chen, Mo; Zhou, Xue; Qiao, Xinlei

2016-05-01

Arc plasma jet flow in the air was investigated under a bridge-type contacts in a DC 270 V resistive circuit. We characterized the arc plasma jet flow appearance at different currents by using high-speed photography, and two polished contacts were used to search for the relationship between roughness and plasma jet flow. Then, to make the nature of arc plasma jet flow phenomena clear, a simplified model based on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory was established and calculated. The simulated DC arc plasma was presented with the temperature distribution and the current density distribution. Furthermore, the calculated arc flow velocity field showed that the circular vortex was an embodiment of the arc plasma jet flow progress. The combined action of volume force and contact surface was the main reason of the arc jet flow. supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51307030, 51277038)

Observations of plasma vortices in the vicinity of flow-braking: a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Keika

2009-08-01

Full Text Available We examine fast plasma flows and magnetic field fluctuations observed by THEMIS at 03:00–03:30 UT on 12 December 2007. All THEMIS probes are situated in the near-Earth plasma sheet (XSM>−10 RE with 1–2 RE spacecraft separations in azimuthal and radial directions. We focus on the observations of plasma convective flows made simultaneously by more than one THEMIS probe. At about 03:10 UT and 03:14 UT, the THEMIS P2 probe observed earthward flows of >100 km/s. The THEMIS P1 probe, located duskward and earthward of P2, observed tailward flows under a positive Bz. The inner most probe THEMIS P4, located at almost the same MLT as THEMIS P1 and P2, did not see any clear flow. We examine the convective flow patterns for the THEMIS observations. We conclude that plasma vortices are formed near the region where the earthward flows slow down and turn in azimuthal directions.

Discharge characteristics and hydrodynamics behaviors of atmospheric plasma jets produced in various gas flow patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Setsuhara, Yuichi; Uchida, Giichiro; Nakajima, Atsushi; Takenaka, Kosuke; Koga, Kazunori; Shiratani, Masaharu

2015-09-01

Atmospheric nonequilibrium plasma jets have been widely employed in biomedical applications. For biomedical applications, it is an important issue to understand the complicated mechanism of interaction of the plasma jet with liquid. In this study, we present analysis of the discharge characteristics of a plasma jet impinging onto the liquid surface under various gas flow patterns such as laminar and turbulence flows. For this purpose, we analyzed gas flow patters by using a Schlieren gas-flow imaging system in detail The plasma jet impinging into the liquid surface expands along the liquid surface. The diameter of the expanded plasma increases with gas flow rate, which is well explained by an increase in the diameter of the laminar gas-flow channel. When the gas flow rate is further increased, the gas flow mode transits from laminar to turbulence in the gas flow channel, which leads to the shortening of the plasm-jet length. Our experiment demonstrated that the gas flow patterns strongly affect the discharge characteristics in the plasma-jet system. This study was partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas ``Plasma Medical Innovation'' (24108003) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT).

Analysis of IBW-driven plasma flows in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berry, L.A.; Jaeger, E.F.; D'Azevedo, E.F.; Batchelor, D.B.; Carlsson, J.A.; Carter, M.D.; Cesario, R.

2001-01-01

Both theory and experiment have suggested that damping of Ion Bernstein Waves (IBWs) at ion cyclotron frequency harmonics could drive poloidal flows and lead to enhanced confinement for tokamaks. However, the early analyses were based on Reynolds stress closures of moment equations. More rigorous, finite Larmor radius (FLR) expansions of the radio frequency (RF) kinetic pressure for low harmonic interactions indicated that the Reynolds stress approximation was not generally valid, and resulted in significant changes in the plasma flow response. These changes were largest for wave interactions driven by finite Larmour radius effects. To provide a better assessment of higher harmonic interactions and IBW flow drive prospects, the electromagnetic (E and M) and RF kinetic force models are extended with no assumptions regarding the smallness of the ion Larmor radius. For both models, a spectral-width approximation was used to make the numerical analysis tractable. In addition, it was necessary to include the effects of plasma equilibrium gradients on the plasma conductivity and the RF-induced momentum in order to conserve energy and momentum. The analysis of high-harmonic IBW interactions for TFTR and FTU parameters indicates significant poloidal flow shears (relative to turbulence correlation times) for power levels available in present experiments. Recent advances in all-orders calculations of E and M fields in 2-D are also discussed. (author)

On the geometry of field lines in plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagewadi, C.S.; Prasanna Kumar, K.N.

1988-01-01

Many research investigators have applied differential geometry to plasma. Intrinsic properties of fluid flows in streamline, vortex line geometries are we ll known under certain set of geometric conditions. Though this approach has yielded some interesting results but the most general properties of flows can be obtained, using eight geometric parameters ksub(s), tsub(s) θsub(ns), θsub(bs), phisub(s), Ωsub(s), div n, div b and the basic necessary conditions to be satisfied by the flow in general anholonomic co-ordinate system together with the conditions to be satisfied by the geometric parameters of triply orthogonal spatial curves of congruences. Adopting the above techniques for triply orthogonal spatial curves of congruences related to the lines of forces, Purushottam has studied the geometric properties of spatial hydromagnetic fluid flows. Again these results have been studied by him in general along the field lines. These results have been studied for plasma along field lines and the basic equations of plasma have been expressed in intrinsic decomposition forms. Furthe r complex lamellar magnetic field have been studied by introducing Lie surface. (a uthor)

Transport barriers with and without shear flows in a magnetized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinell, Julio J.

2014-01-01

Different ways of producing a transport barrier in a toroidal magnetized plasma are discussed and the properties of the barriers are analyzed. The first mechanism is associated with the presence of a sheared plasma flow that is present in a limited region of the plasma, which creates a zonal flow. In contrast to the usual paradigm stating that the sheared flow reduces the turbulence correlation length and leads to suppression of the fluctuation driven transport in the region of highest shear, it is shown that from the perspective of chaotic transport of plasma particles in the fluctuation fields, the transport barrier is formed in the region of zero shear and it can be destroyed when the fluctuation level is high enough. It is also shown that finite gyroradius effects modify the dynamics and introduces new conditions for barrier formation. The second mechanism considers a method in which radio-frequency waves injected into the plasma can stabilize the drift waves and therefore the anomalous transport is reduced, creating a barrier. This process does not involve the presence of sheared flows and depends only on the effect of the RF wave field on the drift waves. The stabilizing effect in this case is due to the nonlinear ponderomotive force which acts in a way that offsets the pressure gradient destabilization. Finally, a mechanism based on the ponderomotive force of RF waves is described which produces poloidal plasma rotation around the resonant surface due to the asymmetry of induced transport; it creates a transport barrier by shear flow stabilization of turbulence

Electric force on plasma ions and the momentum of the ion-neutrals flow

Science.gov (United States)

Makrinich, G.; Fruchtman, A.; Zoler, D.; Boxman, R. L.

2018-05-01

The electric force on ions in plasma and the momentum flux carried by the mixed ion-neutral flow were measured and found to be equal. The experiment was performed in a direct-current gas discharge of cylindrical geometry with applied radial electric field and axial magnetic field. The unmagnetized plasma ions, neutralized by magnetized electrons, were accelerated radially outward transferring part of the gained momentum to neutrals. Measurements were taken for various argon gas flow rates between 13 and 100 Standard Cubic Centimeter per Minute, for a discharge current of 1.9 A and a magnetic field intensity of 136 G. The plasma density, electron temperature, and plasma potential were measured at various locations along the flow. These measurements were used to determine the local electric force on the ions. The total electric force on the plasma ions was then determined by integrating radially the local electric force. In parallel, the momentum flux of the mixed ion-neutral flow was determined by measuring the force exerted by the flow on a balance force meter (BFM). The maximal plasma density was between 6 × 1010 cm-3 and 5 × 1011 cm-3, the maximal electron temperature was between 8 eV and 25 eV, and the deduced maximal electric field was between 2200 V/m and 5800 V/m. The force exerted by the mixed ion-neutral flow on the BFM agreed with the total electric force on the plasma ions. This agreement showed that it is the electric force on the plasma ions that is the source of the momentum acquired by the mixed ion-neutral flow.

Radially sheared azimuthal flows and turbulent transport in a cylindrical helicon plasma device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tynan, G R; Burin, M J; Holland, C; Antar, G; Diamond, P H

2004-01-01

A radially sheared azimuthal flow is observed in a cylindrical helicon plasma device. The shear flow is roughly azimuthally symmetric and contains both time-stationary and slowly varying components. The turbulent radial particle flux is found to peak near the density gradient maximum and vanishes at the shear layer location. The shape of the radial plasma potential profile associated with the azimuthal E x B flow is predicted accurately by theory. The existence of the mean shear flow in a plasma with finite flow damping from ion-neutral collisions and no external momentum input implies the existence of radial angular momentum transport from the turbulent Reynolds-stress

Magnetorotational and Parker instabilities in magnetized plasma Dean flow as applied to centrifugally confined plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Yimin; Hassam, A.B.

2003-01-01

The ideal magnetohydrodynamics stability of a Dean flow plasma supported against centrifugal forces by an axial magnetic field is studied. Only axisymmetric perturbations are allowed for simplicity. Two distinct but coupled destabilization mechanisms are present: flow shear (magnetorotational instability) and magnetic buoyancy (Parker instability). It is shown that the flow shear alone is likely insufficient to destabilize the plasma, but the magnetic buoyancy instability could occur. For a high Mach number (M S ), high Alfven Mach number (M A ) system with M S M A > or approx. πR/a (R/a is the aspect ratio), the Parker instability is unstable for long axial wavelength modes. Implications for the centrifugal confinement approach to magnetic fusion are also discussed

Change of Zonal Flow Spectra in the JIPP T-IIU Tokamak Plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamada, Y.; Watari, T.; Yamagishi, O.; Nishizawa, A.; Narihara, K.; Kawasumi, Y.; Ido, T.; Kojima, M.; Toi, K.

2007-01-01

When Ohmically heated low-density plasmas are additionally heated by higher-harmonics ion-cyclotron-range-of frequency heating, heated by neutral beam injection, or strongly gas puffed, the intensity of zonal flows in the geodesic acoustic mode frequency range in the tokamak core plasma decreases sharply and that of low-frequency zonal flow grows drastically. This is accompanied by a damping of the drift wave propagating in the electron diamagnetic drift direction, turbulence by trapped electron mode (TEM), and the increase of the mode propagating to ion diamagnetic drift direction (ITG). In the half-radius region, TEM and high-frequency zonal flows remain intense in both OH and heated phases. ITG and low-frequency zonal flows grow in heated plasmas, suggesting a strong coupling between ITG and low-frequency zonal flow

Relaxation of potential, flows, and density in the edge plasma of Castor tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hron, M.; Weinzettl, V.; Dufkova, E.; Duran, I.; Stoeckel, J.; Hidalgo, C.

2004-01-01

Decay times of plasma flows and plasma profiles have been measured after a sudden biasing switch-off in experiments on the Castor tokamak. A biased electrode has been used to polarize the edge plasma. The edge plasma potential and flows have been characterized by means of Langmuir and Mach probes, the radiation was measured using an array of bolometers. Potential profiles and poloidal flows can be well fitted by an exponential decay time in the range of 10 - 30 μs when the electrode biasing is turned off in the Castor tokamak. The radiation shows a slower time scale (about 1 ms), which is linked to the evolution in the plasma density and particle confinement. (authors)

Metal droplet erosion and shielding plasma layer under plasma flows typical of transient processes in tokamaks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martynenko, Yu. V., E-mail: Martynenko-YV@nrcki.ru [National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” (Russian Federation)

2017-03-15

It is shown that the shielding plasma layer and metal droplet erosion in tokamaks are closely interrelated, because shielding plasma forms from the evaporated metal droplets, while droplet erosion is caused by the shielding plasma flow over the melted metal surface. Analysis of experimental data and theoretical models of these processes is presented.

Three-dimensional rotational plasma flows near solid surfaces in an axial magnetic field

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gorshunov, N. M., E-mail: gorshunov-nm@nrcki.ru; Potanin, E. P., E-mail: potanin45@yandex.ru [National Research Center Kurchatov Institute (Russian Federation)

2016-11-15

A rotational flow of a conducting viscous medium near an extended dielectric disk in a uniform axial magnetic field is analyzed in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) approach. An analytical solution to the system of nonlinear differential MHD equations of motion in the boundary layer for the general case of different rotation velocities of the disk and medium is obtained using a modified Slezkin–Targ method. A particular case of a medium rotating near a stationary disk imitating the end surface of a laboratory device is considered. The characteristics of a hydrodynamic flow near the disk surface are calculated within the model of a finite-thickness boundary layer. The influence of the magnetic field on the intensity of the secondary flow is studied. Calculations are performed for a weakly ionized dense plasma flow without allowance for the Hall effect and plasma compressibility. An MHD flow in a rotating cylinder bounded from above by a retarding cap is considered. The results obtained can be used to estimate the influence of the end surfaces on the main azimuthal flow, as well as the intensities of circulating flows in various devices with rotating plasmas, in particular, in plasma centrifuges and laboratory devices designed to study instabilities of rotating plasmas.

Controlling hydrophilicity of polymer film by altering gas flow rate in atmospheric-pressure homogeneous plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Woo Seok; Hur, Min; Lee, Jae-Ok; Song, Young-Hoon

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Controlling hydrophilicity of polymer film by varying gas flow rate is proposed in atmospheric-pressure homogeneous plasma treatment. • Without employing additional reactive gas, requiring more plasma power and longer treatment time, hydrophilicity of polyimide films was improved after the low-gas-flow plasma treatment. • The gas flow rate affects the hydrophilic properties of polymer surface by changing the discharge atmosphere in the particular geometry of the reactor developed. • Low-gas-flow induced wettability control suggests effective and economical plasma treatment. - Abstract: This paper reports on controlling the hydrophilicity of polyimide films using atmospheric-pressure homogeneous plasmas by changing only the gas flow rate. The gas flow changed the discharge atmosphere by mixing the feed gas with ambient air because of the particular geometry of the reactor developed for the study, and a low gas flow rate was found to be favorable because it generated abundant nitrogen or oxygen species that served as sources of hydrophilic functional groups over the polymer surface. After low-gas-flow plasma treatment, the polymer surface exhibited hydrophilic characteristics with increased surface roughness and enhanced chemical properties owing to the surface addition of functional groups. Without adding any reactive gases or requiring high plasma power and longer treatment time, the developed reactor with low-gas-flow operation offered effective and economical wettability control of polyimide films

MHD equilibrium of toroidal fusion plasma with stationary flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galkowski, A.

1994-01-01

Non-linear ideal MHD equilibria in axisymmetric system with flows are examined, both in 1st and 2nd ellipticity regions. Evidence of the bifurcation of solutions is provided and numerical solutions of several problems in a tokamak geometry are given, exhibiting bifurcation phenomena. Relaxation of plasma in the presence of zero-order flows is studied in a realistic toroidal geometry. The field aligned flow allows equilibria with finite pressure gradient but with homogeneous temperature distribution. Numerical calculations have been performed for the 1st and 2nd ellipticity regimes of the extended Grad-Shafranov-Schlueter equation. Numerical technique, alternative to the well-known Grad's ADM methods has been proposed to deal with slow adiabatic evolution of toroidal plasma with flows. The equilibrium problem with prescribed adiabatic constraints may be solved by simultaneous calculations of flux surface geometry and original profile functions. (author). 178 refs, 37 figs, 5 tabs

Turbulence spectra, transport, and E × B flows in helical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, T.-H.; Nunami, M.; Sugama, H.; Satake, S.; Matsuoka, S.; Ishizawa, A.; Tanaka, K.; Maeyama, Shinya

2012-11-01

Gyrokinetic simulation of ion temperature gradient turbulence and zonal flows for helical plasmas has been validated against the Large Helical Device experiments with high ion temperature, where a reduced modeling of ion heat transport is also considered. It is confirmed by the entropy transfer analysis that the turbulence spectrum elongated in the radial wavenumber space is associated with successive interactions with zonal flows. A novel multi-scale simulation for turbulence and zonal flows in poloidally-rotating helical plasmas has demonstrated strong zonal flow generation by turbulence, which implies that turbulent transport processes in non-axisymmetric systems are coupled to neoclassical transport through the macroscopic E × B flows determined by the ambipolarty condition for neoclassical particle fluxes. (author)

QUICK-FIRE: Plasma flow driven implosion experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, W.L.; Bigelow, W.S.; Degnan, J.H.

1985-01-01

High speed plasma implosions involving megajoules of energy, and sub-microsecond implosion times are expected to require additional stages of power conditioning between realistic primary energy sources and the implosion system. Plasma flow switches and vacuum inductive stores represent attractive alternates to the high speed fuse and atmospheric store techniques which have been previously reported for powering such plasma experiments. In experiments being conducted at the Air Force Weapons Lab, a washer shaped plasma accelerated to 7-10 cm/microsecond in a coaxial plasma gun configuration, represents the moving element in a vacuum store/power conditioning system of 16.5 nH inductance which stores 1-1.5 MJ at 12-14 MA. At the end of the coaxial gun, the moving element transits the 2cm axial length of the cylindrical implosion gap in 200-400 nS, delivering the magnetic energy to the implosion foil, accelerating the imploding plasma to speeds of 30-40 cm/microsecond in 350-450 nS, and delivering a projected 400 KJ of kinetic energy to the implosion

Sheared-flow induced confinement transition in a linear magnetized plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, S.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Boehmer, H.; McWilliams, R.; Carter, T. A.; Vincena, S.; Friedman, B.; Schaffner, D.

2012-01-01

A magnetized plasma cylinder (12 cm in diameter) is induced by an annular shape obstacle at the Large Plasma Device [W. Gekelman, H. Pfister, Z. Lucky, J. Bamber, D. Leneman, and J. Maggs, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)]. Sheared azimuthal flow is driven at the edge of the plasma cylinder through edge biasing. Strong fluctuations of density and potential (δn /n~eδφ/kTe~0.5) are observed at the plasma edge, accompanied by a large density gradient (Ln=|∇lnn |-1~2cm) and shearing rate (γ ~300kHz). Edge turbulence and cross-field transport are modified by changing the bias voltage (Vbias) on the obstacle and the axial magnetic field (Bz) strength. In cases with low Vbias and large Bz, improved plasma confinement is observed, along with steeper edge density gradients. The radially sheared flow induced by E ×B drift dramatically changes the cross-phase between density and potential fluctuations, which causes the wave-induced particle flux to reverse its direction across the shear layer. In cases with higher bias voltage or smaller Bz, large radial transport and rapid depletion of the central plasma density are observed. Two-dimensional cross-correlation measurement shows that a mode with azimuthal mode number m =1 and large radial correlation length dominates the outward transport in these cases. Linear analysis based on a two-fluid Braginskii model suggests that the fluctuations are driven by both density gradient (drift wave like) and flow shear (Kelvin-Helmholtz like) at the plasma edge.

Sheared-flow induced confinement transition in a linear magnetized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, S.; Heidbrink, W. W.; Boehmer, H.; McWilliams, R.; Carter, T. A.; Vincena, S.; Friedman, B.; Schaffner, D.

2012-01-01

A magnetized plasma cylinder (12 cm in diameter) is induced by an annular shape obstacle at the Large Plasma Device [W. Gekelman, H. Pfister, Z. Lucky, J. Bamber, D. Leneman, and J. Maggs, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)]. Sheared azimuthal flow is driven at the edge of the plasma cylinder through edge biasing. Strong fluctuations of density and potential (δn/n∼eδφ/kT e ∼0.5) are observed at the plasma edge, accompanied by a large density gradient (L n =∇lnn -1 ∼2cm) and shearing rate (γ∼300kHz). Edge turbulence and cross-field transport are modified by changing the bias voltage (V bias ) on the obstacle and the axial magnetic field (B z ) strength. In cases with low V bias and large B z , improved plasma confinement is observed, along with steeper edge density gradients. The radially sheared flow induced by ExB drift dramatically changes the cross-phase between density and potential fluctuations, which causes the wave-induced particle flux to reverse its direction across the shear layer. In cases with higher bias voltage or smaller B z , large radial transport and rapid depletion of the central plasma density are observed. Two-dimensional cross-correlation measurement shows that a mode with azimuthal mode number m=1 and large radial correlation length dominates the outward transport in these cases. Linear analysis based on a two-fluid Braginskii model suggests that the fluctuations are driven by both density gradient (drift wave like) and flow shear (Kelvin-Helmholtz like) at the plasma edge.

High Mach flow associated with plasma detachment in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatayama, A.; Hoshino, K.; Miyamoto, K.

2003-01-01

Recent new results of the high Mach flows associated with plasma detachment are presented on the basis of numerical simulations by a 2-D edge simulation code (the B2-Eirene code) and their comparisons with experiments in JT-60U W-shaped divertor plasma. High Mach flows appear near the ionization front away from the target plate. The plasma static pressure rapidly drops, while the total pressure is kept almost constant near the ionization front, because the ionization front near the X-point is clearly separated from the momentum loss region near the target plate. Redistribution from static to dynamic pressure without a large momentum loss is confirmed to be a possible mechanism of the high Mach flows. It has been also shown that the radial structure of the high Mach flow near the X point away from the target plate has a strong correlation with the DOD (Degree of Detachment) at the target plate. Also, we have made systematic analyses on the high Mach flows for both the 'Open' geometry and the 'W-shaped' geometry of JT-60U in order to clarify the geometric effects on the flows. (author)

Asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation coupled with multiple detections: A complementary approach in the characterization of egg yolk plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Haiyang; Li, Yueqiu; Choi, Jaeyeong; Huo, Shuying; Ding, Liang; Shen, Shigang; Lee, Seungho

2016-09-23

The capability of asymmetrical flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) coupled with UV/VIS, multiangle light scattering (MALS) and quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS) (AF4-UV-MALS-QELS) for separation and characterization of egg yolk plasma was evaluated. The accuracy of hydrodynamic radius (Rh) obtained from QELS and AF4 theory (using both simplified and full expression of AF4 retention equations) was discussed. The conformation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and its aggregates in egg yolk plasma was discussed based on the ratio of radius of gyration (Rg) to Rh together with the results from bio-transmission electron microscopy (Bio-TEM). The results indicate that the full retention equation is more relevant than simplified version for the Rh determination at high cross flow rate. The Rh from online QELS is reliable only at a specific range of sample concentration. The effect of programmed cross flow rate (linear and exponential decay) on the analysis of egg yolk plasma was also investigated. It was found that the use of an exponentially decaying cross flow rate not only reduces the AF4 analysis time of the egg yolk plasma, but also provides better resolution than the use of either a constant or linearly decaying cross flow rate. A combination of an exponentially decaying cross flow AF4-UV-MALS-QELS and the utilization of full retention equation was proved to be a useful method for the separation and characterization of egg yolk plasma. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Propagation of atmospheric pressure helium plasma jet into ambient air at laminar gas flow

Science.gov (United States)

Pinchuk, M.; Stepanova, O.; Kurakina, N.; Spodobin, V.

2017-05-01

The formation of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) in a gas flow passing through the discharge gap depends on both gas-dynamic properties and electrophysical parameters of the plasma jet generator. The paper presents the results of experimental and numerical study of the propagation of the APPJ in a laminar flow of helium. A dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) generated inside a quartz tube equipped with a coaxial electrode system, which provided gas passing through it, served as a plasma source. The transition of the laminar regime of gas flow into turbulent one was controlled by the photography of a formed plasma jet. The corresponding gas outlet velocity and Reynolds numbers were revealed experimentally and were used to simulate gas dynamics with OpenFOAM software. The data of the numerical simulation suggest that the length of plasma jet at the unvarying electrophysical parameters of DBD strongly depends on the mole fraction of ambient air in a helium flow, which is established along the direction of gas flow.

Hall-magnetohydrodynamic waves in flowing ideal incompressible solar-wind plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhelyazkov, I

2010-01-01

It is well established now that the solar atmosphere, from the photosphere to the corona and the solar wind, is a highly structured medium. Satellite observations have confirmed the presence of steady flows there. Here, we investigate the propagation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) eigenmodes (kink and sausage surface waves) travelling along an ideal incompressible flowing plasma cylinder (flux tube) surrounded by a flowing plasma environment in the framework of the Hall magnetohydrodynamics. The propagation characteristics of the waves are studied in a reference frame moving with the mass flow outside the tube. In general, the flows change the waves' phase velocities compared with their magnitudes in a static MHD flux tube and the Hall effect extends the number of the possible wave dispersion curves. It turns out that while the kink waves, considered in the context of the standard magnetohydrodynamics, are unstable against the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, they become stable when the Hall term in the generalized Ohm's law is taken into account. The sausage waves are stable in both considerations. All results concerning the waves' propagation and their stability/instability status are obtained on the basis of the linearized Hall-magnetohydrodynamic equations and are applicable mainly to the solar wind plasmas.

Analysis of the flow structure of a turbulent thermal plasma jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spores, R.A.

1989-01-01

The goal of this research project is to attain a better understanding of the fluid mechanics associated with the high temperature jet of a thermal plasma torch. The analysis of a plasma, which has the ability to vaporize anything placed inside it without proper cooling, presents a unique research challenge. Several types of non-intrusive diagnostic techniques has been used to examine the jet from different perspectives. To actually map out the mean gas velocities and turbulence intensities throughout the jet, laser Doppler anemometry has been employed. The plasma gas and entrained air him been seeded separately in order to conditionally sample the two fluids and attain information about the gas mixing process. Both radial and axial turbulence levels have been measured in order to analyze the non-isotropic nature of the jet. A parabolic numerical code has been modified and compared with the obtained experimental results. A new diagnostic technique for plasma torches, which involves the spectral analysis of voltage, optical (temperature), and acoustical (pressure) fluctuations, has been implemented. The acoustical spectrum can provide information about the existence of coherent structures in the flow while the cross correlation of the acoustical signal with the voltage fluctuations can tell one to what extent perturbations of the internal arc affect the external flow. Since temperature is a scalar that is dependent on the flow field, observing temperature fluctuations can likewise help one to understand the mechanics of the flow. Flow visualization of the plasma jet using a high speed video camera has also been undertaken in order to better understand the entrainment process

Production of free radical by magnetized sheet plasma with vertical gas-flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tonegawa, Akira; Takatori, Masahiko; Kawamura, Kazutaka

1995-01-01

Free radicals play an important role in plasma processing, environment problem, and space plasma and so on because of their outstanding physical properties. Although much work has been done on the free radicals in the reactive plasma, very little is known about the production mechanism of the free radicals against various plasma parameters. To overcome this problem, we have proposed to do a new system of a magnetized sheet plasma with vertical gas-flow. The sheet plasma is a special type of strongly magnetized highly ionized slab plasma. This system is controlled to the parameters of radicals and plasma independently. Therefore, it is possible to make a quantitative analysis of free radicals as the simple one. In this paper, we describe the magnetized sheet plasma with vertical gas-flow system and report the preliminary results of production of the free radical. In particular, we show to produce and control the OH free radical which has been the most commonly studied combustion species

Simulation of rarefied low pressure RF plasma flow around the sample

Science.gov (United States)

Zheltukhin, V. S.; Shemakhin, A. Yu

2017-01-01

The paper describes a mathematical model of the flow of radio frequency plasma at low pressure. The hybrid mathematical model includes the Boltzmann equation for the neutral component of the RF plasma, the continuity and the thermal equations for the charged component. Initial and boundary conditions for the corresponding equations are described. The electron temperature in the calculations is 1-4 eV, atoms temperature in the plasma clot is (3-4) • 103 K, in the plasma jet is (3.2-10) • 102 K, the degree of ionization is 10-7-10-5, electron density is 1015-1019 m-3. For calculations plasma parameters is developed soft package on C++ program language, that uses the OpenFOAM library package. Simulations for the vacuum chamber in the presence of a sample and the free jet flow were carried out.

The numerical simulation of plasma flow in cylindrical resonant cavity of microwave plasma thruster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, J.-L.; He, H.-Q; Mao, G.-W.

2004-01-01

Microwave Plasma Thruster (MPT) is an electro-thermal propulsive device. MPT consists of microwave generator, gas storing and supplying system, resonant cavity and accelerative nozzle. It generates free-floating plasma brought by the microwave discharge breakdown gas in the resonant cavity, and the plasma exhausted from nozzle produces thrust. MPT has prospective application in spacecraft because of its advantages of high thrust, moderate specific impulse and high efficiency. In this paper, the numerical simulation of the coupling flow field of microwave plasma in resonant cavity under different frequencies will be discussed. The results of numerical simulation are as follows: 1) When the resonant model TM 011 was used, the higher the microwave frequency was, the smaller the size of MPT. The distribution of the electromagnetic field in small cavity, however, remain unchanged. 2) When the resonant model was used, the distribution of the temperature, the pressure and the electronic density in the resonant cavity remained unchanged under different resonant frequencies. 3) When the resonant frequency was increased with a fixed pressure distribution in a small cavity, compare to the MPT with lower frequency, the gas flow rate, the microwave power and the nozzle throat diameter of MPT all decreased. 4) The electromagnetic field in the cylindrical resonant cavity for all MPT with different frequencies was disturbed by the plasma formation. The strong disturbance happened in the region close to the plasma. (author)

Understanding the SOL flow in L-mode plasma on divertor tokamaks, and its influence on the plasma transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asakura, Nobuyuki

2007-01-01

Significant progress has been made in understanding the driving mechanisms in SOL mass transport along the magnetic field lines (SOL flow). SOL flow measurements by Mach probes and impurity plume have been performed in L-mode plasma at various poloidal locations in divertor tokamaks. All results showed common SOL flow patterns: subsonic flow with parallel Mach number (M parallel ) of 0.2-1 was generated from the Low-Field-Side (LFS) SOL to the High-Field-Side (HFS) divertor for the ion ∇B drift towards the divertor. The SOL flow pattern was formed mainly by LFS-enhanced asymmetry in diffusion and by classical drifts. In addition, divertor detachment and/or intense puffing-and-pump enhanced the HFS SOL flow. Most codes have incorporated drift effects, and asymmetric diffusion was modelled to simulate the fast SOL flow. Influences of the fast SOL flow on the impurity flow in the SOL, shielding from core plasma, and deposition profile, were directly observed in experiments

Active Control of Flow around NACA 0015 Airfoil by Using DBD Plasma Actuator

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Şanlısoy A.

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this study, effect of plasma actuator on a flat plate and manipulation of flow separation on NACA0015 airfoil with plasma actuator at low Reynolds numbers were experimentally investigated. In the first section of the study, plasma actuator which consists of positive and grounded electrode couple and dielectric layer, located on a flat plate was actuated at different frequencies and peak to peak voltages in range of 3-5 kHz and 6-12 kV respectively. Theinduced air flow velocity on the surface of flat plate was measured by pitot tube at different locations behind the actuator. The influence of dielectricthickness and unsteady actuation with duty cycle was also examined. In the second section, the effect of plasma actuator on NACA0015 airfoil was studied atReynolds number 15000 and 30000. Four plasma actuators were placed at x/C = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.9, and different electrode combinations were activated by sinusoidal signal. Flow visualizations were done when the attack angles were 0°, 5°, 10°, 15° and 20°. The results indicate that up to the 15° attack angle, the separated flow was reattached by plasma actuator at 12kV peak to peak voltage and 4 kHz frequency. However, 12 kVpp voltage was insufficient to reattach the flow at 20° angle of attack. The separated flow could be reattached by increasing the voltage up to 13 kV. Lift coefficient was also increased by the manipulated flow over the airfoil. Results showed that even high attack angles, the actuators can control the flow separation and prevent the airfoil from stall at low Reynolds numbers.

Effect of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Actuators on Non-equilibrium Hypersonic Flows

Science.gov (United States)

2014-10-28

results for MIG with the US3D code devel- oped at the University of Minnesota.61 US3D is an unstruc- tured CFD code for hypersonic flow solution used...Effect of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators on non-equilibrium hypersonic flows Ankush Bhatia,1 Subrata Roy,1 and Ryan Gosse2 1Applied...a cylindrical body in Mach 17 hypersonic flow is presented. This application focuses on using sinusoidal dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators

Tripolar vortices of dust-drift waves in dusty plasma with shear flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yinhua; Wang Ge

2002-01-01

Nonlinear equations governing dust-drift waves in magnetized dusty plasma with transverse shear flow are derived. For the specific profiles of flow and the plasma equilibrium density, a new type of solution in the form of tripolar vortices is found. The results show that the peak magnitude of tripolar vortices increases with increasing shear intensity and dust content

Propagation of atmospheric pressure helium plasma jet into ambient air at laminar gas flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinchuk, M; Kurakina, N; Spodobin, V; Stepanova, O

2017-01-01

The formation of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) in a gas flow passing through the discharge gap depends on both gas-dynamic properties and electrophysical parameters of the plasma jet generator. The paper presents the results of experimental and numerical study of the propagation of the APPJ in a laminar flow of helium. A dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) generated inside a quartz tube equipped with a coaxial electrode system, which provided gas passing through it, served as a plasma source. The transition of the laminar regime of gas flow into turbulent one was controlled by the photography of a formed plasma jet. The corresponding gas outlet velocity and Reynolds numbers were revealed experimentally and were used to simulate gas dynamics with OpenFOAM software. The data of the numerical simulation suggest that the length of plasma jet at the unvarying electrophysical parameters of DBD strongly depends on the mole fraction of ambient air in a helium flow, which is established along the direction of gas flow. (paper)

Cluster observation of plasma flow reversal in the magnetotail during a substorm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. T. Y. Lui

2006-08-01

Full Text Available We investigate in detail a reversal of plasma flow from tailward to earthward detected by Cluster at the downstream distance of ~19 RE in the midnight sector of the magnetotail on 22 August 2001. This flow reversal was accompanied by a sign reversal of the Bz component and occurred during the late substorm expansion phase as revealed by simultaneous global view of auroral activity from IMAGE. We examine the associated Hall current system signature, current density, electric field, Lorentz force, and current dissipation/dynamo term, the last two parameters being new features that have not been studied previously for plasma flow reversals. It is found that (1 there was no clear quadrupole Hall current system signature organized by the flow reversal time, (2 the x-component of the Lorentz force did not change sign while the other two did, (3 the timing sequence of flow reversal from the Cluster configuration did not match tailward motion of a single plasma flow source, (4 the electric field was occasionally dawnward, producing a dynamo effect, and (5 the electric field was occasionally larger at the high-latitude plasma sheet than near the neutral sheet. These observations are consistent with the current disruption model for substorms in which these disturbances are due to shifting dominance of multiple current disruption sites and turbulence at the observing location.

A new facility for studying plasma interacting with flowing liquid lithium surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao, X.; Ou, W.; Tian, S.; Wang, C.; Zhu, Z.; Wang, J.; Gou, F.; Yang, D.; Chen, S.

2014-01-01

A new facility to study plasmas interacting with flowing liquid lithium surface was designed and is constructing in Sichuan University. The integrated setup includes the liquid lithium circulating part and linear high density plasma generator. The circulating part is consisted of main loop, on-line monitor system, lithium purification system and temperature programmed desorption system. In our group a linear high density plasma generator was built in 2012. Three coils were mounted along the vessel to produce an axial magnetic field inside. The magnetic field strength is up to 0.45 T and work continuously. Experiments on plasmas interacting with free flowing liquid lithium surface will be performed

Ion collection by probing objects in flowing magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kyu-Sun, Chung.

1989-04-01

A new one-dimensional collisionless kinetic model is developed for the flow of ions to probing structures in drifting plasmas. The cross-field flow into the presheath is modelled by accounting consistently for particle exchange between the collection flux tube and the outer plasma. Numerical solutions of the self-consistent plasma/sheath equations are obtained with arbitrary external ion temperature and parallel plasma flow velocity. Results are presented of the spatial dependence of the ion distribution function as well as its moments (density, particle flux, temperature, and power flux). The ion current to the probe is obtained and the ratio of the upstream to downstream currents is found to be well represented by the form R = exp[Ku d ], where K = 1.66 for T i = T e and u d is the drift velocity in units of (T e /m i ) 1/2 . The results agree well with comparable recent fluid calculations but show substantial deviations from other models which ignore particle exchange out of the presheath. No evidence is found of the formation of shocks in the downstream wake, contrary to the implications of some fluid theories. We have also extended the previous kinetic model by generalizing cross-field transport and adding ionization to the source of the Boltzmann equation along the presheath. Ion sheath current density and ratio(R) of upstream to downstream current are obtained as a function of plasma drift velocity, equivalent viscosity, ion temperature, and ionization rate. Constants(K) in the form R = exp[Ku d ] are obtained in terms of viscosity, ion temperature, and ionization rate. The effect of an electrical bias applied to the object on the presheath characteristics is discussed

Simulation of rarefied low pressure RF plasma flow around the sample

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheltukhin, V S; Shemakhin, A Yu

2017-01-01

The paper describes a mathematical model of the flow of radio frequency plasma at low pressure. The hybrid mathematical model includes the Boltzmann equation for the neutral component of the RF plasma, the continuity and the thermal equations for the charged component. Initial and boundary conditions for the corresponding equations are described. The electron temperature in the calculations is 1-4 eV, atoms temperature in the plasma clot is (3-4) • 10 3 K, in the plasma jet is (3.2-10) • 10 2 K, the degree of ionization is 10 -7 -10 -5 , electron density is 10 15 -10 19 m -3 . For calculations plasma parameters is developed soft package on C++ program language, that uses the OpenFOAM library package. Simulations for the vacuum chamber in the presence of a sample and the free jet flow were carried out. (paper)

Flow injection analysis in inductively coupled plasma spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosias, Maria F.G.G.

1995-10-01

The main features of flow injection analysis (FIA) as contribution to the inductively coupled plasma (Icp) spectrometry are described. A systematic review of researches using the combined FIA-Icp and the benefits of this association are presented. Flow systems were proposed to perform on-line Icp solution management for multielemental determination by atomic emission spectrometry (Icp-AES) or mass spectrometry. The inclusion of on-line ion exchangers in flow systems for matrix separation and/or analyte preconcentration are presented. Together with those applications the new advent of instruments with facilities for multielement detection on flow injection signals are described. (author). 75 refs., 19 figs

Plasma equilibria and stationary flows in axisymmetric systems. Pt. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zelazny, R.; Stankiewicz, R.; Potempski, S.

1988-05-01

During discharges within a tokamak device such as JET fluctuations are observed in the plasma, of plasma density, temperature, electric potential and of the magnetic field. These fluctuations have complicated structure and are linked with different kinds of instabilities. However, it is not clear which instabilities are most important in determining the behaviour of the plasma. A comprehensive numerical theory which can predict the effect of the instabilities on the transport of plasma in axisymmetric systems has been sought using the static Grad-Shafranov-Schlueter (SGSS) equation as a basis. However, the static equation was over simplified for the situation in JET with additional heating giving rise to large toroidal flows, and an extended equation (EGSS) was developed. The results of the study include the discovery of algebraic branches of solutions to the EGSS equation even for very small poloidal flows, solutions to the inverse problem for the SGSS and EGSS equations using Fourier decomposition, classification of the boundary condition at the magnetic axis, demonstration of a visible effect of the poloidal flow on the separation of the density surface and the magnetic surface an indication of the existence of multiple branches of solutions to the EGSS and SGSS equations and their relation to stability properties. (U.K.)

Plasma flow to a surface using the iterative Monte Carlo method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitcher, C.S.

1994-01-01

The iterative Monte Carlo (IMC) method is applied to a number of one-dimensional plasma flow problems, which encompass a wide range of conditions typical of those present in the boundary of magnetic fusion devices. The kinetic IMC method of solving plasma flow to a surface consists of launching and following particles within a grid of 'bins' into which weights are left according to the time a particle spends within a bin. The density and potential distributions within the plasma are iterated until the final solution is arrived at. The IMC results are compared with analytical treatments of these problems and, in general, good agreement is obtained. (author)

The manipulation of an unstarting supersonic flow by plasma actuator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Im, S; Cappelli, M A; Do, H

2012-01-01

The manipulation of an unstarting supersonic flow is demonstrated using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD). Experiments are carried out in a Mach 4.7 model inlet flow. Flow features, such as boundary layers and shockwaves at low freestream static pressure (1 kPa) and temperature (60 K) are visualized with Rayleigh scattering from condensed CO 2 particles. Flow unstart, initiated by mass injection, is studied for three model inlet flow configurations, distinguished by the initial conditions (untripped or tripped, plasma actuated or not) of the boundary layers. Unstart in the presence of thick, tripped boundary layers is characterized by the formation of an oblique unstart shock just upstream of a separating and propagating boundary layer. The presence of plasma actuation of this tripped boundary layer seems to arrest the boundary layer separation and leads to the formation of a quasi-stationary pseudo-shock, delaying unstart. The flow generated with DBD actuation is more characteristic of what is seen when unstart is generated in a model flow in which thin boundary layers grow naturally. Planar laser Rayleigh scattering visualizations suggest that the DBD actuation thins the tripped boundary layer over the exposed electrode region.

Laboratory Observation of a Plasma-Flow-State Transition from Diverging to Stretching a Magnetic Nozzle.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Kazunori; Ando, Akira

2017-06-02

An axial magnetic field induced by a plasma flow in a divergent magnetic nozzle is measured when injecting the plasma flow from a radio frequency (rf) plasma source located upstream of the nozzle. The source is operated with a pulsed rf power of 5 kW, and the high density plasma flow is sustained only for the initial ∼100  μsec of the discharge. The measurement shows a decrease in the axial magnetic field near the source exit, whereas an increase in the field is detected at the downstream side of the magnetic nozzle. These results demonstrate a spatial transition of the plasma-flow state from diverging to stretching the magnetic nozzle, where the importance of both the Alfvén and ion Mach numbers is shown.

Plasma-Assisted Chemistry in High-Speed Flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leonov, Sergey B.; Yarantsev, Dmitry A.; Napartovich, Anatoly P.; Kochetov, Igor V.

2007-01-01

Fundamental problems related to the high-speed combustion are analyzed. The result of plasma-chemical modeling is presented as a motivation of experimental activity. Numerical simulations of the effect of uniform non-equilibrium discharge on the premixed hydrogen and ethylene-air mixture in supersonic flow demonstrate an advantage of such a technique over a heating. Experimental results on multi-electrode non-uniform discharge maintenance behind wallstep and in cavity of supersonic flow are presented. The model test on hydrogen and ethylene ignition is demonstrated at direct fuel injection to low-temperature high-speed airflow

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Transport Control via Shaping of Radial Plasma Flow Profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilmore, Mark Allen

2017-01-01

Turbulence, and turbulence-driven transport are ubiquitous in magnetically confined plasmas, where there is an intimate relationship between turbulence, transport, instability driving mechanisms (such as gradients), plasma flows, and flow shear. Though many of the detailed physics of the interrelationship between turbulence, transport, drive mechanisms, and flow remain unclear, there have been many demonstrations that transport and/or turbulence can be suppressed or reduced via manipulations of plasma flow profiles. This is well known in magnetic fusion plasmas [e.g., high confinement mode (H-mode) and internal transport barriers (ITB's)], and has also been demonstrated in laboratory plasmas. However, it may be that the levels of particle transport obtained in such cases [e.g. H-mode, ITB's] are actually lower than is desirable for a practical fusion device. Ideally, one would be able to actively feedback control the turbulent transport, via manipulation of the flow profiles. The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using both advanced model-based control algorithms, as well as non-model-based algorithms, to control cross-field turbulence-driven particle transport through appropriate manipulation of radial plasma flow profiles. The University of New Mexico was responsible for the experimental portion of the project, while our collaborators at the University of Montana provided plasma transport modeling, and collaborators at Lehigh University developed and explored control methods.

Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Transport Control via Shaping of Radial Plasma Flow Profiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gilmore, Mark Allen [Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-02-05

Turbulence, and turbulence-driven transport are ubiquitous in magnetically confined plasmas, where there is an intimate relationship between turbulence, transport, instability driving mechanisms (such as gradients), plasma flows, and flow shear. Though many of the detailed physics of the interrelationship between turbulence, transport, drive mechanisms, and flow remain unclear, there have been many demonstrations that transport and/or turbulence can be suppressed or reduced via manipulations of plasma flow profiles. This is well known in magnetic fusion plasmas [e.g., high confinement mode (H-mode) and internal transport barriers (ITB’s)], and has also been demonstrated in laboratory plasmas. However, it may be that the levels of particle transport obtained in such cases [e.g. H-mode, ITB’s] are actually lower than is desirable for a practical fusion device. Ideally, one would be able to actively feedback control the turbulent transport, via manipulation of the flow profiles. The purpose of this research was to investigate the feasibility of using both advanced model-based control algorithms, as well as non-model-based algorithms, to control cross-field turbulence-driven particle transport through appropriate manipulation of radial plasma flow profiles. The University of New Mexico was responsible for the experimental portion of the project, while our collaborators at the University of Montana provided plasma transport modeling, and collaborators at Lehigh University developed and explored control methods.

Laboratory simulation of energetic flows of magnetospheric planetary plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaikhislamov, I F; Posukh, V G; Melekhov, A V; Boyarintsev, E L; Zakharov, Yu P; Prokopov, P A; Ponomarenko, A G

2017-01-01

Dynamic interaction of super-sonic counter-streaming plasmas moving in dipole magnetic dipole is studied in laboratory experiment. First, a quasi-stationary flow is produced by plasma gun which forms a magnetosphere around the magnetic dipole. Second, explosive plasma expanding from inner dipole region outward is launch by laser beams focused at the surface of the dipole cover. Laser plasma is energetic enough to disrupt magnetic field and to sweep through the background plasma for large distances. Probe measurements showed that far from the initially formed magnetosphere laser plasma carries within itself a magnetic field of the same direction but order of magnitude larger in value than the vacuum dipole field at considered distances. Because no compression of magnetic field at the front of laser plasma was observed, the realized interaction is different from previous experiments and theoretical models of laser plasma expansion into uniform magnetized background. It was deduced based on the obtained data that laser plasma while expanding through inner magnetosphere picks up a magnetized shell formed by background plasma and carries it for large distances beyond previously existing magnetosphere. (paper)

Progress towards experimental realization of extreme-velocity flow-dominated magnetized plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, T. E.; Adams, C. S.; Welch, D. R.; Kagan, G.; Bean, I. A.; Henderson, B. R.; Klim, A. J.

2017-10-01

Interactions of flow-dominated plasmas with other plasmas, neutral gases, magnetic fields, solids etc., take place with sufficient velocity that kinetic energy dominates the dynamics of the interaction (as opposed to magnetic or thermal energy, which dominates in most laboratory plasma experiments). Building upon progress made by the Magnetized Shock Experiment (MSX) at LANL, we are developing the experimental and modeling capability to increase our ultimate attainable plasma velocities well in excess of 1000 km/s. Ongoing work includes designing new pulsed power switches, triggering, and inductive adder topologies; development of novel high-speed optical diagnostics; and exploration of new numerical techniques to specifically model the unique physics of translating/stagnating flow-dominated plasmas. Furthering our understanding of the physical mechanisms of energy conversion from kinetic to other forms, such as thermal energy, non-thermal tails/accelerated populations, enhanced magnetic fields, and radiation (both continuum and line), has wide-ranging significance in basic plasma science, astrophysics, and plasma technology applications such as inertial confinement fusion and intense radiation sources. This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration. LA-UR-17-25786.

Asymmetry reversal of ion collection by mach probes in flowing unmagnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, E; Hershkowitz, N

2006-01-01

Measurements of ion current in flowing unmagnetized plasmas were performed with planar and spherical Mach probes in two different devices, one a dc multi-dipole plasma device for subsonic flow within a presheath region and the other a double plasma device for supersonic flow. Asymmetry reversal, which is higher ion current to the downstream side of the probe compared with the upstream side current, was observed for high probe bias compared with the electron temperature, relatively low ion drift velocity and Debye length comparable to probe radius. These data are in qualitative agreement with a recent numerical calculation by Hutchinson. As suggested by Hutchinson, it was found that the current ratio depended on the plasma parameters, especially for finite Debye length and high probe bias. Asymmetry reversal emphasizes the lack of validity of using the current ratio except for narrow parameter ranges. This study is the first experiment to demonstrate the non-intuitive phenomenon predicted by Hutchinson's numerical calculation

Cluster observation of plasma flow reversal in the magnetotail during a substorm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. T. Y. Lui

2006-08-01

Full Text Available We investigate in detail a reversal of plasma flow from tailward to earthward detected by Cluster at the downstream distance of ~19 R_E in the midnight sector of the magnetotail on 22 August 2001. This flow reversal was accompanied by a sign reversal of the B_z component and occurred during the late substorm expansion phase as revealed by simultaneous global view of auroral activity from IMAGE. We examine the associated Hall current system signature, current density, electric field, Lorentz force, and current dissipation/dynamo term, the last two parameters being new features that have not been studied previously for plasma flow reversals. It is found that (1 there was no clear quadrupole Hall current system signature organized by the flow reversal time, (2 the x-component of the Lorentz force did not change sign while the other two did, (3 the timing sequence of flow reversal from the Cluster configuration did not match tailward motion of a single plasma flow source, (4 the electric field was occasionally dawnward, producing a dynamo effect, and (5 the electric field was occasionally larger at the high-latitude plasma sheet than near the neutral sheet. These observations are consistent with the current disruption model for substorms in which these disturbances are due to shifting dominance of multiple current disruption sites and turbulence at the observing location.

The Efficiency of Quartz Particles Evaporation in the Argon Plasma Flow of the RF Inductively Coupled Plasma Torch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. M. Grishin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Owing to high-power density and high-purity plasma, a RF inductively coupled plasma torch (ICPT is widely used both in research laboratory and in industry. The potential RF ICPT application areas are powders spheroidisation, waste treatment, thermal spraying, etc.In the last decade the investigation was focused on the treatment processes of quartz into polycrystalline silicon. An analysis of these results has shown that the increasing productivity and producing high-purity silicon can be achieved only when using the electrodeless radio-frequency induction plasma torches and in case the optimum conditions for evaporation of SiO2solid particles are realized.Optimization of the RF ICPT design and power parameters calls for a wide range of computational studies. In spite of the fact that to date a large number of efforts to calculate the evaporation efficiency of powder materials have been made, a number of issues, as applied to the problem of obtaining silicon, require further research.In this paper, we present the results of a two-dimensional numerical simulation of the heating and evaporation of quartz particles in the RF ICPT channel with axial flow of gases. The main aim is to determine how the axial position of the central tube (through which the particles are injected into the discharge zone, the dispersion of the quartz powder, the amplitude of the discharge current (and, respectively, flow regimes impact on the evaporation efficiency of quartz particles.The paper presented the numerical modeling results of heating and evaporation processes of quartz particles supplied by transporting gas to the RF ICPT channel with axial gas flow (argon. Defined the impact of the axial position of the central tube, the plasma flow regime, the discharge current, the flow rate of transporting gas, and other parameters on the evaporation efficiency of quartz particles.It is shown that the evaporation efficiency of particles reaches its maximum when their

Characteristics of pulsed plasma synthetic jet and its control effect on supersonic flow

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Di Jin

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The plasma synthetic jet is a novel flow control approach which is currently being studied. In this paper its characteristic and control effect on supersonic flow is investigated both experimentally and numerically. In the experiment, the formation of plasma synthetic jet and its propagation velocity in quiescent air are recorded and calculated with time resolved schlieren method. The jet velocity is up to 100 m/s and no remarkable difference has been found after changing discharge parameters. When applied in Mach 2 supersonic flow, an obvious shockwave can be observed. In the modeling of electrical heating, the arc domain is not defined as an initial condition with fixed temperature or pressure, but a source term with time-varying input power density, which is expected to better describe the influence of heating process. Velocity variation with different heating efficiencies is presented and discussed and a peak velocity of 850 m/s is achieved in still air with heating power density of 5.0 × 1012 W/m3. For more details on the interaction between plasma synthetic jet and supersonic flow, the plasma synthetic jet induced shockwave and the disturbances in the boundary layer are numerically researched. All the results have demonstrated the control authority of plasma synthetic jet onto supersonic flow.

Rational surfaces, ExB sheared flows and transport interplay in fusion plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidalgo, Carlos; Pedrosa, Maria A.; Erents, Kevin

2001-01-01

Experimental evidence of a strong interplay between magnetic topology (rational surfaces) and the generation of ExB sheared flows has been observed in the plasma edge region of stellarator (TJ-II) and tokamak (JET) devices. Constant and varying in time ExB sheared flows are close to the critical value to trigger the transition to improved confinement regimes. The plasma conditions where this has been observed are clearly below the power threshold to trigger the formation of transport barriers. Flows driven by fluctuations are candidates to explain these experimental results. (author)

A note on supersonic flow control with nanosecond plasma actuator

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, J. G.; Cui, Y. D.; Li, J.; Khoo, B. C.

2018-04-01

A concept study on supersonic flow control using nanosecond pulsed plasma actuator is conducted by means of numerical simulation. The nanosecond plasma discharge is characterized by the generation of a micro-shock wave in ambient air and a residual heat in the discharge volume arising from the rapid heating of near-surface gas by the quick discharge. The residual heat has been found to be essential for the flow separation control over aerodynamic bodies like airfoil and backward-facing step. In this study, novel experiment is designed to utilize the other flow feature from discharge, i.e., instant shock wave, to control supersonic flow through shock-shock interaction. Both bow shock in front of a blunt body and attached shock anchored at the tip of supersonic projectile are manipulated via the discharged-induced shock wave in an appropriate manner. It is observed that drag on the blunt body is reduced appreciably. Meanwhile, a lateral force on sharp-edged projectile is produced, which can steer the body and give it an effective angle of attack. This opens a promising possibility for extending the applicability of this flow control technique in supersonic flow regime.

Plasma kinetics around a dust grain in an ion flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maiorov, S.A.; Vladimirov, S.V.; Cramer, N.F.

2000-01-01

Full text: In a typical laboratory discharge, dust particles are negatively charged and usually levitate in the sheath or pre-sheath region under the balance of gravitational, electrostatic (due to the sheath electric field) and plasma (such as the ion drag) forces. The ion flow provides not only a direct (dragging) influence, but is also responsible for the generation of associated collective plasma processes which can strongly affect the vertical arrangement of the dust grains. The complete problem of the plasma dynamics around a macroscopic body in the presence of plasma flows is highly nonlinear and therefore its numerical analysis is of major importance. Among various numerical methods, direct integration of the equations of motion of the plasma particles represents a numerical experiment whose significance approaches experiments in the laboratory. Here, we present for the first time the results of a self-consistent molecular dynamics (MD) three-dimensional (3D) simulation of the kinetics of plasma particles (electrons and ions) around a dust grain, taking into account the dust charging. The core of the method includes consideration of the time evolution of the system consisting of positively ('ions') and negatively ('electrons') charged particles confined in a simulation box together with a macroscopic absorbing grain ('dust particle') with infinite mass and an initial (negative) charge. The ions are introduced in the system as a uniform flow defined by its Mach number and the ion temperature. The paths of the ions and electrons are determined through numerical integration of the equations of motion. We demonstrate that the plasma kinetics around a dust grain in the presence of an ion flow involves a strong ion focusing behind the grain. We have also confirmed that the most important of the processes involved is the ion time-scale; the kinetics of the electrons follows a Boltzmann distribution with good agreement. We note that the time constraints involved

Plasma flow measurements in the Prototype-Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX) and comparison with B2.5-Eirene modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Kafle, N.; Owen, L. W.; Caneses, J. F.; Biewer, T. M.; Caughman, J. B. O.; Donovan, D. C.; Goulding, R. H.; Rapp, J.

2018-05-01

The Prototype Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a linear plasma device that combines a helicon plasma source with additional microwave and radio frequency heating to deliver high plasma heat and particle fluxes to a target. Double Langmuir probes and Thomson scattering are being used to measure local electron temperature and density at various radial and axial locations. A recently constructed Mach-double probe provides the added capability of simultaneously measuring electron temperatures ( T e), electron densities ( n e), and Mach numbers (M). With this diagnostic, it is possible to infer the plasma flow, particle flux, and heat flux at different locations along the plasma column in Proto-MPEX. Preliminary results show Mach numbers of 0.5 (towards the dump plate) and 1.0 (towards the target plate) downstream from the helicon source, and a stagnation point (no flow) near the source for the case where the peak magnetic field was 1.3 T. Measurements of particle flow and ne and Te profiles are discussed. The extensive coverage provided by these diagnostics permits data-constrained B2.5-Eirene modeling of the entire plasma column, and comparison with results of modeling in the high-density helicon plasmas will be presented.

Drag Reduction by Laser-Plasma Energy Addition in Hypersonic Flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliveira, A. C.; Minucci, M. A. S.; Toro, P. G. P.; Chanes, J. B. Jr; Myrabo, L. N.

2008-01-01

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the drag reduction by laser-plasma energy addition in a low density Mach 7 hypersonic flow. The experiments were conducted in a shock tunnel and the optical beam of a high power pulsed CO 2 TEA laser operating with 7 J of energy and 30 MW peak power was focused to generate the plasma upstream of a hemispherical model installed in the tunnel test section. The non-intrusive schlieren optical technique was used to visualize the effects of the energy addition to hypersonic flow, from the plasma generation until the mitigation of the shock wave profile over the model surface. Aside the optical technique, a piezoelectric pressure transducer was used to measure the impact pressure at stagnation point of the hemispherical model and the pressure reduction could be observed

Atmospheric pulsed laser deposition of plasmonic nanoparticle films of silver with flowing gas and flowing atmospheric plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, T. M.; Pokle, A.; Lunney, J. G.

2018-04-01

Two methods of atmospheric pulsed laser deposition of plasmonic nanoparticle films of silver are described. In both methods the ablation plume, produced by a 248 nm, 20 ns excimer laser in gas, is strongly confined near the target and forms a nanoparticle aerosol. For both the flowing gas, and the atmospheric plasma from a dielectric barrier discharge plasma source, the aerosol is entrained in the flow and carried to a substrate for deposition. The nanoparticle films produced by both methods were examined by electron microscopy and optical absorption spectroscopy. With plasma assistance, the deposition rate was significantly enhanced and the film morphology altered. With argon gas, isolated nanoparticles of 20 nm size were obtained, whereas in argon plasma, the nanoparticles are aggregated in clusters of 90 nm size. Helium gas also leads to the deposition of isolated nanoparticles, but with helium plasma, two populations of nanoparticles are observed: one of rounded particles with a mean size of 26 nm and the other of faceted particles with a mean size 165 nm.

Nonlinear drift waves in a dusty plasma with sheared flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vranjes, J. [K.U. Leuven (Belgium). Center for Plasma Astrophysics; Shukla, R.K. [Ruhr-Univ. Bochum (Germany). Inst. fuer Theoretische Physik IV

2002-01-01

Nonlinear properties of dust-modified drift waves and dust-drift waves in a dusty magnetoplasma with equilibrium sheared flows are examined. For this purpose, the relevant nonlinear equations for drift waves are analyzed for various profiles of the perpendicular and parallel plasma flows, and a variety of nonlinear solutions (viz. single and double vortex chains accompanied with zonal flows, tripolar and global vortices), which are driven by nommiform shear flows and nommiform dust density, is presented.

Nonlinear drift waves in a dusty plasma with sheared flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vranjes, J.; Shukla, R.K.

2002-01-01

Nonlinear properties of dust-modified drift waves and dust-drift waves in a dusty magnetoplasma with equilibrium sheared flows are examined. For this purpose, the relevant nonlinear equations for drift waves are analyzed for various profiles of the perpendicular and parallel plasma flows, and a variety of nonlinear solutions (viz. single and double vortex chains accompanied with zonal flows, tripolar and global vortices), which are driven by nommiform shear flows and nommiform dust density, is presented

Atmospheric-pressure plasma jets: Effect of gas flow, active species, and snake-like bullet propagation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, S.; Wang, Z.; Huang, Q.; Tan, X.; Lu, X. [State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China); Ostrikov, K. [CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, PO Box 218, Lindfield NSW 2070 (Australia); School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006 (Australia); State Key Laboratory of Advanced Electromagnetic Engineering and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 (China)

2013-02-15

Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma jets have recently attracted enormous interest owing to numerous applications in plasma biology, health care, medicine, and nanotechnology. A dedicated study of the interaction between the upstream and downstream plasma plumes revealed that the active species (electrons, ions, excited OH, metastable Ar, and nitrogen-related species) generated by the upstream plasma plume enhance the propagation of the downstream plasma plume. At gas flows exceeding 2 l/min, the downstream plasma plume is longer than the upstream plasma plume. Detailed plasma diagnostics and discharge species analysis suggest that this effect is due to the electrons and ions that are generated by the upstream plasma and flow into the downstream plume. This in turn leads to the relatively higher electron density in the downstream plasma. Moreover, high-speed photography reveals a highly unusual behavior of the plasma bullets, which propagate in snake-like motions, very differently from the previous reports. This behavior is related to the hydrodynamic instability of the gas flow, which results in non-uniform distributions of long-lifetime active species in the discharge tube and of surface charges on the inner surface of the tube.

Numerical analysis of the effect of plasma flow control on enhancing the aerodynamic characteristics of stratospheric screw propeller

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Yufeng; Nie Wansheng

2012-01-01

Based on the body force aerodynamic actuation mechanism of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma, the effect of plasma flow control on enhancing the aerodynamic characteristics of ten blade elements equably along the stratospheric screw propeller blade was numerical studied. Then the effect of plasma flow control enhancing the aerodynamic characteristics of stratospheric screw propeller was compared that by the blade element theory method. The results show that the flow separate phenomena will easily happen in the root region and top end region of screw propeller, and the blade elements in the root region of screw propeller may work on the negative attack angle condition. DBD plasma flow control can entirely restrain the faintish flow separate phenomena in middle region of screw propeller. Although DBD plasma flow control can not entirely restrain the badly flow separate phenomena in top end region of screw propeller, it also can enhance the aerodynamic characteristics of blade elements in these regions in same degree. But effect of DBD plasma flow control on enhancing the aerodynamic characteristics of the blade elements working on the negative attack angle condition is ineffectively. It can be concluded that DBD plasma flow control can enhance the aerodynamic characteristics of stratospheric screw propeller, the thrust of the whole propeller and the propeller efficiency in the case of plasma on will increases by a factor of 28.27% and 12.3% respectively compared with that in the case of plasma off studied. (authors)

Sheared flow amplification by vacuum magnetic islands in stellarator plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, L.; Carreras, B. A.; Lynch, V. E.; Pedrosa, M. A.; Hidalgo, C.

2001-01-01

There is some experimental evidence that the E x B flows have radial structure that may be linked to rational surfaces. This flow structure may result from a self-organization process involving nonlinear flow amplification through Reynolds stress and fluctuation reduction by sheared flows. In stellarators, a large contribution to the Reynolds stress comes from the coupling of the magnetic field component of a vacuum field island with a plasma instability. In this process, the self-organization principle seems to be marginal stability for the fluctuations driving the flow

Self-separation of blood plasma from whole blood during the capillary flow in microchannel

Science.gov (United States)

Nunna, Bharath Babu; Zhuang, Shiqiang; Lee, Eon Soo

2017-11-01

Self-separation of blood plasma from whole blood in microchannels is of great importance due to the enormous range of applications in healthcare and diagnostics. Blood is a multiphase complex fluid, composed of cells suspended in blood plasma. RBCs are the suspended particles whose shape changes during the flow of blood. The primary constituents of blood are erythrocytes or red blood cells (RBCs), leukocytes or white blood cells (WBCs), thrombocytes or platelets and blood plasma. The existence of RBCs in blood makes the blood a non-Newtonian fluid. The current study of separation of blood plasma from whole blood during self-driven flows in a single microchannel without bifurcation, by enhancing the capillary effects. The change in the capillary effect results in a change in contact angle which directly influences the capillary flow. The flow velocity directly influences the net force acting on the RBCs and influence the separation process. The experiments are performed on the PDMS microchannels with different contact angles by altering the surface characteristics using plasma treatment. The change in the separation length is studied during the capillary flow of blood in microchannel. Bharath Babu Nunna is a researcher in mechanical engineering and implementing the novel and innovative technologies in the biomedical devices to enhance the sensitivity of the disease diagnosis.

Directional rf probe for measurement of conductivity of flowing plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jayakumar, R.; Chakravarthy, D.P.; Rohatgi, V.K.

1977-01-01

An electrodeless immersible rf probe for measurement of plasma conductivity in the range 0.01 to 100 mho/m has been designed and fabricated. The probe, with an overall diameter of 11 mm, employs unidirectional electromagnetic field lines which reduce the inaccuracies caused by insertion of the probe in a flowing plasma. In the range studied the probe output shows a linear relationship with the conductivity of the medium. Such probes are of interest in the study of MHD and reentry plasmas

Advancement of In-Flight Alumina Powder Spheroidization Process with Water Droplet Injection Using a Small Power DC-RF Hybrid Plasma Flow System

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Juyong; Takana, Hidemasa; Park, Sangkyu; Nishiyama, Hideya

2012-09-01

The correlation between plasma thermofluid characteristics and alumina powder spheroidization processes with water droplet injection using a small power DC-RF hybrid plasma flow system was experimentally clarified. Micro-sized water droplets with a low water flow rate were injected into the tail of thermal plasma flow so as not to disturb the plasma flow directly. Injected water droplets were vaporized in the thermal plasma flow and were transported upstream in the plasma flow to the torch by the backflow. After dissociation of water, the production of hydrogen was detected by the optical emission spectroscopy in the downstream RF plasma flow. The emission area of the DC plasma jet expanded and elongated in the vicinity of the RF coils. Additionally, the emission area of RF plasma flow enlarged and was visible as red emission in the downstream RF plasma flow in the vicinity below the RF coils due to hydrogen production. Therefore, the plasma flow mixed with produced hydrogen increased the plasma enthalpy and the highest spheroidization rate of 97% was obtained at a water flow rate of 15 Sm l/min and an atomizing gas flow rate of 8 S l/min using a small power DC-RF hybrid plasma flow system.

Electric and thermodynamic properties of plasma flows created by a magnetoplasma compressor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Puric, J; Dojcinovic, I P; Astashynski, V M; Kuraica, M M; Obradovic, B M

2004-01-01

A magnetoplasma compressor of compact geometry (MPC-CG) with a semi-transparent electrode system that operates in the ion current transfer regime was constructed and studied. The electric and thermodynamic parameters of the discharge and the plasma flow created in different gases and their mixtures (hydrogen, nitrogen, argon and Ar + 3% H 2 ) have been measured to optimize the working conditions within the 100-3000 Pa pressure range for input energy up to 6.4 kJ. A special construction of the accelerator electrode system shielded by the self-magnetic field results in protection from erosion, which is the main cause of the high current cut-off in conventional plasma accelerators. It was found that the compression plasma flow velocity, electron density and temperature predominantly depend on the energy conversion rate from the energy supply to the plasma, since the current cut-off is avoided. The maximum energy conversion rate for MPC-CG was found when operating in hydrogen. The plasma flow velocity and electron density maximum values are measured close to 100 km s -1 and 10 17 cm -3 , respectively, for input energy of 6.4 kJ at 1000 Pa pressure in hydrogen. Our results appear in good agreement with existing theoretical and experimental data

Electrical Processes in a Flowing Plasma with Cold Electrodes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Distefano, E.; Fraidenraich, N. [Facultad de Ciencias Fisicas y Matematicas, University of Chile, Santiago (Chile)

1968-11-15

The voltage-current characteristics of a flowing plasma between two electrodes is of interest for MHD power generation because of the high voltage drop necessary to make a current flow through the cool boundary layer of the plasma, lowering the efficiency of the MHD generator when the duct walls are cooled. The V-I characteristics are obtained for a combustion driven shock-tube generated plasma, and the voltage distribution is measured by probes inserted across the plasma. The gas used is argon and the plasma parameters are: T = 9000 Degree-Sign K, p = 130 mmHg, u = 2500 m/sec, n{sub e} = 1.60 x 10{sup 15} cm{sup -3}. The probe technique has allowed experimental confirmation of the high voltage drop obtained in the vicinity of the cathode. A theoretical model has been set up in order to explain the main features of this phenomenon. The model considers the voltage drop along the following regions: the turbulent boundary layer and the viscous sublayer. The structure of the first two regions are taken into account according to the Coles transformation theory. The model considers three fluids, ions, electrons and neutrals: the mass and momentum particle conservation together with the Poisson equation and continuity of electric current allows us to set up a system of four differential equations with four unknowns. Pair production is taken into account in order to explain the necessary change over from electron current in the main body of the plasma to the predominantly ionic current in the neighbourhood of the cathode wall. Numerical computation of the system of equations has been done and the main features of the experimental results are explained. (author)

A microfluidic chip for blood plasma separation using electro-osmotic flow control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Hai; Weng, Xuan; Chon, Chan Hee; Wu, Xudong; Li, Dongqing

2011-01-01

In this paper, a microfluidic-based chip with two straight microchannels and five branch microchannels was designed and tested to separate blood plasma from a small sample of fresh human blood. The electro-osmotic flow method was used to control the separation of blood plasma. Blood cell removal and blood plasma extraction were realized in experiments. The efficiency of extracting blood plasma can be as high as 26%

Measurements of ion temperature and flow of pulsed plasmas produced by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun device using an ion Doppler spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Kitagawa, Y.; Sakuma, I.; Iwamoto, D.; Kikuchi, Y.; Fukumoto, N.; Nagata, M.

2012-10-01

It is important to know surface damage characteristics of plasma-facing component materials during transient heat and particle loads such as type I ELMs. A magnetized coaxial plasma gun (MCPG) device has been used as transient heat and particle source in ELM simulation experiments. Characteristics of pulsed plasmas produced by the MCPG device play an important role for the plasma material interaction. In this study, ion temperature and flow velocity of pulsed He plasmas were measured by an ion Doppler spectrometer (IDS). The IDS system consists of a light collection system including optical fibers, 1m-spectrometer and a 16 channel photomultiplier tube (PMT) detector. The IDS system measures the width and Doppler shift of HeII (468.58 nm) emission line with the time resolution of 1 μs. The Doppler broadened and shifted spectra were measured with 45 and 135 degree angles with respect to the plasmoid traveling direction. The observed emission line profile was represented by sum of two Gaussian components to determine the temperature and flow velocity. The minor component at around the wavelength of zero-velocity was produced by the stationary plasma. As the results, the ion velocity and temperature were 68 km/s and 19 eV, respectively. Thus, the He ion flow energy is 97 eV. The observed flow velocity agrees with that measured by a time of flight technique.

Numerical investigation of aerodynamic flow actuation produced by surface plasma actuator on 2D oscillating airfoil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minh Khang Phan

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Numerical simulation of unsteady flow control over an oscillating NACA0012 airfoil is investigated. Flow actuation of a turbulent flow over the airfoil is provided by low current DC surface glow discharge plasma actuator which is analytically modeled as an ion pressure force produced in the cathode sheath region. The modeled plasma actuator has an induced pressure force of about 2 kPa under a typical experiment condition and is placed on the airfoil surface at 0% chord length and/or at 10% chord length. The plasma actuator at deep-stall angles (from 5° to 25° is able to slightly delay a dynamic stall and to weaken a pressure fluctuation in down-stroke motion. As a result, the wake region is reduced. The actuation effect varies with different plasma pulse frequencies, actuator locations and reduced frequencies. A lift coefficient can increase up to 70% by a selective operation of the plasma actuator with various plasma frequencies and locations as the angle of attack changes. Active flow control which is a key advantageous feature of the plasma actuator reveals that a dynamic stall phenomenon can be controlled by the surface plasma actuator with less power consumption if a careful control scheme of the plasma actuator is employed with the optimized plasma pulse frequency and actuator location corresponding to a dynamic change in reduced frequency.

Driving mechanism of SOL plasma flow and effects on the divertor performance in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asakura, N.

2002-01-01

SOL plasma flow plays an important role in the plasma transport along the field lines, and influences control of the divertor plasma and impurity ions. Recently, mechanisms producing the SOL flow such as drifts produced by electric field and pressure gradient are pointed out. In JT-60U, three reciprocating Mach probes were installed at the high-field-side (HFS) baffle, low-field-side (LFS) midplane and just below the X-point. The measurements of the SOL flow and plasma profiles both at the HFS and LFS, for the first time, found out the SOL flow pattern and its driving mechanism. 'Flow reversal' was found near the separatrix of the HFS and LFS. Radial profiles of the SOL flow were similar to those calculated numerically using the UEDGE code with the plasma drifts included. SOL particle fluxes towards the HFS and LFS divertors were, for the first time, evaluated. Important physics issues for the divertor design and operation, such as in-out asymmetries of the heat and particle fluxes, and control of impurity ions with intense gas puff and divertor pump (puff and pump), were investigated. (author)

Thomson scattering measurements of ion interpenetration in cylindrically converging, supersonic magnetized plasma flows

Science.gov (United States)

Swadling, George

2015-11-01

Ion interpenetration driven by high velocity plasma collisions is an important phenomenon in high energy density environments such as the interiors of ICF vacuum hohlraums and fast z-pinches. The presence of magnetic fields frozen into these colliding flows further complicates the interaction dynamics. This talk focuses on an experimental investigation of ion interpenetration in collisions between cylindrically convergent, supersonic, magnetized flows (M ~10, Vflow ~ 100km/s, ni ~ 1017cm-3) . The flows used in this study were plasma ablation streams produced by tungsten wire array z-pinches, driven by the 1.4MA, 240ns Magpie facility at Imperial College, and diagnosed using a combination of optical Thomson scattering, Faraday rotation and interferometry. Optical Thomson scattering (TS) provides time-resolved measurements of local flow velocity and plasma temperature across multiple (7 to 14) spatial positions. TS spectra are recorded simultaneously from multiple directions with respect to the probing beam, resulting in separate measurements of the rates of transverse diffusion and slowing-down of the ion velocity distribution. The measurements demonstrate flow interpenetration through the array axis at early time, and also show an axial deflection of the ions towards the anode. This deflection is induced by a toroidal magnetic field (~ 10T), frozen into the plasma that accumulates near the axis. Measurements obtained later in time show a change in the dynamics of the stream interactions, transitioning towards a collisional, shock-like interaction of the streams, and rapid radial collapse of the magnetized plasma column. The quantitative nature of the spatial profiles of the density, flow velocities and ion temperatures measured in these experiments will allow detailed verification of MHD and PIC codes used by the HEDP community. Work Supported by EPSRC (Grant No. EP/G001324/1), DOE (Cooperative Agreement Nos. DE-F03-02NA00057 & DE-SC-0001063) & Sandia National

Three electrode atmospheric pressure plasma jet in helium flow

Science.gov (United States)

Maletic, Dejan; Puac, Nevena; Malovic, Gordana; Petrovic, Zoran Lj.

2015-09-01

Plasma jets are widely used in various types of applications and lately more and more in the field of plasma medicine. However, it is not only their applicability that distinguishes them from other atmospheric plasma sources, but also the behavior of the plasma. It was shown that plasma plume is not continuous, but discrete set of plasma packages. Here we present iCCD images and current voltage characteristics of a three electrode plasma jet. Our plasma jet has a simple design with body made of glass tube and two transparent electrodes wrapped around it. The additional third metal tip electrode was positioned at 10 and 25 mm in front of the jet nozzle and connected to the same potential as the powered electrode. Power transmitted to the plasma was from 0.5 W to 4.0 W and the helium flow rate was kept constant at 4 slm. For the 10 mm configuration plasma is ignited on the metal tip in the whole period of the excitation signal and in the positive half cycle plasma ``bullet'' is propagating beyond the metal tip. In contrast to that, for the 25 mm configuration at the tip electrode plasma can be seen only in the minimum and maximum of the excitation signal, and there is no plasma ``bullet'' formation. This research has been supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia, under projects ON171037 and III41011.

Characteristics of steady-state plasma flow in the tokamak limiter scrape-off layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrov, V.G.

1984-01-01

Steady state plasma flow in the scrape-off layer of a toroidal limiter is discussed. The force balance along the torus minor radius is taken into account, from which follows that the plasma pressure gradient is balanced by the ponderomotive force (1/c) j-vectorxB-vector, which arises in the presence of a current density component perpendicular to the magnetic field. The limiter has an important effect on the electric current flow in the scrape-off layer. It is shown that the electric potential and plasma density values differ from one side of the limiter to the other; this leads to plasma drift along the minor radius. The characteristic length of change in the plasma density is found to be of the order of the ion cyclotron radius calculated for a poloidal magnetic field. (author)

A continuous flow micro filtration device for plasma/blood separation using submicron vertical pillar gap structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Tae Goo; Ji, Hongmiao; Lim, Pei Yi; Chen, Yu; Yoon, Yong-Jin

2014-01-01

This work demonstrates a continuous flow plasma/blood separator using a vertical submicron pillar gap structure. The working principle of the proposed separator is based on size exclusion of cells through cross-flow filtration, in which only plasma is allowed to pass through submicron vertical pillars located tangential to the main flow path of the blood sample. The maximum filtration efficiency of 99.9% was recorded with a plasma collection rate of 0.67 µl min −1 for an input blood flow rate of 12.5 µl min −1 . The hemolysis phenomenon was observed for an input blood flow rate above 30 µl min −1 . Based on the experimental results, we can conclude that the proposed device shows potential for the application of on-chip plasma/blood separation as a part of integrated point-of-care (POC) diagnostics systems. (technical note)

Influence of DC arc jets on flow fields analyzed by an integrated numerical model for a DC-RF hybrid plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seo, Jun Ho; Park, Jin Myung; Hong, Sang Hee

2008-01-01

The influence of DC arc jets on the flow fields in a hybrid plasma torch is numerically analyzed by an integrated direct current-radio frequency (DC-RF) plasma model based on magneto-hydrodynamic formulations. The calculated results reveal that the increase in DC arc gas flow rate raises the axial flow velocity along the central column of the DC-RF hybrid plasma together with the enhanced backflow streams in the peripheral wall region. The temperature profiles on the torch exit plane are little affected due to the reheating process of the central column by the combined RF plasma. Accordingly, the exit enthalpy emitted from the DC-RF hybrid torch can be concentrated to the central column of the plasma and controlled by adjusting the DC arc gas flow rate. The swirl in the sheath gas flow turns out to have the opposite effect on the DC arc gas flow rate. The swirling motion of the sheath gas can reduce the back flows near the induction tube wall as well as the axial velocities in the central column of the plasma. Accordingly, the swirl in the sheath gas flow can be used for the functional operation of the DC-RF hybrid plasma along with the DC arc gas flow rate to suppress the back flows at the wall region and to reduce the excessive interactions between the DC arc jet and the ambient RF plasmas. The effects of DC input current on the flow fields of hybrid plasma are similar to those of the DC arc gas flow rate, but the axial velocities for the higher current relatively quickly decay along the centerline. This is in contrast to the increase in the axial velocity remaining in proportion to the increase in the DC arc gas flow rate all the way up to the exit of the DC-RF hybrid plasma. Accordingly, the present integrated numerical analysis suggests that the hybrid plasma field profiles and the entrainment of ambient air from the torch exit are controllable by adjusting the DC arc gas flow rate, the DC input current and swirl in the sheath gas flow taking advantage of

Merging of magnetic fields with field-aligned plasma flow components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, H.G. Jr.; Kan, J.R.

1978-01-01

The Sonnerup merging model for an incompressible plasma is extended to allow a flow component along the field lines in the inflow regions. Solutions are found to exist as long as the difference between the quantities B. V for the two inflow regions does not exceed a critical magnitude dependent on the inflow field magnitudes and plasma densities. All such solutions satisfy Vasyliunas' definition of merging, but some classes of solution have radically altered geometries, i.e. geometries in which the inflow regions are much smaller than the outflow regions. The necessary but not sufficient condition for these unusual geometries is that the field-aligned flow component in at least one inflow region be super-Alfvenic. A solution for the case of a vacuum field in one inflow region is obtained in which any flow velocity is allowed in the non-vacuum inflow region, although super-Alfvenic flow can still result in an unusual geometry. For symmetric configurations, the usual geometry, that of Petschek and Sonnerup, is retained as long as both field-aligned flow components in the inflow regions are less than twice the inflow Alfven speed. For the case of a vacuum field on one side and fields approximating the boundary between the solar wind and the earth's dayside magnetosphere, the usual geometry is retained for flow less than about 2.5 times the local Alfven speed. (author)

Experimental study of the efficiency of transformation of the dense plasma hypersonic flow kinetic energy into a radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamrukov, A.S.; Kozlov, N.P.; Myshelov, E.P.; Protasov, Yu.S.

1981-01-01

Analysis of physical specific features of radiator where plasma heating is performed with tbermalization of directed kinetic energy of dense plasma flows accelerated electrodynamically up to hypersonic velocities during its shock deceleration, is given. It is shown that the plasma heating method considered has a number of principle advantages as compared with methods most disseminated now for generation of dense intensively radiating plasma (current heating exploding method) and suggests new possibilities for construction of selective high brightness radiat.ion sources of ultraviolet and far vacuum ultraviolet ranges of spectrum. Radiation gas dynamic processes of hypersonic plasma flow deceleration formed with magnetoplasma compressors have been experimentally investigated on their interaction with condenced matters in vacuum and basic thermodynamic parameters of shock compressed plasma have been determined. It is shown that the conversion process of kinetic energy of high-velocity plasma flows to radiation is accomplished at very high efficiency-integral luminescence of shock compressed plasma can reach approximately 90% of initial kinetic energy of flow [ru

Dynamic and Stagnating Plasma Flow Leading to Magnetic-Flux-Tube Collimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

You, S.; Yun, G.S.; Bellan, P.M.

2005-01-01

Highly collimated, plasma-filled magnetic-flux tubes are frequently observed on galactic, stellar, and laboratory scales. We propose that a single, universal magnetohydrodynamic pumping process explains why such collimated, plasma-filled magnetic-flux tubes are ubiquitous. Experimental evidence from carefully diagnosed laboratory simulations of astrophysical jets confirms this assertion and is reported here. The magnetohydrodynamic process pumps plasma into a magnetic-flux tube and the stagnation of the resulting flow causes this flux tube to become collimated

Quick-fire: Plasma flow driven implosion experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, W.L.; Bigelow, W.S.; Degnan, J.H.

1985-01-01

High speed plasma implosions involving megajoules of energy, and sub-microsecond implosion times are expected to require additional stages of power conditioning between realistic primary energy sources and the implosion system. Plasma flow switches and vacuum inductive stores represent attractive alternates to the high speed fuse and atmospheric store techniques which have been previously reported for powering such plasma experiments. In experiments being conducted at the Air Force Weapons Lab, a washer shaped plasma accelerated to 7-10 cm/microsecond in a coaxial plasma gun configuration, represents the moving element in a vacuum store/power conditioning system of 16.5 nH inductance which stores 1-1.5 MJ at 12-14 MA. At the end of the coaxial gun, the moving element transits the 2cm axial length of the cylindrical implosion gap in 200-400 nS, delivering the magnetic energy to the implosion foil, accelerating the imploding plasma to speeds of 30-40 cm/microsecond in 350-450 nS, and delivering a projected 400 KJ of kinetic energy to the implosion. Experiments have been conducted using the SHIVA STAR capacitor bank operating at 6 MJ stored energy in which performance has been monitored by electrical diagnostics, magnetic probes, and axial and radial viewing high speed visible and X-Ray photographs to assess the performance of the coaxial run and coaxial to radial transition. Time and spectrally resolved X-Ray diagnostics are used to assess implosion quality and performance and results are compared to kinematic and MHD models

Two-Phase Flow Regimes and Discharge Characteristics of a Plasma Electrohydrodynamic Atomization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Ming; Borocilo, D.; Harvel, G. D.; Chang, J. S.; Ibe, M.; Matsubara, H.; Hirata, H.; Fanson, P.

2011-01-01

Experimental investigation was conducted to study the flow regimes and discharge characteristics of plasma electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) for decane (C 10 H 22 ) under pulsed applied negative voltage. The experimental parameters were set as the flow rate of decane from 0 mL/min to 10 mL/min and the DC charging voltage from DC 0 V to 12 V with a pulse repetition rates of 200 Hz. The flow regime of decane was observed and the volume-to-electrical charge ratio was measured. Unlike a conventional EHDA system, the results show that a corona discharge was initiated at the edge of the hollow electrode at a specific corona on-set voltage of -17 kV or -20 kV in the case with or without decane flow, respectively. This phenomenon was defined as plasma EHDA.

Surface treatment by the ion flow from electron beam generated plasma in the forevacuum pressure range

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klimov Aleksandr

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents research results of peculiarities of gas ion flows usage and their generation from large plasma formation (>50 sq.cm obtained by electron beam ionization of gas in the forevacuum pressure range. An upgraded source was used for electron beam generation, which allowed obtaining ribbon electron beam with no transmitting magnetic field. Absence of magnetic field in the area of ion flow formation enables to obtain directed ion flows without distorting their trajectories. In this case, independent control of current and ion energy is possible. The influence of electron beam parameters on the parameters of beam plasma and ion flow – current energy and density – was determined. The results of alumina ceramics treatment with a beam plasma ions flow are given.

BRIEF COMMUNICATION: On the drift kinetic equation driven by plasma flows

Science.gov (United States)

Shaing, K. C.

2010-07-01

A drift kinetic equation that is driven by plasma flows has previously been derived by Shaing and Spong 1990 (Phys. Fluids B 2 1190). The terms that are driven by particle speed that is parallel to the magnetic field B have been neglected. Here, such terms are discussed to examine their importance to the equation and to show that these terms do not contribute to the calculations of plasma viscosity in large aspect ratio toroidal plasmas, e.g. tokamaks and stellarators.

Noise control of subsonic cavity flows using plasma actuated receptive channels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Arnob Das; Roy, Subrata

2014-01-01

We introduce a passive receptive rectangular channel at the trailing edge of an open rectangular cavity to reduce the acoustic tones generated due to coherent shear layer impingement. The channel is numerically tested at Mach 0.3 using an unsteady three-dimensional large eddy simulation. Results show reduction in pressure fluctuations in the cavity due to which sound pressure levels are suppressed. Two linear dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators are placed inside the channel to enhance the flow through it. Specifically, acoustic suppression of 7 dB was obtained for Mach 0.3 flow with the plasma actuated channel. Also, the drag coefficient for the cavity reduced by over three folds for the channel and over eight folds for the plasma actuated channel. Such a channel can be useful in noise and drag reduction for various applications, including weapons bay, landing gear and branched piping systems. (fast track communication)

Numerical study on the two-dimensional flows of plasma and ionizing gas using trial particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brushlinskij, K.V.; Kozlov, A.N.; Morozov, A.I.

1985-01-01

Two-dimensional flows of plasma and ionized αs in a channel between two coaxial electrodes are considered in the MHD-model with account of Hall effect. Stationary solutions of the problem on the flow are obtained either analytically in approximation of a ''smooth'' channel - for ideal conducting plasma, or numerically using the methos of establishment - in the ge-neral case of finite conductivity. A method of further numerical analysis of some peculiarities of flow is suggested in the paper. It is based on studying dynamics of single ''test'' particles in fields of the main MHD plasma flow. Trajectory of the test ion is calculated with account for interaction forces with earlier determined electromagentic field and friction responsible for Coulomb collisions with particles of the background flow. The calculations display trajectories of test particles with different masses, initial positions and initial rates. They are shown to be dose to current lines of background medium in plasma of finite conductivity, that testified to the virtue of effectiveness of the MHD-model. In case of ideal conductivity trajectories of test and background particles can noticeably differ from one another. Stabilization effects of motion of particles accidentally knocked out from the flow and separation of pariticles of different mass by electromao.netic forces are considered

Measurement of ion temperature and flow in RF start-up plasmas in TST-2 and LATE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuda, Shintaro; Ejiri, Akira; Takase, Yuichi; Tsujii, Naoto; Takeuchi, Toshihiro; Tanaka, Hitoshi; Uchida, Masaki; Maekawa, Takashi

2015-01-01

The ion temperature and flow of RF start-up plasmas in TST-2 and LATE were measured using a visible spectrometer. The plasma currents were 9 kA and 8 kA, respectively. The typical ion temperatures T i and toroidal flow V ϕ were 4 eV and 1 km/s, respectively, in the TST-2 plasma sustained by the lower hybrid wave (20 kW) and T i ∼ 10 eV and V ϕ ∼ 5 km/s in the LATE plasma sustained by the electron cyclotron wave (50 kW). The poloidal flow velocities were comparable to the toroidal velocities. The ion temperatures were relatively high and the ion orbit loss can be significant. (author)

Plasma flow in a curved magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindberg, L.

1977-09-01

A beam of collisionless plasma is injected along a longitudinal magnetic field into a region of curved magnetic field. Two unpredicted phenomena are observed: The beam becomes deflected in the direction opposite to that in which the field is curved, and it contracts to a flat slab in the plane of curvature of the magnetic field. The phenomenon is of a general character and can be expected to occur in a very wide range of densities. The lower density limit is set by the condition for self-polarization, nm sub(i)/epsilon 0 B 2 >> 1 or, which is equivalent, c 2 /v 2 sub(A) >> 1, where c is the velocity of light, and v sup(A) the Alfven velocity. The upper limit is presumably set by the requirement ωsub(e)tau(e) >> 1. The phenomenon is likely to be of importance e.g. for injection of plasma into magnetic bottles and in space and solar physics. The paper illustrates the comlexity of plasma flow phenomena and the importance of close contact between experimental and theoretical work. (author)

Effect of PTA on blood pressure, renal plasma flow and renal venous renin activity in renovascular hypertension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arlart, I.P.; Dewitz, H. von; Rosenthal, J.

1983-01-01

Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is more and more accepted for interventional management of renal artery stenosis in hypertensive patients. This study was carried out to assess the behaviour of arterial blood-pressure, renal plasma flow and renal venous rening activity in renovascular hypertension following catheter dilatation. Using the data the possibility is calculated to predict the effect of PTA on blood pressure preinterventionally. The results demonstrate that a successful employment of PTA depends on a normal contralateral renal plasma flow and a normalization of plasma flow of the poststenotic kidney. Determination of plasma renin activity is only of restricted value. (orig.)

Spontaneous electromagnetic emission from a strongly localized plasma flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Tejero, E M; Amatucci, W E; Ganguli, G; Cothran, C D; Crabtree, C; Thomas, E

2011-05-06

Laboratory observations of electromagnetic ion-cyclotron waves generated by a localized transverse dc electric field are reported. Experiments indicate that these waves result from a strong E×B flow inhomogeneity in a mildly collisional plasma with subcritical magnetic field-aligned current. The wave amplitude scales with the magnitude of the applied radial dc electric field. The electromagnetic signatures become stronger with increasing plasma β, and the radial extent of the power is larger than that of the electrostatic counterpart. Near-Earth space weather implications of the results are discussed.

Plasma-based actuators for turbulent boundary layer control in transonic flow

Science.gov (United States)

Budovsky, A. D.; Polivanov, P. A.; Vishnyakov, O. I.; Sidorenko, A. A.

2017-10-01

The study is devoted to development of methods for active control of flow structure typical for the aircraft wings in transonic flow with turbulent boundary layer. The control strategy accepted in the study was based on using of the effects of plasma discharges interaction with miniature geometrical obstacles of various shapes. The conceptions were studied computationally using 3D RANS, URANS approaches. The results of the computations have shown that energy deposition can significantly change the flow pattern over the obstacles increasing their influence on the flow in boundary layer region. Namely, one of the most interesting and promising data were obtained for actuators basing on combination of vertical wedge with asymmetrical plasma discharge. The wedge considered is aligned with the local streamlines and protruding in the flow by 0.4-0.8 of local boundary layer thickness. The actuator produces negligible distortion of the flow at the absence of energy deposition. Energy deposition along the one side of the wedge results in longitudinal vortex formation in the wake of the actuator providing momentum exchange in the boundary layer. The actuator was manufactured and tested in wind tunnel experiments at Mach number 1.5 using the model of flat plate. The experimental data obtained by PIV proved the availability of the actuator.

Dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator for flow control

Science.gov (United States)

Opaits, Dmitry Florievich

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) and magnetohydrodynamic phenomena are being widely studied for aerodynamic applications. The major effects of these phenomena are heating of the gas, body force generation, and enthalpy addition or extraction, [1, 2, 3]. In particular, asymmetric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators are known to be effective EHD device in aerodynamic control, [4, 5]. Experiments have demonstrated their effectiveness in separation control, acoustic noise reduction, and other aeronautic applications. In contrast to conventional DBD actuators driven by sinusoidal voltages, we proposed and used a voltage profile consisting of nanosecond pulses superimposed on dc bias voltage. This produces what is essentially a non-self-sustained discharge: the plasma is generated by repetitive short pulses, and the pushing of the gas occurs primarily due to the bias voltage. The advantage of this non-self-sustained discharge is that the parameters of ionizing pulses and the driving bias voltage can be varied independently, which adds flexibility to control and optimization of the actuators performance. Experimental studies were conducted of a flow induced in a quiescent room air by a single DBD actuator. A new approach for non-intrusive diagnostics of plasma actuator induced flows in quiescent gas was proposed, consisting of three elements coupled together: the Schlieren technique, burst mode of plasma actuator operation, and 2-D numerical fluid modeling. During the experiments, it was found that DBD performance is severely limited by surface charge accumulation on the dielectric. Several ways to mitigate the surface charge were found: using a reversing DC bias potential, three-electrode configuration, slightly conductive dielectrics, and semi conductive coatings. Force balance measurements proved the effectiveness of the suggested configurations and advantages of the new voltage profile (pulses+bias) over the traditional sinusoidal one at relatively low

Ion flow ripples in the Earth's plasma sheet

Science.gov (United States)

De Spiegeleer, Alexandre; Hamrin, Maria; Pitkänen, Timo; Norqvist, Patrik; Mann, Ingrid

2016-04-01

For a long time, magnetotail flows were considered rather smooth and laminar, and primarily dominated by a simple convection flow pattern. However, in the early 90's, high speed bursty bulk flows (BBFs) were discovered and found to commonly perturb the underlying convection flows. In addition, there are other disturbances complicating the magnetotail flow pattern. Instabilities such as the Kelvin-Helmholz instability and the kink instability can cause different types of magnetic field oscillations, such as field line resonances. It is expected that ions will follow these oscillations if the typical time and length scales are larger than the gyroperiod and gyroradius of the ions. Though low-velocity sloshing and ripple disturbances of the average magnetotail convection flows have been observed, their connection with magnetic field oscillations is not fully understood. Furthermore, when studying BFFs, these "Ion Flow Ripples" (IFRs) are often neglected, dismissed as noise or can even erroneously be identified as BBFs. It is therefore of utter importance to find out and understand the role of IFRs in magnetotail dynamics. In a statistical investigation, we use several years of Cluster plasma sheet data to study the low-speed flows in the magnetotail. We investigate different types of IFRs, study their occurrence, and discuss their possible causes.

Flow characteristics of bounded self-organized dust vortex in a complex plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Laishram, Modhuchandra; Sharma, D.; Chattopdhyay, P. K.; Kaw, P. K.

2018-01-01

Dust clouds are often formed in many dusty plasma experiments, when micron size dust particles introduced in the plasma are confined by spatial non-uniformities of the potential. These formations show self-organized patterns like vortex or circulation flows. Steady-state equilibrium dynamics of such dust clouds is analyzed by 2D hydrodynamics for varying Reynolds number, Re, when the cloud is confined in an azimuthally symmetric cylindrical setup by an effective potential and is in a dynamic equilibrium with an unbounded sheared plasma flow. The nonconservative forcing due to ion flow shear generates finite vorticity in the confined dust clouds. In the linear limit (Re ≪ 1), the collective flow is characterized by a single symmetric and elongated vortex with scales correlating with the driving field and those generated by friction with the boundaries. However in the high Re limit, (Re ≥ 1), the nonlinear inertial transport (u . ∇u) is effective and the vortex structure is characterized by an asymmetric equilibrium and emergence of a circular core region with uniform vorticity, over which the viscous stress is negligible. The core domain is surrounded by a virtual boundary of highly convective flow followed by thin shear layers filled with low-velocity co- and counter-rotating vortices, enabling the smooth matching with external boundary conditions. In linear regime, the effective boundary layer thickness is recovered to scale with the dust kinematic viscosity as Δr ≈ μ1/3 and is modified as Δr ≈ (μL∥/u)1/2 in the nonlinear regime through a critical kinematic viscosity μ∗ that signifies a structural bifurcation of the flow field solutions. The flow characteristics recovered are relevant to many microscopic biological processes at lower Re, as well as gigantic vortex flows such as Jovian great red spot and white ovals at higher Re.

Thermonuclear dynamo inside ultracentrifuge with supersonic plasma flow stabilization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winterberg, F. [University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada (United States)

2016-01-15

Einstein's general theory of relativity implies the existence of virtual negative masses in the rotational reference frame of an ultracentrifuge with the negative mass density of the same order of magnitude as the positive mass density of a neutron star. In an ultracentrifuge, the repulsive gravitational field of this negative mass can simulate the attractive positive mass of a mini-neutron star, and for this reason can radially confine a dense thermonuclear plasma placed inside the centrifuge, very much as the positive mass of a star confines its plasma by its own attractive gravitational field. If the centrifuge is placed in an externally magnetic field to act as the seed field of a magnetohydrodynamic generator, the configuration resembles a magnetar driven by the release of energy through nuclear fusion, accelerating the plasma to supersonic velocities, with the magnetic field produced by the thermomagnetic Nernst effect insulating the hot plasma from the cold wall of the centrifuge. Because of the supersonic flow and the high plasma density the configuration is stable.

Thermonuclear dynamo inside ultracentrifuge with supersonic plasma flow stabilization

Science.gov (United States)

Winterberg, F.

2016-01-01

Einstein's general theory of relativity implies the existence of virtual negative masses in the rotational reference frame of an ultracentrifuge with the negative mass density of the same order of magnitude as the positive mass density of a neutron star. In an ultracentrifuge, the repulsive gravitational field of this negative mass can simulate the attractive positive mass of a mini-neutron star, and for this reason can radially confine a dense thermonuclear plasma placed inside the centrifuge, very much as the positive mass of a star confines its plasma by its own attractive gravitational field. If the centrifuge is placed in an externally magnetic field to act as the seed field of a magnetohydrodynamic generator, the configuration resembles a magnetar driven by the release of energy through nuclear fusion, accelerating the plasma to supersonic velocities, with the magnetic field produced by the thermomagnetic Nernst effect insulating the hot plasma from the cold wall of the centrifuge. Because of the supersonic flow and the high plasma density the configuration is stable.

Thermonuclear dynamo inside ultracentrifuge with supersonic plasma flow stabilization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winterberg, F.

2016-01-01

Einstein's general theory of relativity implies the existence of virtual negative masses in the rotational reference frame of an ultracentrifuge with the negative mass density of the same order of magnitude as the positive mass density of a neutron star. In an ultracentrifuge, the repulsive gravitational field of this negative mass can simulate the attractive positive mass of a mini-neutron star, and for this reason can radially confine a dense thermonuclear plasma placed inside the centrifuge, very much as the positive mass of a star confines its plasma by its own attractive gravitational field. If the centrifuge is placed in an externally magnetic field to act as the seed field of a magnetohydrodynamic generator, the configuration resembles a magnetar driven by the release of energy through nuclear fusion, accelerating the plasma to supersonic velocities, with the magnetic field produced by the thermomagnetic Nernst effect insulating the hot plasma from the cold wall of the centrifuge. Because of the supersonic flow and the high plasma density the configuration is stable

Control of supersonic axisymmetric base flows using passive splitter plates and pulsed plasma actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Reedy, Todd Mitchell

An experimental investigation evaluating the effects of flow control on the near-wake downstream of a blunt-based axisymmetric body in supersonic flow has been conducted. To better understand and control the physical phenomena that govern these massively separated high-speed flows, this research examined both passive and active flow-control methodologies designed to alter the stability characteristics and structure of the near-wake. The passive control investigation consisted of inserting splitter plates into the recirculation region. The active control technique utilized energy deposition from multiple electric-arc plasma discharges placed around the base. The flow-control authority of both methodologies was evaluated with experimental diagnostics including particle image velocimetry, schlieren photography, surface flow visualization, pressure-sensitive paint, and discrete surface pressure measurements. Using a blowdown-type wind tunnel reconstructed specifically for these studies, baseline axisymmetric experiments without control were conducted for a nominal approach Mach number of 2.5. In addition to traditional base pressure measurements, mean velocity and turbulence quantities were acquired using two-component, planar particle image velocimetry. As a result, substantial insight was gained regarding the time-averaged and instantaneous near-wake flow fields. This dataset will supplement the previous benchmark point-wise laser Doppler velocimetry data of Herrin and Dutton (1994) for comparison with new computational predictive techniques. Next, experiments were conducted to study the effects of passive triangular splitter plates placed in the recirculation region behind a blunt-based axisymmetric body. By dividing the near-wake into 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4 cylindrical regions, the time-averaged base pressure distribution, time-series pressure fluctuations, and presumably the stability characteristics were altered. While the spatial base pressure distribution was

Interaction of Ambipolar Plasma Flow with Magnetic Islands in a Quasi-axisymmetric Stellarator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiman, A.; Zarnstorff, M.; Mikkelsen, D.; Owen, L.; Mynick, H.; Hudson, S.; Monticello, D.

2004-01-01

A reference equilibrium for the U.S. National Compact Stellarator Experiment is predicted to be sufficiently close to quasi-symmetry to allow the plasma to flow in the toroidal direction with little viscous damping, yet to have sufficiently large deviations from quasi-symmetry that nonambipolarity significantly affects the physics of the shielding of resonant magnetic perturbations by plasma flow. The unperturbed velocity profile is modified by the presence of an ambipolar potential, which broadens the profile and improves the shielding near the plasma edge. In the presence of a resonant magnetic field perturbation, nonambipolar transport produces a radial current, and the resulting jxB force resists departures from the ambipolar velocity and enhances the shielding

Interaction of ambipolar plasma flow with magnetic islands in a quasi-axisymmetric stellarator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiman, A.; Zarnstorff, M.; Mikkelsen, D.; Mynick, H.; Hudson, S.; Monticello, D.; Owen, L.

2005-01-01

A reference equilibrium for the US National Compact Stellarator Experiment is predicted to be sufficiently close to quasi-symmetry to allow the plasma to flow in the toroidal direction with little viscous damping, yet to have sufficiently large deviations from quasi-symmetry that nonambipolarity significantly affects the physics of the shielding of resonant magnetic perturbations by plasma flow. The unperturbed velocity profile is modified by the presence of an ambipolar potential, which broadens the profile and improves the shielding near the plasma edge. In the presence of a resonant magnetic field perturbation, nonambipolar transport produces a radial current, and the resulting jxB force resists departures from the ambipolar velocity and enhances the shielding. (author)

Experimental study of collisionless interaction between superalfven mutually penetrating plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonov, V.M.; Bashurin, V.P.; Golubev, A.I.; Zhmajlo, V.A.; Zakharov, Yu.P.; Orishich, A.M.; Ponomarenko, A.G.; Posukh, V.G.; Snytnikov, V.N.

1985-01-01

To develop new methods of magnetic-gaseous protection of the first wall of thermonuclear reactor with inertial confainment, the processes of collisionless interaction of laser plasma expanding cloud with magnetized background at high Mach-Alfven numbers (Msub(A)>=5) are investigated. Experimental results on laboratory simulation of interaction processes of superalfvenic plasma flow with the number of particles N 1 approximately equal to 10 18 in the background plasma n approximately equal to 3x10 13 cm sup(-3) are presented. In the presence of magnetic field, when Larmour's ionic radii of the cloud and background are compared with the scale R=(3N 1 z 1 /4πn)1/3, intensive pulsetransfer from the cloud to the background in the absence of collisions was recorded. The possibility of superalfvenic flow interactions (Msub(A)> or approximately 6) at the expense of the independent from Msub(A) magnetic laminar mechanism of ion acceleration by vortex electric field is proved experimentally

Plasma-liquid system with reverse vortex flow of 'tornado' type (TORNADO-LE)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nedybalyuk, O.A.; Chernyak, V.Ya.; Olszewski, S.V.

2010-01-01

The results of experimental investigations of the plasma in plasma-liquid system with reverse vortex flow of 'tornado' type are presented. Volt-ampere characteristic of discharge in the current range from 200 to 400 mA were measured. Emission spectra of plasma in range from 200 to 1100 nm were measured. Excitation temperatures (electronic T e * , vibrational T v * and rotational T r * ) were obtained. Emission spectra of hydroxyl OH were calculated.

Hybrid simulations of current-carrying instabilities in Z-pinch plasmas with sheared axial flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sotnikov, Vladimir I.; Makhin, Volodymyr; Bauer, Bruno S.; Hellinger, Petr; Travnicek, Pavel; Fiala, Vladimir; Leboeuf, Jean-Noel

2002-01-01

The development of instabilities in z-pinch plasmas has been studied with three-dimensional (3D) hybrid simulations. Plasma equilibria without and with sheared axial flow have been considered. Results from the linear phase of the hybrid simulations compare well with linear Hall magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) calculations for sausage modes. The hybrid simulations show that sheared axial flow has a stabilizing effect on the development of both sausage and kink modes

An analytic model for flow reversal in divertor plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooke, P.I.H.; Prinja, A.K.

1987-04-01

An analytic model is developed and used to study the phenomenon of flow reversal which is observed in two-dimensional simulations of divertor plasmas. The effect is shown to be caused by the radial spread of neutral particles emitted from the divertor target which can lead to a strong peaking of the ionization source at certain radial locations. The results indicate that flow reversal over a portion of the width of the scrape-off layer is inevitable in high recycling conditions. Implications for impurity transport and particle removal in reactors are discussed

MOSS spectroscopic camera for imaging time resolved plasma species temperature and flow speed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michael, Clive; Howard, John

2000-01-01

A MOSS (Modulated Optical Solid-State) spectroscopic camera has been devised to monitor the spatial and temporal variations of temperatures and flow speeds of plasma ion species, the Doppler broadening measurement being made of spectroscopic lines specified. As opposed to a single channel MOSS spectrometer, the camera images light from plasma onto an array of light detectors, being mentioned 2D imaging of plasma ion temperatures and flow speeds. In addition, compared to a conventional grating spectrometer, the MOSS camera shows an excellent light collecting performance which leads to the improvement of signal to noise ratio and of time resolution. The present paper first describes basic items of MOSS spectroscopy, then follows MOSS camera with an emphasis on the optical system of 2D imaging. (author)

MOSS spectroscopic camera for imaging time resolved plasma species temperature and flow speed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Michael, Clive; Howard, John [Australian National Univ., Plasma Research Laboratory, Canberra (Australia)

2000-03-01

A MOSS (Modulated Optical Solid-State) spectroscopic camera has been devised to monitor the spatial and temporal variations of temperatures and flow speeds of plasma ion species, the Doppler broadening measurement being made of spectroscopic lines specified. As opposed to a single channel MOSS spectrometer, the camera images light from plasma onto an array of light detectors, being mentioned 2D imaging of plasma ion temperatures and flow speeds. In addition, compared to a conventional grating spectrometer, the MOSS camera shows an excellent light collecting performance which leads to the improvement of signal to noise ratio and of time resolution. The present paper first describes basic items of MOSS spectroscopy, then follows MOSS camera with an emphasis on the optical system of 2D imaging. (author)

Optical measurements of lateral energy flow and plasma motion in laser-produced plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benjamin, R.F.; Riffle, J.H.

1979-01-01

An optical system consisting of a telephoto lens and multi-image camera is described and the experimental results and their implications are presented. We will also describe the opto-electronic system that will measure the time history of the energy flow with sub-nanosecond resolution. The system will be useful to study both one- and two-dimensional geometries. The third optical diagnostic is a laser probe utilizing detection by the opto-electronic system mentioned above. This diagnostic measures plasma motion as well as energy flow. The laser probe and detection system mounts directly onto the target chamber at LASLs Gemini CO 2 laser, causing severe alignment and stability problems whose solutions will be shown

Experimental investigation of flow induced dust acoustic shock waves in a complex plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaiswal, S., E-mail: surabhijaiswal73@gmail.com; Bandyopadhyay, P.; Sen, A. [Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382428 (India)

2016-08-15

We report on experimental observations of flow induced large amplitude dust-acoustic shock waves in a complex plasma. The experiments have been carried out in a Π shaped direct current glow discharge experimental device using kaolin particles as the dust component in a background of Argon plasma. A strong supersonic flow of the dust fluid is induced by adjusting the pumping speed and neutral gas flow into the device. An isolated copper wire mounted on the cathode acts as a potential barrier to the flow of dust particles. A sudden change in the gas flow rate is used to trigger the onset of high velocity dust acoustic shocks whose dynamics are captured by fast video pictures of the evolving structures. The physical characteristics of these shocks are delineated through a parametric scan of their dynamical properties over a range of flow speeds and potential hill heights. The observed evolution of the shock waves and their propagation characteristics are found to compare well with model numerical results based on a modified Korteweg-de-Vries-Burgers type equation.

Shear flow instability in a partially-ionized plasma sheath around a fast-moving vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sotnikov, V. I.; Mudaliar, S.; Genoni, T. C.; Rose, D. V.; Oliver, B. V.; Mehlhorn, T. A.

2011-01-01

The stability of ion acoustic waves in a sheared-flow, partially-ionized compressible plasma sheath around a fast-moving vehicle in the upper atmosphere, is described and evaluated for different flow profiles. In a compressible plasma with shear flow, instability occurs for any velocity profile, not just for profiles with an inflection point. A second-order differential equation for the electrostatic potential of excited ion acoustic waves in the presence of electron and ion collisions with neutrals is derived and solved numerically using a shooting method with boundary conditions appropriate for a finite thickness sheath in contact with the vehicle. We consider three different velocity flow profiles and find that in all cases that neutral collisions can completely suppress the instability.

Identification and Characterization of Plasma Cells in Normal Human Bone Marrow by High-Resolution Flow Cytometry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Terstappen, Leonardus Wendelinus Mathias Marie; Johnsen, Steen; Segers-Nolten, Gezina M.J.; Loken, Michael R.

1990-01-01

The low frequency of plasma cells and the lack of specific cell surface markers has been a major obstacle for a detailed characterization of plasma cells in normal human bone marrow. Multiparameter flow cytometry enabled the identification of plasma cells in normal bone marrow aspirates. The plasma

Effects of plasma current on nonlinear interactions of ITG turbulence, zonal flows and geodesic acoustic modes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Angelino, P; Bottino, A; Hatzky, R; Jolliet, S; Sauter, O; Tran, T M; Villard, L

2006-01-01

The mutual interactions of ion temperature gradient (ITG) driven modes, zonal flows and geodesic acoustic modes (GAM) in tokamak plasmas are investigated using a global nonlinear gyrokinetic formulation with totally unconstrained evolution of temperature gradient and profile. A series of numerical simulations with the same initial temperature and density profile specifications is performed using a sequence of ideal MHD equilibria differing only in the value of the total plasma current, in particular with identical magnetic shear profiles and shapes of magnetic surfaces. On top of a bursty or quasi-steady state behaviour the zonal flows oscillate at the GAM frequency. The amplitude of these oscillations increases with the value of the safety factor q, resulting in a less effective suppression of ITG turbulence by zonal flows at a lower plasma current. The turbulence-driven volume-averaged radial heat transport is found to scale inversely with the total plasma current

Positive-column plasma studied by fast-flow glow discharge mass spectrometry: Could it be a 'Rydberg gas?'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mason, Rod S.; Miller, Pat D.; Mortimer, Ifor; Mitchell, David J.; Dash, Neil A.

2003-01-01

Ions created from the fast-flowing positive column plasma of a glow discharge were monitored using a high voltage magnetic sector mass spectrometer. Since the field gradient and sheath potentials created by the plasma inside the source opposed cation transfer, it is inferred that the ions detected were the field-ionized Rydberg species. This is supported by the mass spectral changes which occurred when a negative bias was applied to the sampling aperture and by the contrasting behavior when attached to a quadrupole analyzer. Reaction with H 2 (titrated into the flowing plasma) quenched not only the ionization of discharge gas Rydberg atoms but also the passage of electric current through the plasma, without significant changes to the field and sheath potentials. Few 'free' ions were present and the lifetimes of the Rydberg atoms detected were much longer than seen in lower pressure experiments, indicating additional stabilization in the plasma environment. The observations support the model of the flowing plasma, given previously [R. S. Mason, P. D. Miller, and I. P. Mortimer, Phys. Rev. E 55, 7462 (1997)] as mainly a neutral Rydberg atom gas, rather than a conventional ion-electron plasma

Supersonic plasma flow between high latitude conjugate ionospheres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roesler, G.

1975-01-01

The polar wind problem has been investigated for closed field lines in situations where one of the two conjugate ionospheric regions is fully illuminated by the sun and the other darkness (solstices at high latitudes). A supersonic flow between hemispheres is possible; the magnetospheric part of this flow must be symmetric with respect to the equator. The daytime fluxes are proportional to the neutral hydrogen density. Fluxes of the order of 10 8 cm -2 sec -1 are only possible with density considerably higher than given by CIRA models. For stationary solutions higher flow speeds are needed on the dark side than provided from the illuminated side. It is concluded that shock waves with upward velocities of about 5 km/sec would form above the dark ionosphere. This implies a reduction by a factor of 3 to 5 of the plasma influx into the dark hemisphere, whereby F-layer densities of only up to 2 x 10 4 cm -3 can be maintained. (orig.) [de

The mitigation effect of sheared axial flow on the rayleigh-taylor instability in Z-pinch plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yang

2005-01-01

A magnetohydrodynamic formulation is derived to investigate the mitigation effects of the sheared axial flow on the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability in Z-pinch plasma. The dispersion relation of the compressible model is given. The mitigation effects of sheared axial flow on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability of Z-pinch plasma in the compressible and incompressible models are compared respectively, and the effect of compressible on the instability of system with sheared axial flow is discussed. It is found that, compressibility effects can stabilize the Rayleigh-Taylor/Kelvin-Helmholtz (RT/KH) instability, and this allows the sheared axial flow mitigate the RT instability far more effectively. The authors also find that, at the early stage of the implosion, if the temperature of the plasma is not very high, the compressible model is much more suitable to describing the state of system than the incompressible one. (author)

High-order Two-Fluid Plasma Solver for Direct Numerical Simulations of Magnetic Flows with Realistic Transport Phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhaorui; Livescu, Daniel

2017-11-01

The two-fluid plasma equations with full transport terms, including temperature and magnetic field dependent ion and electron viscous stresses and heat fluxes, frictional drag force, and ohmic heating term have been solved by using the sixth-order non-dissipative compact scheme for plasma flows in several different regimes. In order to be able to fully resolve all the dynamically relevant time and length scales while maintaining computational feasibility, the assumptions of infinite speed of light and negligible electron inertia have been made. The accuracy and robustness of this two-fluid plasma solver in handling plasma flows have been tested against a series of canonical problems, such as Alfven-Whistler dispersion relation, electromagnetic plasma shock, magnetic reconnection, etc. For all test cases, grid convergence tests have been conducted to achieve fully resolved results. The roles of heat flux, viscosity, resistivity, Hall and Biermann battery effects, are investigated for the canonical flows studied.

Calculation of gas-flow in plasma reactor for carbon partial oxidation

Science.gov (United States)

Bespala, Evgeny; Myshkin, Vyacheslav; Novoselov, Ivan; Pavliuk, Alexander; Makarevich, Semen; Bespala, Yuliya

2018-03-01

The paper discusses isotopic effects at carbon oxidation in low temperature non-equilibrium plasma at constant magnetic field. There is described routine of experiment and defined optimal parameters ensuring maximum enrichment factor at given electrophysical, gas-dynamic, and thermodymanical parameters. It has been demonstrated that at high-frequency generator capacity of 4 kW, supply frequency of 27 MHz and field density of 44 mT the concentration of paramagnetic heavy nuclei 13C in gaseous phase increases up to 1.78 % compared to 1.11 % for natural concentration. Authors explain isotopic effect decrease during plasmachemical separation induced by mixing gas flows enriched in different isotopes at the lack of product quench. With the help of modeling the motion of gas flows inside the plasma-chemical reactor based on numerical calculation of Navier-Stokes equation authors determine zones of gas mixing and cooling speed. To increase isotopic effects and proportion of 13C in gaseous phase it has been proposed to use quench in the form of Laval nozzle of refractory steel. The article represents results on calculation of optimal Laval Nozzle parameters for plasma-chemical reactor of chosen geometry of. There are also given dependences of quench time of products on pressure at the diffuser output and on critical section diameter. Authors determine the location of quench inside the plasma-chemical reactor in the paper.

Tribological properties of high-speed steel treated by compression plasma flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cherenda, K.K.; Uglov, V.V.; Anishchik, V.M.; Stalmashonak, A.K.; Astashinski, V.M.

2004-01-01

Full text: The investigation of tribological properties of two high-speed steels AISI M2 and AISI Tl treated by the nitrogen compression plasma flow was the main aim of this work. Two types of samples were investigated before and after quenching. The plasma flow was received in a magneto-plasma compressor. The impulse duration was ∼100 μs, the number of impulses varied in the range of 1-5, the nitrogen pressure in the chamber was 400-4000 Pa, the energy absorbed by the sample was 2-10 J/cm 2 per impulse. Tribological properties were examined by means of a tribometer TAYl under conditions of dry friction. The Vickers's microhardness was measured by a hard meter PMT3. X-ray diffraction analysis, Auger electron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersion microanalysis were used for samples characterization. The earlier conducted investigations showed that the compression plasma flow suited well for the improvement of tribological properties of iron and low-alloyed steels due to the formation of hardening nitrides in the near surface layer. It was found that in the case of high-speed steels only not quenched samples had increased hardness after treatment. The latter can be explained by the formation of hardening nitrides though the phase analysis did not clearly reveal their presence. The element composition confirmed the presence of nitrogen in the surface layer with the concentration up to 30 at. %. The treatment of quenched samples almost always resulted in the hardness decrease due to the dissolution or partial dissolution of alloying elements carbides: M 6 C, MC, M 23 C 6 . The rate of carbides dissolution increased with the growth of the energy absorbed by the sample. The treated samples showed a lower value of the friction coefficient than the untreated one. It could be explained by the formation of nitrogenous austenite which was found out by the phase analysis. At the same time the compression plasma flow strongly influenced surface

Characteristics of a plasma flow field produced by a metal array bridge foil explosion

Science.gov (United States)

Junying, WU; Long, WANG; Yase, LI; Lijun, YANG; Manzoor, SULTAN; Lang, CHEN

2018-07-01

To improve the energy utilization efficiency of metal bridge foil explosion, and increase the function range of plasmas, array bridge foil explosion experiments with different structures were performed. A Schlieren photographic measurement system with a double-pulse laser source was used to observe the flow field of a bridge foil explosion. The evolution laws of plasmas and shock waves generated by array bridge foil explosions of different structures were analyzed and compared. A multi-phase flow calculation model was established to simulate the electrical exploding process of a metal bridge foil. The plasma equation of state was determined by considering the effect of the changing number of particles and Coulomb interaction on the pressure and internal energy. The ionization degree of the plasma was calculated via the Saha–Eggert equation assuming conditions of local thermal equilibrium. The exploding process of array bridge foils was simulated, and the superposition processes of plasma beams were analyzed. The variation and distribution laws of the density, temperature, pressure, and other important parameters were obtained. The results show that the array bridge foil has a larger plasma jet diameter than the single bridge foil for an equal total area of the bridge foil. We also found that the temperature, pressure, and density of the plasma jet’s center region sharply increase because of the superposition of plasma beams.

Driving mechanism of SOL plasma flow and effects on the divertor performance in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asakura, N.; Takenaga, H.; Sakurai, S.

2003-01-01

The measurements of the SOL flow and plasma profiles both at the high-field-side (HFS) and low field- side (LFS), for the first time, identified the SOL flow pattern and its driving mechanism. 'Flow reversal' was found near the HFS and LFS separatrix of the main plasma for the ion ∇β drift direction towards the divertor. Radial profiles of the SOL flow were similar to those calculated numerically using the UEDGE code with the plasma drifts included although Mach numbers in measurements were greater than those obtained numerically. Particle fluxes towards the HFS and LFS divertors produced by the parallel SOL flow and E r xB drift flow were evaluated. The particle flux for the case of intense gas puff and divertor pump (puff and pump) was investigated, and it was found that both the Mach number and collisionality were enhanced, in particular, at HFS. Drift flux in the private flux region was also evaluated, and important physics issues for the divertor design and operation, such as in-out asymmetries of the heat and particle fluxes, and control of impurity ions were investigated. (author)

Driving mechanism of SOL plasma flow an effects on the divertor performance in JT-60U

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asakura, Nobuyuki; Takenaga, H.; Sakurai, S.

2003-01-01

The measurements of the scrape-off layer(SOL) flow and plasma profiles both at the high-field-side (HFS) and low-field-side (LFS), for the first time, identified the SOL flow pattern and its driving mechanism. 'Flow reversal' was found near the HFS and LFS separatrix of the main plasma for the ion ∇B drift direction towards the divertor, Radial profiles of the SOL flow were similar to those calculated numerically using the UEDGE code with the plasma drifts included although Mach numbers in measurements were greater than those obtained numerically. Particle fluxes towards the HFS and LFS divertors produced by the parallel SOL flow and E r xB drift flow were evaluated. The particle flux for the case of intense gas puff and divertor pump (puff and pump) was investigated, and it was found that both the Mach number and collisionality were enhanced, in particular, at HFS. Drift flux in the private flux region was also evaluated, and important physics issues for the divertor design and operation, such as in-out asymmetries of the heat and particle fluxes, and control of impurity ions were investigated. (author)

Plasma flow measurement using directional Langmuir probe under weakly ion-magnetized conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nagaoka, Kenichi; Okamoto, Atsushi [Graduate School of Science, Nagoya Univ., Nagoya (Japan); Yoshimura, Shinji; Tanaka, Masayoshi Y. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)

2000-07-01

It is both experimentally and theoretically demonstrated that ion flow velocity at an arbitrary angle with respect to the magnetic field can be measured with a directional Langmuir probe. Based on the symmetry argument, we show that the effect of magnetic field on directional probe current is exactly canceled in determining the ion flow velocity, and obtain the generalized relation between flow velocity and directional probe currents valid for any flowing direction. The absolute value of the flow velocity is determined by an in situ calibration method of the probe. The applicability limit of the present method to a strongly ion-magnetized plasma is experimentally examined. (author)

Exploring liquid metal plasma facing component (PFC) concepts-Liquid metal film flow behavior under fusion relevant magnetic fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narula, M.; Abdou, M.A.; Ying, A.; Morley, N.B.; Ni, M.; Miraghaie, R.; Burris, J.

2006-01-01

The use of fast moving liquid metal streams or 'liquid walls' as a plasma contact surface is a very attractive option and has been looked upon with considerable interest over the past several years, both by the plasma physics and fusion engineering programs. Flowing liquid walls provide an ever replenishing contact surface to the plasma, leading to very effective particle pumping and surface heat flux removal. A key feasibility issue for flowing liquid metal plasma facing component (PFC) systems, pertains to their magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) behavior under the spatially varying magnetic field environment, typical of a fusion device. MHD forces hinder the development of a smooth and controllable liquid metal flow needed for PFC applications. The present study builds up on the ongoing research effort at UCLA, directed towards providing qualitative and quantitative data on liquid metal free surface flow behavior under fusion relevant magnetic fields

On the link between ExB sheared flows and rational surfaces in fusion plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidalgo, C.; Erents, K.; Matthews, G.

2000-11-01

Experimental evidence of flattening in plasma profiles has been observed in the edge region of the JET tokamak. This observation has been interpreted in terms of the influence of rational surfaces on plasma profiles. In the framework of this interpretation, significant ExB sheared flows linked to rational surfaces have been identified. These ExB sheared flows are close to the critical value to trigger the transition to improved confinement regimes. These results can explain the link between the magnetic topology and the generation of transport barriers reported in fusion devices. (author)

Rational surfaces, ExB sheared flows and transport interplay in fusion plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hidalgo, C.; Pedrosa, M.A.; Erents, K.

2002-01-01

Experimental evidence of a strong interplay between magnetic topology (rational surfaces) and the generation of ExB sheared flows has been observed in the plasma edge region of stellarator (TJ-II) and tokamak (JET) devices. Both constant and varying in time ExB sheared flows are close to the critical value to trigger the transition to improved confinement regimes, but below the power threshold to trigger the formation of transport barriers. Flows driven by fluctuations are candidates to explain these experimental results. (author)

Surface wave propagation in an ideal Hall-magnetohydrodynamic plasma jet in flowing environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sikka, Himanshu; Kumar, Nagendra; Zhelyazkov, Ivan

2004-01-01

The behavior of the Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (Hall-MHD) sausage and kink waves is studied in the presence of steady flow. The influence of the flow both inside and outside the plasma slab is taken into account. The plasma in the environment is considered to be cold and moves with the different flow velocity outside the slab. In the limit of parallel propagation, dispersion relation is derived to discuss the propagation of both the modes. Numerical results for the propagation characteristics are obtained for different Alfvenic Mach number ratios inside and outside the slab. It is found that the dispersion curves for both surface modes, namely, the sausage and kink ones in cold plasma show complexities in their behavior in terms of multivalued portions of the curves. These multivalued portions correspond to the different normalized phase velocities for the same value of Alfvenic Mach number. In contrast to the conventional MHD surface waves which are assumed to be pure surface waves or pseudosurface waves, surface waves are obtained which are bulk waves for very small dimensionless wave numbers, then turn to leaky waves and finally transform to pure surface waves for values of dimensionless wave number greater than one

Modeling of plasma flow switches at low, intermediate and high energies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowers, R.L.; Brownell, J.H.; Greene, A.E.; Peterson, D.L.; Roderick, N.; Turchi, P.

1992-01-01

Inductively stored pulsed power technology has been used over the past thirty years to produce multi-megaamp currents to implode low inductance loads and produce x-radiation. Because of the large difference in timescales for the delivery of magnetic energy to the load and the desire for high power x-radiation output (short timescale for the implosion), most inductively stored systems require at least one opening switch. The design and understanding of fast, efficient opening switches for multi-megaamp systems represents a long standing problem in pulsed power research. The Los Alamos Foil Implosion Project uses inductively stored magnetic energy to implode thin metallic liners. A plasma flow switch (PFS) has been investigated as the final pulse shaping step for this systems. The PFS consists of a wire array and a barrier foil located upstream from the load region. Several stages can be identified in the performance of the plasma flow switch. These are: (1) the vaporization of the wire array; (2) the assembly of the initiated plasma on tie barrier foil to form the switch plasma; (3) the motion of the switch plasma down the coaxial barrel; and (4) current switching to the load (the actual switching stage). The fourth stage affects the switch's efficiency, as well as the quality of the load implosion. Instabilities may develop during any of these four stages, and their presence may seriously degrade the structure of the switch plasma. Two primary criteria may be used to characterize good switching. The first is switching efficiency. A second criterion is transferred to the load during or after switching. This paper summarizes the computational design of the PFS experiments carried out on Pegasus 1. We conclude by considering the implications of these results for the design of a PFS for the higher energy regime (Procyon) regime

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Relaxation with high-speed plasma flows and singularity analysis in MHD equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiraishi, Junya; Ohsaki, Shuichi; Yoshida, Zensho

2004-01-01

Relaxation model that leads to plasma confinement with rigid-rotation is presented. This model applies to Jupiter's magnetosphere. It is shown that the invariance of canonical angular momentum of electron fluid, which is realized by axisymmetry through self-organization process, yields plasma confinement. including poloidal flows in equilibrium equation makes the problem rather complicated. Singularity due to the poloidal flow is focused on. It is shown that the singular equation for equilibrium has the same structure as the equation for linear Alfven wave. Since the singular solution for equilibrium equation is physically inadequate, the singularity may be removed by another physical effect. The Hall-effect is taken into account as a singular perturbation that removes the singularity of equilibrium equation for ideal magnetohydrodynamics. (author)

Assessment of glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow in cystic fibrosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spino, M.; Chai, R.P.; Isles, A.F.; Balfe, J.W.; Brown, R.G.; Thiessen, J.J.; MacLeod, S.M.

1985-01-01

A study was conducted to examine renal function in 10 healthy control subjects and eight patients with cystic fibrosis in stable condition. Sequential bolus injections of /sup 99m/Tc-DTPA and 125 I-OIH were administered to assess glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow, respectively. Blood was subsequently collected for 3 hours, and urine for 24 hours. Renal clearances of both radioisotope markers were virtually identical in patients and controls. Inasmuch as neither glomerular filtration rate nor effective renal plasma flow was enhanced in patients with cystic fibrosis, increased clearance of drugs in these patients is unlikely to be the result of enhanced glomerular filtration or tubular secretion

Observation of plasma hole in a rotating plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaoka, Kenichi; Ishihara, Tatsuzo; Okamoto, Atsushi; Yoshimura, Shinji; Tanaka, Masayoshi Y.

2001-01-01

Plasma hole, a cylindrical density cavity, formed in a rotating plasma has been investigated experimentally. The plasma hole is characterized by large aspect ratio (length/radius ≥ 30), steep boundary layer between the hole and the ambient plasma (10 ion Larmor radius), and extremely high positive potential (130 V). The flow velocity field associated with plasma hole structure has been measured, and is found to have interesting features: (1) plasma rotates in azimuthal direction at a maximum velocity of order of ion sound speed, (2) plasma flows radially inward across the magnetic field line, (3) there present an axial flow reversal between core and peripheral region. It is found that the flow pattern of the plasma hole is very similar to the that of well-developed typhoon with core. (author)

On generation of Alfvenic-like fluctuations by drift wave-zonal flow system in large plasma device experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horton, W.; Correa, C.; Chagelishvili, G. D.; Avsarkisov, V. S.; Lominadze, J. G.; Perez, J. C.; Kim, J.-H.; Carter, T. A.

2009-01-01

According to recent experiments, magnetically confined fusion plasmas with ''drift wave-zonal flow turbulence'' (DW-ZF) give rise to broadband electromagnetic waves. Sharapov et al. [Europhysics Conference Abstracts, 35th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics, Hersonissos, 2008, edited by P. Lalousis and S. Moustaizis (European Physical Society, Switzerland, 2008), Vol. 32D, p. 4.071] reported an abrupt change in the magnetic turbulence during L-H transitions in Joint European Torus [P. H. Rebut and B. E. Keen, Fusion Technol. 11, 13 (1987)] plasmas. A broad spectrum of Alfvenic-like (electromagnetic) fluctuations appears from ExB flow driven turbulence in experiments on the large plasma device (LAPD) [W. Gekelman et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)] facility at UCLA. Evidence of the existence of magnetic fluctuations in the shear flow region in the experiments is shown. We present one possible theoretical explanation of the generation of electromagnetic fluctuations in DW-ZF systems for an example of LAPD experiments. The method used is based on generalizing results on shear flow phenomena from the hydrodynamics community. In the 1990s, it was realized that fluctuation modes of spectrally stable nonuniform (sheared) flows are non-normal. That is, the linear operators of the flows modal analysis are non-normal and the corresponding eigenmodes are not orthogonal. The non-normality results in linear transient growth with bursts of the perturbations and the mode coupling, which causes the generation of electromagnetic waves from the drift wave-shear flow system. We consider shear flow that mimics tokamak zonal flow. We show that the transient growth substantially exceeds the growth of the classical dissipative trapped-particle instability of the system.

A study of direct-current surface discharge plasma for a Mach 3 supersonic flow control

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Jichul

A direct-current, non-equilibrium surface glow discharge plasma in the presence of a Mach 2.85 flow is studied experimentally for flow control applications. The discharge is generated with pin-like electrodes flush mounted on a ceramic plate with sustaining currents from 25 mA to 300 mA. In the presence of a supersonic flow, two distinct discharge modes - diffuse and constricted - are observed depending on the flow and discharge operating conditions. In cathode upstream location, both diffuse and constricted discharges are observed while in cathode downstream location, the discharge mostly exhibits either constricted mode or bistable mixed mode. The effect of the discharge on the flow ("plasma actuation'') is characterized by the appearance of a weak shock wave in the vicinity of the discharge. The shock is observed at low powers (˜10 W) for the diffuse discharge mode but is absent for the higher power (˜100 W) constricted mode. High speed laser schlieren imaging suggests that the diffuse mode plasma actuation is rapid as it occurs on a time scale that is less than 100 microsec. Rotational (gas) and vibrational temperatures within the discharge are estimated by emission spectral line fits of N 2 and N+2 rovibronic bands near 365-395 nm. The electronic temperatures are estimated by using the Boltzmann plot method for Fe(I) atomic lines. Rotational temperatures are found to be high (˜1500 K) in the absence of a flow but drop sharply (˜500 K) in the presence of a supersonic flow for both the diffuse and constricted discharge modes. The vibrational and electronic temperatures are measured to be about 3000 K and 1.25 eV (14500 K), respectively, and these temperatures are the same with and without flow. The gas (rotational) temperature spatial profiles above the cathode surface are found to be similar for the diffuse and constricted modes indicating that dilatational effects due to gas heating are similar. However, complete absence of flow actuation for the

Plasma flow switch and foil implosion experiments on Pegasus II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cochrane, J.C.; Bartsch, R.R.; Benage, J.R.; Forman, P.R.; Gribble, R.F.; Ladish, J.S.; Oona, H.; Parker, J.V.; Scudder, D.W.; Shlachter, J.S.; Wysocki, F.J.

1993-01-01

Pegasus II is the upgraded version of Pegasus, a pulsed power machine used in the Los Alamos AGEX (Above Ground EXperiments) program. A goal of the program is to produce an intense (> 100 TW) source of soft x-rays from the thermalization of the kinetic energy of a 1 to 10 MJ plasma implosion. The radiation pulse should have a maximum duration of several 10's of nanoseconds and will be used in the study of fusion conditions and material properties. The radiating plasma source will be generated by the thermalization of the kinetic energy of an imploding cylindrical, thin, metallic foil. This paper addresses experiments done on a capacitor bank to develop a switch (plasma flow switch) to switch the bank current into the load at peak current. This allows efficient coupling of bank energy into foil kinetic energy

Screening Effect of Plasma Flow on RMP Penetration in EXTRAP T2R

Science.gov (United States)

Frassinetti, Lorenzo; Olofsson, Erik; Brunsell, Per; Menmuir, Sheena; Drake, James

2011-10-01

The penetration of resonant magnetic perturbations (RMP) can be screened by plasma flow and the understanding of this phenomenon is important for ELM mitigation techniques. This work studies the screening effect in EXTRAP T2R. EXTRAP T2R is equipped with a feedback system able to suppress all error fields and to produce one or more external perturbations in a controlled fashion. The EXTRAP T2R feedback system is used to generate a RMP that interacts with the dynamics of its corresponding tearing mode (TM). The level of RMP penetration is quantified by analyzing the RMP effect on the TM amplitude and velocity. To study the screening effect, the flow is changed by applying a second perturbation that is non resonant (non-RMP). This produces the flow reduction without perturbing significantly the other parameters. By modifying the amplitude of the non-RMP, an experimental study of the flow effect on the RMP penetration is performed. Experimental results are compared with the model described in [Fitzpatrick R et al., Phys. Plasmas 8, 4489 (2001)].

Renal blood flow, early distal sodium, and plasma renin concentrations during osmotic diuresis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leyssac, P P; Holstein-Rathlou, N H; Skøtt, O

2000-01-01

.6 mmHg. Urine flow increased 10-fold, and sodium excretion increased by 177%. Plasma renin concentration (PRC) increased by 58%. Renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate decreased, however end-proximal flow remained unchanged. After a similar volume of hypotonic glucose (152 mM), ED......(NaCl) increased by 3.6 mM, (P renal hemodynamics, urine flow, sodium excretion rate, or PRC. Infusion of 300 micromol NaCl in a smaller volume caused ED(NaCl) to increase by 6.4 mM without significant changes in PRC. Urine flow and sodium excretion increased significantly...

Plasma flow during the brightening of proton aurora in the cusp

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taguchi, S.; Hosokawa, K.; Suzuki, S.

2010-01-01

On the basis of simultaneous observations from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), the far ultraviolet instrument on the IMAGE spacecraft, and a magnetometer installed on the east coast of Greenland, we present the characteristics of plasma flow during a westward moving proton auror...... to the traveling bulge at the polar cap boundary, which is the footprint of a flux transfer event, and imply that the preexisting vortical flow may be intensified when it becomes inflow to the bulge....

Nonlinear mechanism for the suppression of error field magnetic islands by plasma flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parker, R.D.

1992-01-01

Non-axisymmetric magnetic field perturbations generated, for example, by errors in the alignment of the field coils are known to lead to reduced confinement in a tokamak. By inducing the formation of small, stationary, magnetic islands on all rational surfaces they can enhance radial transport and under certain circumstances interact with MHD instabilities to trigger the onset of locked modes leading, in some cases, to disruption of the plasma discharge. Given the stationary nature of the error field islands it is natural to consider whether they can be reduced significantly by the viscous drag of a sheared flow resulting from a bulk rotation of the plasma. In this paper, we examine this interaction by modelling the nonlinear growth and saturation of force-reconnected magnetic islands driven by a corrugated boundary in a slab plasma with an initially uniform flow. A systematic parameter study is made of the time asymptotic steady state. (author) 3 figs., 5 refs

A key inactivation factor of HeLa cell viability by a plasma flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, Takehiko; Yokoyama, Mayo [Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Johkura, Kohei, E-mail: sato@ifs.tohoku.ac.jp [Department of Histology and Embryology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621 (Japan)

2011-09-21

Recently, a plasma flow has been applied to medical treatment using effects of various kinds of stimuli such as chemical species, charged particles, heat, light, shock wave and electric fields. Among them, the chemical species are known to cause an inactivation of cell viability. However, the mechanisms and key factors of this event are not yet clear. In this study, we focused on the effect of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} in plasma-treated culture medium because it is generated in the culture medium and it is also chemically stable compared with free radicals generated by the plasma flow. To elucidate the significance of H{sub 2}O{sub 2}, we assessed the differences in the effects of plasma-treated medium and H{sub 2}O{sub 2}-added medium against inactivation of HeLa cell viability. These two media showed comparable effects on HeLa cells in terms of the survival ratios, morphological features of damage processes, permeations of H{sub 2}O{sub 2} into the cells, response to H{sub 2}O{sub 2} decomposition by catalase and comprehensive gene expression. The results supported that among chemical species generated in a plasma-treated culture medium, H{sub 2}O{sub 2} is one of the main factors responsible for inactivation of HeLa cell viability. (fast track communication)

Nonlinear inertial Alfven waves in plasmas with sheared magnetic field and flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yinhua; Wang Ge; Tan Liwei

2004-01-01

Nonlinear equations describing inertial Alfven waves in plasmas with sheared magnetic field and flow are derived. For some specific parameters chosen, authors have found a new type of electromagnetic coherent structures in the tripolar vortex-like form

Final Technical Report: Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Turbulent Transport Control via Shaping of Radial Plasma Flow Profiles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schuster, Eugenio

2014-05-02

The strong coupling between the different physical variables involved in the plasma transport phenomenon and the high complexity of its dynamics call for a model-based, multivariable approach to profile control where those predictive models could be exploited. The overall objective of this project has been to extend the existing body of work by investigating numerically and experimentally active control of unstable fluctuations, including fully developed turbulence and the associated cross-field particle transport, via manipulation of flow profiles in a magnetized laboratory plasma device. Fluctuations and particle transport can be monitored by an array of electrostatic probes, and Ex B flow profiles can be controlled via a set of biased concentric ring electrodes that terminate the plasma column. The goals of the proposed research have been threefold: i- to develop a predictive code to simulate plasma transport in the linear HELCAT (HELicon-CAThode) plasma device at the University of New Mexico (UNM), where the experimental component of the proposed research has been carried out; ii- to establish the feasibility of using advanced model-based control algorithms to control cross-field turbulence-driven particle transport through appropriate manipulation of radial plasma flow profiles, iii- to investigate the fundamental nonlinear dynamics of turbulence and transport physics. Lehigh University (LU), including Prof. Eugenio Schuster and one full-time graduate student, has been primarily responsible for control-oriented modeling and model-based control design. Undergraduate students have also participated in this project through the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) program. The main goal of the LU Plasma Control Group has been to study the feasibility of controlling turbulence-driven transport by shaping the radial poloidal flow profile (i.e., by controlling flow shear) via biased concentric ring electrodes.

POD analysis of flow over a backward-facing step forced by right-angle-shaped plasma actuator.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bin; Li, Huaxing

2016-01-01

This study aims to present flow control over the backward-facing step with specially designed right-angle-shaped plasma actuator and analyzed the influence of various scales of flow structures on the Reynolds stress through snapshot proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). 2D particle image velocimetry measurements were conducted on region (x/h = 0-2.25) and reattachment zone in the x-y plane over the backward-facing step at a Reynolds number of Re h  = 27,766 (based on step height [Formula: see text] and free stream velocity [Formula: see text]. The separated shear layer was excited by specially designed right-angle-shaped plasma actuator under the normalized excitation frequency St h  ≈ 0.345 along the 45° direction. The spatial distribution of each Reynolds stress component was reconstructed using an increasing number of POD modes. The POD analysis indicated that the flow dynamic downstream of the step was dominated by large-scale flow structures, which contributed to streamwise Reynolds stress and Reynolds shear stress. The intense Reynolds stress localized to a narrow strip within the shear layer was mainly affected by small-scale flow structures, which were responsible for the recovery of the Reynolds stress peak. With plasma excitation, a significant increase was obtained in the vertical Reynolds stress peak. Under the dimensionless frequencies St h  ≈ 0.345 and [Formula: see text] which are based on the step height and momentum thickness, the effectiveness of the flow control forced by the plasma actuator along the 45° direction was ordinary. Only the vertical Reynolds stress was significantly affected.

Start-up assist by magnetized plasma flow injection in TPE-RX reversed-field pinch

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asai, T. [College of Science and Technology, Nihon University, 1-8 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8308 (Japan)]. E-mail: asai@phys.cst.nihon-u.ac.jp; Nagata, M. [Graduate School of Engineering, University of Hyogo, Himeji (Japan); Koguchi, H. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Hirano, Y. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Sakakita, H. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Yambe, K. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan); Kiyama, S. [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan)

2006-11-15

A reversed-field pinch (RFP) start-up assisted by a magnetized plasma flow injection was demonstrated for the first time on a TPE-RX machine. This sequence of experiments aimed to establish a new method of ionization, gas-fill and helicity injection in the start-up phase of an RFP. In this start-up method, magnetized and well-ionized plasma is formed by a magnetized coaxial plasma gun and injected into the torus chamber as an initial pre-ionized plasma for RFP formation. In the initial experiments, attenuated density pump-out and comparatively slow decay of the toroidal flux and plasma current were observed as evidence of its being an effective start-up method.

Transverse baryon flow as possible evidence for a quark-gluon-plasma phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levai, P.; Mueller, B.

1991-01-01

In order to investigate the coupling between collective flow of nucleons and pions in hot pion-dominated hadronic matter, we calculate the pion-nucleon drag coefficient in linearized transport theory. We find that the characteristic time for flow equalization is longer than the time scale of the expansion of a hardonic fireball created in high-energy collisions. The analysis of transverse-momentum data from p+bar p collisions at √s =1.8 TeV reveals the same flow velocity for mesons and antinucleons. We argue that this may be evidence for the formation of a quark-gluon plasma in these collisions

Duality of the magnetic flux tube and electric current descriptions magnetospheric plasma and energy flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atkinson, G.

1981-01-01

The duality between electric current and magnetic flux tubes is outlined for the magnetosphere. Magnetic flux tubes are regarded as fluid elements subjected to various stresses. Current closure then becomes the dual of stress balance, and Poynting vector energy flow a dual of J x E dissipation. The stresses acting on a flux tube are magnetic stresses, which correspond to currents at a distance, and plasma stresses, which correspond to local currents. The duality between current and stress is traced for ionospheric ion drag forces, solar wind stresses at the magnetopause, inertial effects, and the effects of energetic plasma on flux tubes. The stress balance and dual current systems are outlined for idealized magnetospheres of increasing complexity. For a simple magnetosphere with no convective flow, the balance stresses are solar wind pressure and neutral sheet plasma pressure. The corresponding current systems are the Chapman-Ferraro magnetopause currents and the magetotail current system. The introduction of convective flow introduces further stresses: ionospheric ion drag. Alfven layer shielding, and an imbalance in day-night magnetic stresses due to transport of flux tubes to the nightside by the solar wind. These stresses balance, and hence the corresponding additional currents (the ionospheric Pedersen current and the electrojets, the partial ring current, and two other current systems from the magnetopause and tail) must form a closed current system and do so by the region I and II field-aligned currents of Iijima and Potemra. The energy flow in the above models is described in terms of both Poynting vectors and the above current systems. Temporal variations examined are (1) an increase in dayside merging and/or nightside reconnection, (2) an increase in the energy density of plasma in the plasma sheet, (3) an increase in ionospheric conductivity, and (4) an increase in solar wind pressure

Radio Frequency Enhanced Plasma Potential and Flows in the Scrap-Off Layer of an Active Antenna

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Michael John

Ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) systems are critical components of current and future tokamak experiments aimed at producing nuclear fusion energy. During ICRH a host of deleterious effects occur, including increased heat flux to plasma facing components and modification of launched wave power. A suspected root cause of these effects is the radio frequency (RF) rectification of the plasma potential. Interest in the antenna scrape-off layer (SOL) region has drawn increasing interest, as it is recognized that mitigating these effects is necessary to achieving fusion power. This dissertation investigates the RF rectification of the plasma potential and the resulting cross-field flows that form due to an active RF antenna. The experiment is performed in the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) utilizing a fast wave antenna and RF amplifier system developed for these studies. The RF system is capable of 150 kW output power for a 1 ms pulse that is repeated at the 1 Hz repetition rate of the LAPD plasma discharge. Upon application of the RF pulse to the antenna, the DC plasma potential, measured with an emissive probe, dramatically increases in certain spatial locations by a factor greater than 10 Te. The largest plasma potentials are observed at locations magnetically connected to the top and bottom of the antenna, and they exist only in the private SOL created between the antenna and a limiter placed 3.6 m away along the LAPD axis. The DC rectified potentials scale linearly with the antenna current over a factor of 12x in the applied current. These DC potentials increase plasma materials interactions (PMI), resulting in the sputtering of antenna materials whose presence is detected in the bulk plasma by the coatings that develop on probe diagnostics. The DC rectified potentials persist in the plasma long after the RF current in the antenna has rung down on the same time scales as the change in the density. At the top and bottom of the antenna are circular flows, often

Modeling and experiments on differential pumping in linear plasma generators operating at high gas flows

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eck, van H.J.N.; Koppers, W.R.; Rooij, van G.J.; Goedheer, W.J.; Engeln, R.A.H.; Schram, D.C.; Lopes Cardozo, N.J.; Kleyn, A.W.

2009-01-01

The direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method was used to investigate the efficiency of differential pumping in linear plasma generators operating at high gas flows. Skimmers are used to separate the neutrals from the plasma beam, which is guided from the source to the target by a strong axial

Triple-probe method applied to the direct display of plasma parameters in a supersonic flowing continuum plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogram, G.L.; Chang, J.; Hobson, R.M.

1979-01-01

The calibration of electrostatic triple-probe voltage and current response in a supersonic continuum plasma has been carried out using a low-pressure shock tube. The electron temperature T/sub e/ and charge number density N/sub e/ are compared to probe voltage and current response, respectively, for a useful range of plasma parameters (1 13 13 is the nondimensional probe voltage). The dependence of probe response on Debye ratio R/sub p//lambda/sub D/ and various flow parameters was investigated. The probe voltage response was found to depend significantly on the Debye ratio. Expressions for electron temperature determination by triple probe are presented

Plasma profiles and flows in the high-field side scrape-off layer in Alcator C-Mod

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smick, N. [MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, NW17-170, 175 Albany St., Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)]. E-mail: nsmick@mit.edu; LaBombard, B. [MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, NW17-170, 175 Albany St., Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Pitcher, C.S. [132 Bowood Ave., Toronto, M4N1Y5 (Canada)

2005-03-01

A novel, magnetically-driven swing probe was recently installed near the midplane on the high-field side SOL in Alcator C-Mod. The probe collects plasma from co- and counter-current directions during its respective 0-90 deg and 90-180 deg of motion, thus providing profiles of density, electron temperature and plasma flow parallel to magnetic field lines (Mach number, M{sub parallel}) up to the separatrix. Results are reported from discharges with different magnetic topologies: lower single-null, upper single-null, and double-null. In single-null, a strong parallel flow (vertical bar M{sub parallel} vertical bar {approx} 1) is detected, which is always directed from the low- to high-field SOL. In double-null discharges, e-folding lengths in the high-field SOL are a factor of {approx}4 shorter than the low-field SOL. Thus, plasma appears to 'fill-in' the high-field SOL in single-null plasmas, not by cross-field transport but by parallel flow from the low-field SOL - a picture consistent with a very strong ballooning-like component to the cross-field transport.

Online Coupling of Flow-Field Flow Fractionation and Single Particle Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry: Characterization of Nanoparticle Surface Coating Thickness and Aggregation State

Science.gov (United States)

Surface coating thickness and aggregation state have strong influence on the environmental fate, transport, and toxicity of engineered nanomaterials. In this study, flow-field flow fractionation coupled on-line with single particle inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry i...

Evaluation of compatibility of flowing liquid lithium curtain for blanket with core plasma in fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Baiquan; Huang Jinhua; Peng Lilin; Yan Jiancheng

2003-01-01

A global model analysis of the compatibility of flowing liquid lithium curtain for blanket with core plasma has been performed. The relationships between the surface temperature of lithium curtain and mean effective plasma charges, fuel dilution and produced fusion power have been obtained. Results show that under normal circumstances, the evaporation of liquid lithium does not affect Z eff seriously, but affects fuel dilution and fusion power sensitively. The authors have investigated the relationships between the flow velocity of liquid lithium and its surface temperature rise based on the conditions of the option II of the fusion experimental breeder (FEB-E) design with reversed shear configuration and fairly high power density. The authors concluded that the effects of evaporation from liquid lithium curtain for FEB-E on plasma are negligible even if the flow velocity of liquid lithium is as low as 0.5 m·s -1 . Finally, the sputtering yield of liquid lithium saturated by hydrogen isotopes is briefly discussed

Bifurcation of plasma cylinder equilibrium into a stationary helical flow with magnetic islands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gubarev, V.F.; Dmitrenko, A.G.; Fesenko, A.I.

1985-01-01

Introduction of the low-hydrodynamic viscosity into the system of nonlinear MHD-equations enabled to use the bifurcation theory for the investigation into nonlinear phenomena connected with a tearing mode. The existance of a stable stationary helical flow with magnetic islands in the vicinity of a neutral curve is established. Fransfer from an axisymmetric equilibrium of a plasma cylinder to a helical one takes place only under soft conditions at both sides of the neutral curve. This result confirms the fact that the tearing mode, actually, is not an instability and may be con sidered only as a reason of formation of equilibrium with splitted magnetic surfaces. Really, changing the q 0 parameter (q 0 is the value proportional to a value of stability margin) at the plasma filament boundary a plasma equilibrium is attained corresponding to a stable branch of the bifurcation curve. In this case, a stable branch of the bifurcation curve corresponds to a helical stationary flow with magnetic islands in the instabwility region determined from the linear theory

Particle-in-Cell Modeling of Magnetized Argon Plasma Flow Through Small Mechanical Apertures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Adam B. Sefkow and Samuel A. Cohen

2009-04-09

Motivated by observations of supersonic argon-ion flow generated by linear helicon-heated plasma devices, a three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) code is used to study whether stationary electrostatic layers form near mechanical apertures intersecting the flow of magnetized plasma. By self-consistently evaluating the temporal evolution of the plasma in the vicinity of the aperture, the PIC simulations characterize the roles of the imposed aperture and applied magnetic field on ion acceleration. The PIC model includes ionization of a background neutral-argon population by thermal and superthermal electrons, the latter found upstream of the aperture. Near the aperture, a transition from a collisional to a collisionless regime occurs. Perturbations of density and potential, with mm wavelengths and consistent with ion acoustic waves, propagate axially. An ion acceleration region of length ~ 200-300 λD,e forms at the location of the aperture and is found to be an electrostatic double layer, with axially-separated regions of net positive and negative charge. Reducing the aperture diameter or increasing its length increases the double layer strength.

Particle-in-Cell Modeling of Magnetized Argon Plasma Flow Through Small Mechanical Apertures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sefkow, Adam B.; Cohen, Samuel A.

2009-01-01

Motivated by observations of supersonic argon-ion flow generated by linear helicon-heated plasma devices, a three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) code is used to study whether stationary electrostatic layers form near mechanical apertures intersecting the flow of magnetized plasma. By self-consistently evaluating the temporal evolution of the plasma in the vicinity of the aperture, the PIC simulations characterize the roles of the imposed aperture and applied magnetic field on ion acceleration. The PIC model includes ionization of a background neutral-argon population by thermal and superthermal electrons, the latter found upstream of the aperture. Near the aperture, a transition from a collisional to a collisionless regime occurs. Perturbations of density and potential, with mm wavelengths and consistent with ion acoustic waves, propagate axially. An ion acceleration region of length ∼ 200-300 λ D,e forms at the location of the aperture and is found to be an electrostatic double layer, with axially-separated regions of net positive and negative charge. Reducing the aperture diameter or increasing its length increases the double layer strength

Using the developed cross-flow filtration chip for collecting blood plasma under high flow rate condition and applying the immunoglobulin E detection

Science.gov (United States)

Yeh, Chia-Hsien; Hung, Chia-Wei; Wu, Chun-Han; Lin, Yu-Cheng

2014-09-01

This paper presents a cross-flow filtration chip for separating blood cells (white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets) and obtaining blood plasma from human blood. Our strategy is to flow the sample solution in parallel to the membrane, which can generate a parallel shear stress to remove the clogging microparticles on the membrane, so the pure sample solution is obtained in the reservoir. The cross-flow filtration chip includes a cross-flow layer, a Ni-Pd alloy micro-porous membrane, and a reservoir layer. The three layers are packaged in a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) frame to create the cross-flow filtration chip. Various dilutions of the blood sample (original, 2 × , 3 × , 5 × , and 10×), pore sizes with different diameters (1 µm, 2 µm, 4 µm, 7 µm, and 10 µm), and different flow rates (1 mL/min, 3 mL/min, 5 mL/min, 7 mL/min, and 10 mL/min) are tested to determine their effects on filtration percentage. The best filtration percentage is 96.2% when the dilution of the blood sample is 10 × , the diameter of pore size of a Ni-Pd alloy micro-porous membrane is 2 µm, and the flow rate is 10 mL/min. Finally, for the clinical tests of the immunoglobulin E (IgE) concentration, the cross-flow filtration chip is used to filter the blood of the allergy patients to obtain the blood plasma. This filtered blood plasma is compared with that obtained using the conventional centrifugation based on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results reveal that these two blood separation methods have similar detection trends. The proposed filtration chip has the advantages of low cost, short filtration time, and easy operation and thus can be applied to the separation of microparticles, cells, bacteria, and blood.

Using the developed cross-flow filtration chip for collecting blood plasma under high flow rate condition and applying the immunoglobulin E detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeh, Chia-Hsien; Hung, Chia-Wei; Lin, Yu-Cheng; Wu, Chun-Han

2014-01-01

This paper presents a cross-flow filtration chip for separating blood cells (white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets) and obtaining blood plasma from human blood. Our strategy is to flow the sample solution in parallel to the membrane, which can generate a parallel shear stress to remove the clogging microparticles on the membrane, so the pure sample solution is obtained in the reservoir. The cross-flow filtration chip includes a cross-flow layer, a Ni-Pd alloy micro-porous membrane, and a reservoir layer. The three layers are packaged in a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) frame to create the cross-flow filtration chip. Various dilutions of the blood sample (original, 2 × , 3 × , 5 × , and 10×), pore sizes with different diameters (1 µm, 2 µm, 4 µm, 7 µm, and 10 µm), and different flow rates (1 mL/min, 3 mL/min, 5 mL/min, 7 mL/min, and 10 mL/min) are tested to determine their effects on filtration percentage. The best filtration percentage is 96.2% when the dilution of the blood sample is 10 × , the diameter of pore size of a Ni-Pd alloy micro-porous membrane is 2 µm, and the flow rate is 10 mL/min. Finally, for the clinical tests of the immunoglobulin E (IgE) concentration, the cross-flow filtration chip is used to filter the blood of the allergy patients to obtain the blood plasma. This filtered blood plasma is compared with that obtained using the conventional centrifugation based on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results reveal that these two blood separation methods have similar detection trends. The proposed filtration chip has the advantages of low cost, short filtration time, and easy operation and thus can be applied to the separation of microparticles, cells, bacteria, and blood. (paper)

Ion collection by a sphere in a flowing plasma: 2. non-zero Debye length

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hutchinson, I H

2003-01-01

The spatial distribution of ion flux to a sphere in a flowing collisionless plasma is calculated using a particle-in-cell code SCEPTIC. The code is validated by comparing with prior stationary-plasma and approximate calculations. Comprehensive results are provided for ion temperatures 1 and 0.1 times the electron temperature, and for Debye length from 0.01 to 100 times the probe size. A remarkable qualitatively new result is obtained: over a range of Debye lengths from roughly 0.1 to 10 times the probe radius at T i = 0.1T e , the downstream side of the probe receives substantially higher flux density than the upstream side when the flow is subsonic. This unexpected reversal of the asymmetry reinforces the need for these fully self-consistent calculations, but renders the use of the flux ratio for Mach-probe purposes problematic, even for deriving the direction of the flow

Modeling the Plasma Flow in the Inner Heliosheath with a Spatially Varying Compression Ratio

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nicolaou, G. [Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna (Sweden); Livadiotis, G. [Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas (United States)

2017-03-20

We examine a semi-analytical non-magnetic model of the termination shock location previously developed by Exarhos and Moussas. In their study, the plasma flow beyond the shock is considered incompressible and irrotational, thus the flow potential is analytically derived from the Laplace equation. Here we examine the characteristics of the downstream flow in the heliosheath in order to resolve several inconsistencies existing in the Exarhos and Moussas model. In particular, the model is modified in order to be consistent with the Rankine–Hugoniot jump conditions and the geometry of the termination shock. It is shown that a shock compression ratio varying along the latitude can lead to physically correct results. We describe the new model and present several simplified examples for a nearly spherical, strong termination shock. Under those simplifications, the upstream plasma is nearly adiabatic for large (∼100 AU) heliosheath thickness.

Stabilisation of a three-dimensional boundary layer by base-flow manipulation using plasma actuators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dörr, P C; Kloker, M J

2015-01-01

The applicability of dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators for controlling the crossflow-vortex-induced laminar breakdown in a three-dimensional swept-wing-type boundary-layer flow is investigated using direct numerical simulation. Similar to the classical application of suction at the wall the aim is to modify the quasi two-dimensional base flow and to weaken primary crossflow (CF) instability, mainly due to a reduction of the basic CF. Not only localised volumetric forcing by plasma actuators but also CF counter-blowing and spots with a moving wall are investigated to identify effective fundamental mechanisms. It is found that counter blowing always results in partial blockage of the flow and eventually increased CF velocity, whereas moving-wall spots can slightly reduce the CF and the amplitude of crossflow vortices. Using discrete volumetric forcing a significant attenuation even of finite-amplitude crossflow vortices and thus a distinct transition delay is achieved. (paper)

Effect of helium plasma gas flow rate on the properties of WC-12 wt.%Co coatings sprayed by atmospheric plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihailo R. Mrdak

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The cermet coatings of WC-12wt.%Co are extensively used to improve the wear resistance of a wide range of technical components. This paper analyses the influence of the plasma gas flow of helium on the microstructure and mechanical properties of WC-12wt.%Co coatings deposited by plasma spraying at atmospheric pressure (APS. In order to obtain homogeneous and denser coatings, three different flows of He ( 8 l/min., 16 l/min. and 32 l/min were used in the research. With the application of He, coatings achieved higher values of hardness due to less degradation of the primary WC carbides. The main goal was to deposit dense and homogeneous layers of WC-12wt.%Co coatings with improved wear resistance for different applications. The test results of the microstructure of the layers were evaluated under a light microscope. The analysis of the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the deposited layers was made in accordance with the standard of Pratt-Whitney. The morphology of the powder particles and the microstructure of the best coating was examined on the SEM (scanning electron microscope. The evaluation of the mechanical properties of the layers was done by applying the HV0.3 method for microhardness testing and by applying tensile testing to test the bond strength. The research has shown that the flow of He plasma gas significantly affects the microstructure, the mechanical properties and the structure of WC-12 wt.%Co coatings.

Parallel ion flow velocity measurement using laser induced fluorescence method in an electron cyclotron resonance plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshimura, Shinji; Okamoto, Atsushi; Terasaka, Kenichiro; Ogiwara, Kohei; Tanaka, Masayoshi Y.; Aramaki, Mitsutoshi

2010-01-01

Parallel ion flow velocity along a magnetic field has been measured using a laser induced fluorescence (LIF) method in an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) argon plasma with a weakly-diverging magnetic field. To measure parallel flow velocity in a cylindrical plasma using the LIF method, the laser beam should be injected along device axis; however, the reflection of the incident beam causes interference between the LIF emission of the incident and reflected beams. Here we present a method of quasi-parallel laser injection at a small angle, which utilizes the reflected beam as well as the incident beam to obtain the parallel ion flow velocity. Using this method, we observed an increase in parallel ion flow velocity along the magnetic field. The acceleration mechanism is briefly discussed on the basis of the ion fluid model. (author)

Localized fast flow disturbance observed in the plasma sheet and in the ionosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Nakamura

2005-02-01

Full Text Available An isolated plasma sheet flow burst took place at 22:02 UT, 1 September 2002, when the Cluster footpoint was located within the area covered by the Magnetometers-Ionospheric Radars-All-sky Cameras Large Experiment (MIRACLE. The event was associated with a clear but weak ionospheric disturbance and took place during a steady southward IMF interval, about 1h preceding a major substorm onset. Multipoint observations, both in space and from the ground, allow us to discuss the temporal and spatial scale of the disturbance both in the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Based on measurements from four Cluster spacecraft it is inferred that Cluster observed the dusk side part of a localized flow channel in the plasma sheet with a flow shear at the front, suggesting a field-aligned current out from the ionosphere. In the ionosphere the equivalent current pattern and possible field-aligned current location show a pattern similar to the auroral streamers previously obtained during an active period, except for its spatial scale and amplitude. It is inferred that the footpoint of Cluster was located in the region of an upward field-aligned current, consistent with the magnetospheric observations. The entire disturbance in the ionosphere lasted about 10min, consistent with the time scale of the current sheet disturbance in the magnetosphere. The plasma sheet bulk flow, on the other hand, had a time scale of about 2min, corresponding to the time scale of an equatorward excursion of the enhanced electrojet. These observations confirm that localized enhanced convection in the magnetosphere and associated changes in the current sheet structure produce a signature with consistent temporal and spatial scale at the conjugate ionosphere.

Two-dimensional electron flow in pulsed power transmission lines and plasma opening switches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Church, B.W.; Longcope, D.W.; Ng, C.K.; Sudan, R.N.

1991-01-01

The operation of magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITL) and the interruption of current in a plasma opening switch (POS) are determined by the physics of the electrons emitted by the cathode surface. A mathematical model describes the self-consistent two-dimensional flow of an electron fluid. A finite element code, FERUS, has been developed to solve the two equations which describe Poisson's and Ampere's law in two dimensions. The solutions from this code are obtained for parameters where the electron orbits are considerably modified by the self-magnetic field of the current. Next, the self-insulated electron flow in a MITL with a step change in cross-section is studied using a conventional two-dimensional fully electromagnetic particle-in-cell code, MASK. The equations governing two-dimensional quasi-static electron flow are solved numerically by a third technique which is suitable for predicting current interruption in a POS. The object of the study is to determine the critical load impedance, Z CL , required for current interruption for a given applied voltage, cathode voltage and plasma length. (author). 9 refs, 5 figs

Supersonic flow with shock waves. Monte-Carlo calculations for low density plasma. I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almenara, E.; Hidalgo, M.; Saviron, J. M.

1980-01-01

This Report gives preliminary information about a Monte Carlo procedure to simulate supersonic flow past a body of a low density plasma in the transition regime. A computer program has been written for a UNIVAC 1108 machine to account for a plasma composed by neutral molecules and positive and negative ions. Different and rather general body geometries can be analyzed. Special attention is played to tho detached shock waves growth In front of the body. (Author) 30 refs

Microturbulence and Flow Shear in High-performance JET ITB Plasma; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

R.V. Budny; A. Andre; A. Bicoulet; C. Challis; G.D. Conway; W. Dorland; D.R. Ernst; T.S. Hahm; T.C. Hender; D. McCune; G. Rewoldt; S.E. Sharapov

2001-01-01

The transport, flow shear, and linear growth rates of microturbulence are studied for a Joint European Torus (JET) plasma with high central q in which an internal transport barrier (ITB) forms and grows to a large radius. The linear microturbulence growth rates of the fastest growing (most unstable) toroidal modes with high toroidal mode number are calculated using the GS2 and FULL gyrokinetic codes. These linear growth rates, gamma (subscript lin) are large, but the flow-shearing rates, gamma (subscript ExB) (dominated by the toroidal rotation contribution) are also comparably large when and where the ITB exists

Plasma actuators for active flow control based on a glow discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kühn, M.; Kühn-Kauffeldt, M.; Schein, J.; Belinger, A.

2017-01-01

In this work a glow discharge based active flow control for high flow velocities and low Reynolds numbers is presented. Unlike common plasma actuators such as dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) or spark jets, this actuator uses small impulse bits at frequencies. The actuator is optimized for frequencies up to 40 kHz to counter Tollmien Schlichting wave effects and so reduce overall air foil drag. Several measurements to prove the non-eroding effect of the actuator and the electrical properties were performed. It was found that the actuator is capable of operating at high frequencies without measurable erosion. (paper)

Kolmogorov flow in two dimensional strongly coupled dusty plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Akanksha; Ganesh, R., E-mail: ganesh@ipr.res.in; Joy, Ashwin [Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382 428 (India)

2014-07-15

Undriven, incompressible Kolmogorov flow in two dimensional doubly periodic strongly coupled dusty plasma is modelled using generalised hydrodynamics, both in linear and nonlinear regime. A complete stability diagram is obtained for low Reynolds numbers R and for a range of viscoelastic relaxation time τ{sub m} [0 < τ{sub m} < 10]. For the system size considered, using a linear stability analysis, similar to Navier Stokes fluid (τ{sub m} = 0), it is found that for Reynolds number beyond a critical R, say R{sub c}, the Kolmogorov flow becomes unstable. Importantly, it is found that R{sub c} is strongly reduced for increasing values of τ{sub m}. A critical τ{sub m}{sup c} is found above which Kolmogorov flow is unconditionally unstable and becomes independent of Reynolds number. For R < R{sub c}, the neutral stability regime found in Navier Stokes fluid (τ{sub m} = 0) is now found to be a damped regime in viscoelastic fluids, thus changing the fundamental nature of transition of Kolmogorov flow as function of Reynolds number R. A new parallelized nonlinear pseudo spectral code has been developed and is benchmarked against eigen values for Kolmogorov flow obtained from linear analysis. Nonlinear states obtained from the pseudo spectral code exhibit cyclicity and pattern formation in vorticity and viscoelastic oscillations in energy.

Plasma-enhanced mixing and flameholding in supersonic flow.

Science.gov (United States)

Firsov, Alexander; Savelkin, Konstantin V; Yarantsev, Dmitry A; Leonov, Sergey B

2015-08-13

The results of experimental study of plasma-based mixing, ignition and flameholding in a supersonic model combustor are presented in the paper. The model combustor has a length of 600 mm and cross section of 72 mm width and 60 mm height. The fuel is directly injected into supersonic airflow (Mach number M=2, static pressure P(st)=160-250 Torr) through wall orifices. Two series of tests are focused on flameholding and mixing correspondingly. In the first series, the near-surface quasi-DC electrical discharge is generated by flush-mounted electrodes at electrical power deposition of W(pl)=3-24 kW. The scope includes parametric study of ignition and flame front dynamics, and comparison of three schemes of plasma generation: the first and the second layouts examine the location of plasma generators upstream and downstream from the fuel injectors. The third pattern follows a novel approach of combined mixing/ignition technique, where the electrical discharge distributes along the fuel jet. The last pattern demonstrates a significant advantage in terms of flameholding limit. In the second series of tests, a long discharge of submicrosecond duration is generated across the flow and along the fuel jet. A gasdynamic instability of thermal cavity developed after a deposition of high-power density in a thin plasma filament promotes the air-fuel mixing. The technique studied in this work has weighty potential for high-speed combustion applications, including cold start/restart of scramjet engines and support of transition regime in dual-mode scramjet and at off-design operation. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Computational modeling of plasma-flow switched foil implosions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindemuth, I.R.

1985-01-01

A ''plasma-flow'', or ''commutator'', switch has been proposed as a means of achieving high dI/dt in a radially imploding metallic foil plasma. In this concept, an axially moving foil provides the initial coaxial gun discharge path for the prime power source and provides and ''integral'' inductive storage of magnetic energy. As the axially moving foil reaches the end of the coaxial gun, a radially imploding load foil is switched into the circuit. The authors have begun two-dimensional computer modeling of the two-foil implosion system. They use a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model which includes tabulated state and transport properties of the metallic foil material. Moving numerical grids are used to achieve adequate resolution of the moving foils. A variety of radiation models are used to compute the radiation generated when the imploding load foil converges on axis. These computations are attempting to examine the interaction of the switching foil with the load foil. In particular, they examine the relationship between foil placement and implosion quality

Active control of massively separated high-speed/base flows with electric arc plasma actuators

Science.gov (United States)

DeBlauw, Bradley G.

The current project was undertaken to evaluate the effects of electric arc plasma actuators on high-speed separated flows. Two underlying goals motivated these experiments. The first goal was to provide a flow control technique that will result in enhanced flight performance for supersonic vehicles by altering the near-wake characteristics. The second goal was to gain a broader and more sophisticated understanding of these complex, supersonic, massively-separated, compressible, and turbulent flow fields. The attainment of the proposed objectives was facilitated through energy deposition from multiple electric-arc plasma discharges near the base corner separation point. The control authority of electric arc plasma actuators on a supersonic axisymmetric base flow was evaluated for several actuator geometries, frequencies, forcing modes, duty cycles/on-times, and currents. Initially, an electric arc plasma actuator power supply and control system were constructed to generate the arcs. Experiments were performed to evaluate the operational characteristics, electromagnetic emission, and fluidic effect of the actuators in quiescent ambient air. The maximum velocity induced by the arc when formed in a 5 mm x 1.6 mm x 2 mm deep cavity was about 40 m/s. During breakdown, the electromagnetic emission exhibited a rise and fall in intensity over a period of about 340 ns. After breakdown, the emission stabilized to a near-constant distribution. It was also observed that the plasma formed into two different modes: "high-voltage" and "low-voltage". It is believed that the plasma may be switching between an arc discharge and a glow discharge for these different modes. The two types of plasma do not appear to cause substantial differences on the induced fluidic effects of the actuator. In general, the characterization study provided a greater fundamental understanding of the operation of the actuators, as well as data for computational model comparison. Preliminary investigations

Topological structures of vortex flow on a flying wing aircraft, controlled by a nanosecond pulse discharge plasma actuator

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Hai; Shi, Zhiwei; Cheng, Keming; Wei, Dechen; Li, Zheng; Zhou, Danjie; He, Haibo; Yao, Junkai; He, Chengjun

2016-06-01

Vortex control is a thriving research area, particularly in relation to flying wing or delta wing aircraft. This paper presents the topological structures of vortex flow on a flying wing aircraft controlled by a nanosecond plasma dielectric barrier discharge actuator. Experiments, including oil flow visualization and two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV), were conducted in a wind tunnel with a Reynolds number of 0.5 × 106. Both oil and PIV results show that the vortex can be controlled. Oil topological structures on the aircraft surface coincide with spatial PIV flow structures. Both indicate vortex convergence and enhancement when the plasma discharge is switched on, leading to a reduced region of separated flow.

Flow reactor studies of non-equilibrium plasma-assisted oxidation of n-alkanes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsolas, Nicholas; Lee, Jong Guen; Yetter, Richard A

2015-08-13

The oxidation of n-alkanes (C1-C7) has been studied with and without the effects of a nanosecond, non-equilibrium plasma discharge at 1 atm pressure from 420 to 1250 K. Experiments have been performed under nearly isothermal conditions in a flow reactor, where reactive mixtures are diluted in Ar to minimize temperature changes from chemical reactions. Sample extraction performed at the exit of the reactor captures product and intermediate species and stores them in a multi-position valve for subsequent identification and quantification using gas chromatography. By fixing the flow rate in the reactor and varying the temperature, reactivity maps for the oxidation of fuels are achieved. Considering all the fuels studied, fuel consumption under the effects of the plasma is shown to have been enhanced significantly, particularly for the low-temperature regime (T<800 K). In fact, multiple transitions in the rates of fuel consumption are observed depending on fuel with the emergence of a negative-temperature-coefficient regime. For all fuels, the temperature for the transition into the high-temperature chemistry is lowered as a consequence of the plasma being able to increase the rate of fuel consumption. Using a phenomenological interpretation of the intermediate species formed, it can be shown that the active particles produced from the plasma enhance alkyl radical formation at all temperatures and enable low-temperature chain branching for fuels C3 and greater. The significance of this result demonstrates that the plasma provides an opportunity for low-temperature chain branching to occur at reduced pressures, which is typically observed at elevated pressures in thermal induced systems. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

MHD equilibrium of toroidal fusion plasma with stationary flows; Rownowaga MHD toroidalnej plazmy termojadrowej z przeplywami

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Galkowski, A. [Institute of Atomic Energy, Otwock-Swierk (Poland)

1994-12-31

Non-linear ideal MHD equilibria in axisymmetric system with flows are examined, both in 1st and 2nd ellipticity regions. Evidence of the bifurcation of solutions is provided and numerical solutions of several problems in a tokamak geometry are given, exhibiting bifurcation phenomena. Relaxation of plasma in the presence of zero-order flows is studied in a realistic toroidal geometry. The field aligned flow allows equilibria with finite pressure gradient but with homogeneous temperature distribution. Numerical calculations have been performed for the 1st and 2nd ellipticity regimes of the extended Grad-Shafranov-Schlueter equation. Numerical technique, alternative to the well-known Grad`s ADM methods has been proposed to deal with slow adiabatic evolution of toroidal plasma with flows. The equilibrium problem with prescribed adiabatic constraints may be solved by simultaneous calculations of flux surface geometry and original profile functions. (author). 178 refs, 37 figs, 5 tabs.

Potential flow model for the hydromagnetic Rayleigh--Taylor instability in cylindrical plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, C.S.; Roderick, N.F.

1987-01-01

A potential flow model has been developed to study the linear behavior of the hydromagnetic equivalent of the Rayleigh--Taylor instability in imploding cylindrical plasmas. Ordinary differential equations are obtained for both (r,z) and (r,θ) disturbances. The model allows the study of the dynamic effects of the moving plasma on the development of the instability. The perturbation equations separate into a geometric part associated with the motion of the interface and a nongeometric part associated with the stability of the interface. In both planes the geometric part shows growth of perturbations for imploding plasmas. The surface is also unstable in both planes for plasmas being imploded by magnetic fields. Analytic solutions are obtained for constant acceleration. These show that the short wavelength perturbations that are most damaging in the (r,z) plane are not affected by the motion of the interface. In the (r,θ) plane the growth of longer wavelength disturbances is affected by the interface motion

Plasma generated in culture medium induces damages of HeLa cells due to flow phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Yusuke; Sato, Takehiko; Yoshino, Daisuke

2018-03-01

Plasma in a liquid has been anticipated as an effective tool for medical applications, however, few reports have described cellular responses to plasma generated in a liquid similar to biological fluids. Herein we report the effects of plasma generated in a culture medium on HeLa cells. The plasma in the culture medium produced not only heat, shock waves, and reactive chemical species but also a jet flow with sub millimeter-sized bubbles. Cells exposed to the plasma exhibited detachment, morphological changes, and changes in the actin cytoskeletal structure. The experimental results suggest that wall shear stress over 160 Pa was generated on the surface of the cells by the plasma. It is one of the main factors that cause those cellular responses. We believe that our findings would provide valuable insight into advancements in medical applications of plasma in a liquid.

HF DBD plasma actuators for reduction of cylinder noise in flow

Science.gov (United States)

Kopiev, V. F.; Kazansky, P. N.; Kopiev, V. A.; Moralev, I. A.; Zaytsev, M. Yu

2017-11-01

Surface high frequency dielectric barrier discharge (HF DBD) was used to reduce flow-induced noise, radiated by circular cylinder in cross flow. Effect of HF DBD actuators is studied for flow velocity up to 80 m s-1 (Reynolds numbers up to 2.18 · 105), corresponding to the typical aircraft landing approach speed. Noise measurements were performed by microphone array in anechoic chamber; averaged flow parameters were studied by particle image velocimetry (PIV). Actuator was powered by high-frequency voltage in hundreds kHz range in steady or modulated mode with the modulation frequency of 0.3-20 kHz (Strouhal number St of 0.4 to 20). It is demonstrated that upstream directed plasma actuators are able to reduce the vortex noise of a cylinder by 10 dB. Noise reduction is accompanied by significant reorganization of the wake behind a cylinder, decreasing both wake width and turbulence level. The physical mechanism related to broadband noise control by HF DBD actuator is also discussed.

Physicochemical characterization of titanium dioxide pigments using various techniques for size determination and asymmetric flow field flow fractionation hyphenated with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Helsper, J.P.F.G.; Peters, R.J.B.; Bemmel, M.E.M. van; Rivera, Z.E.H.; Wagner, S.; Kammer, F. von der; Tromp, P.C.; Hofmann, T.; Weigel, S.

2016-01-01

Seven commercial titanium dioxide pigments and two other well-defined TiO2 materials (TiMs) were physicochemically characterised using asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (aF4) for separation, various techniques to determine size distribution and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Zonal flows and turbulence in fluids and plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Jeffrey Bok-Cheung

In geophysical and plasma contexts, zonal flows are well known to arise out of turbulence. We elucidate the transition from statistically homogeneous turbulence without zonal flows to statistically inhomogeneous turbulence with steady zonal flows. Starting from the Hasegawa--Mima equation, we employ both the quasilinear approximation and a statistical average, which retains a great deal of the qualitative behavior of the full system. Within the resulting framework known as CE2, we extend recent understanding of the symmetry-breaking 'zonostrophic instability'. Zonostrophic instability can be understood in a very general way as the instability of some turbulent background spectrum to a zonally symmetric coherent mode. As a special case, the background spectrum can consist of only a single mode. We find that in this case the dispersion relation of zonostrophic instability from the CE2 formalism reduces exactly to that of the 4-mode truncation of generalized modulational instability. We then show that zonal flows constitute pattern formation amid a turbulent bath. Zonostrophic instability is an example of a Type I s instability of pattern-forming systems. The broken symmetry is statistical homogeneity. Near the bifurcation point, the slow dynamics of CE2 are governed by a well-known amplitude equation, the real Ginzburg-Landau equation. The important features of this amplitude equation, and therefore of the CE2 system, are multiple. First, the zonal flow wavelength is not unique. In an idealized, infinite system, there is a continuous band of zonal flow wavelengths that allow a nonlinear equilibrium. Second, of these wavelengths, only those within a smaller subband are stable. Unstable wavelengths must evolve to reach a stable wavelength; this process manifests as merging jets. These behaviors are shown numerically to hold in the CE2 system, and we calculate a stability diagram. The stability diagram is in agreement with direct numerical simulations of the quasilinear

Modification of SrTiO3 single-crystalline surface after plasma flow treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levin, Alexandr A.; Weissbach, Torsten; Leisegang, Tilmann; Meyer, Dirk C. [Institut fuer Strukturphysik, Technische Universitaet Dresden, 01062 Dresden (Germany); Kulagin, Nikolay A. [Kharkiv National University for Radioelectronics, av. Shakespeare 6-48, 61045 Kharkiv (Ukraine); Langer, Enrico [Institut fuer Festkoerperphysik, Technische Universitaet Dresden, 01062 Dresden (Germany)

2009-07-01

Surface of pure and transition metal-doped SrTiO3(STO) single crystals before and after hydrogen plasma-flow treatment (energy of 5..20 J/cm2) is investigated by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXRD), fluorescence X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Plasma treatment results in the formation of a textured polycrystalline layer at the surface of the single-crystalline samples with different orientation. The formation of the quasi-ordered structures consisting of nanoscale-sized pyramids is observed by SEM. XANES evidences the change of the valency of the part of Ti4+ to Ti3+ due to the plasma treatment. The data obtained together with results of X-ray spectroscopy measurements gives evidences of the change of stoichiometry of the STO samples resulting in a change of their physical properties after plasma treatment.

Method of measuring directed electron velocities in flowing plasma using the incoherent regions of laser scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacoby, B.A.; York, T.M.

1979-02-01

With the presumption that a shifted Maxwellian velocity distribution adequately describes the electrons in a flowing plasma, the details of a method to measure their directed velocity are described. The system consists of a ruby laser source and two detectors set 180 0 from each other and both set at 90 0 with respect to the incident laser beam. The lowest velocity that can be determined by this method depends on the electron thermal velocity. The application of this diagnostic to the measurement of flow velocities in plasma being lost from the ends of theta-pinch devices is described

Locked magnetic island chains in toroidally flow damped tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fitzpatrick, R; Waelbroeck, F L

2010-01-01

The physics of a locked magnetic island chain maintained in the pedestal of an H-mode tokamak plasma by a static, externally generated, multi-harmonic, helical magnetic perturbation is investigated. The non-resonant harmonics of the external perturbation are assumed to give rise to significant toroidal flow damping in the pedestal, in addition to the naturally occurring poloidal flow damping. Furthermore, the flow damping is assumed to be sufficiently strong to relax the pedestal ion toroidal and poloidal fluid velocities to fixed values determined by neoclassical theory. The resulting neoclassical ion flow causes a helical phase-shift to develop between the locked island chain and the resonant harmonic of the external perturbation. Furthermore, when this phase-shift exceeds a critical value, the chain unlocks from the resonant harmonic and starts to rotate, after which it decays away and is replaced by a helical current sheet. The neoclassical flow also generates an ion polarization current in the vicinity of the island chain which either increases or decreases the chain's radial width, depending on the direction of the flow. If the polarization effect is stabilizing, and exceeds a critical amplitude, then the helical island equilibrium becomes unstable, and the chain again decays away. The critical amplitude of the resonant harmonic of the external perturbation at which the island chain either unlocks or becomes unstable is calculated as a function of the pedestal ion pressure, the neoclassical poloidal and toroidal ion velocities and the poloidal and toroidal flow damping rates.

Instabilities and vortex dynamics in shear flow of magnetized plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajima, T.; Horton, W.; Morrison, P.J.; Schutkeker, J.; Kamimura, T.; Mima, K.; Abe, Y.

1990-03-01

Gradient-driven instabilities and the subsequent nonlinear evolution of generated vortices in sheared E x B flows are investigated for magnetized plasmas with and without gravity (magnetic curvature) and magnetic shear by using theory and implicit particle simulations. In the linear eigenmode analysis, the instabilities considered are the Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability and the resistive interchange instability. The presence of the shear flow can stabilize these instabilities. The dynamics of the K-H instability and the vortex dynamics can be uniformly described by the initial flow pattern with a vorticity localization parameter ε. The observed growth of the K-H modes is exponential in time for linearly unstable modes, secular for marginal mode, and absent until driven nonlinearly for linearly stable modes. The distance between two vortex centers experiences rapid merging while the angle θ between the axis of vortices and the external shear flow increases. These vortices proceed toward their overall coalescence, while shedding small-scale vortices and waves. The main features of vortex dynamics of the nonlinear coalescence and the tilt or the rotational instabilities of vortices are shown to be given by using a low dimension Hamiltonian representation for interacting vortex cores in the shear flow. 24 refs., 19 figs., 1 tab

INTERACTIONS OF FLOWING PLASMA WITH COLLECTING SPHERE/OBJECTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

HUTCHINSON, IAN H.

2013-10-31

The proposer’s computational flowing plasma group, supported in part by NSF/DOE since 2006, has been enormously productive. It has published 22 journal articles, of which 3 are in Physical Review Letters; received a total of 330 citations, and made 5 invited and numerous contributed presentations at international conferences. In addition, other groups have published at least 3 papers [20-22] based upon results they have obtained from the SCEPTIC code, developed by the proposer. The codes developed for this subject are Particle In Cell (PIC) codes, representing the entire ion distribution function and its variation in space in the vicinity of an absorbing object.

Global characteristics of zonal flows generated by ion temperature gradient driven turbulence in tokamak plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyato, Naoaki; Kishimoto, Yasuaki; Li, Jiquan

2004-08-01

Global structure of zonal flows driven by ion temperature gradient driven turbulence in tokamak plasmas is investigated using a global electromagnetic Landau fluid code. Characteristics of the coupled system of the zonal flows and the turbulence change with the safety factor q. In a low q region stationary zonal flows are excited and suppress the turbulence effectively. Coupling between zonal flows and poloidally asymmetric pressure perturbations via a geodesic curvature makes the zonal flows oscillatory in a high q region. Also we identify energy transfer from the zonal flows to the turbulence via the poloidally asymmetric pressure perturbations in the high q region. Therefore in the high q region the zonal flows cannot quench the turbulent transport completely. (author)

Physicochemical characterization of titanium dioxide pigments using various techniques for size determination and asymmetric flow field flow fractionation hyphenated with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Helsper, Hans; Peters, Ruud J.B.; Bemmel, van Greet; Herrera Rivera, Zahira; Wagner, Stephan; Kammer, von der Frank; Tromp, Peter C.; Hofmann, Thilo; Weigel, Stefan

2016-01-01

Seven commercial titanium dioxide pigments and two other well-defined TiO₂ materials (TiMs) were physicochemically characterised using asymmetric flow field flow fractionation (aF4) for separation, various techniques to determine size distribution and inductively coupled plasma mass

Blob/hole formation and zonal-flow generation in the edge plasma of the JET tokamak

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, G.S.; Naulin, Volker; Fundamenski, W.

2009-01-01

The first experimental evidence showing the connection between blob/hole formation and zonal-flow generation was obtained in the edge plasma of the JET tokamak. Holes as well as blobs are observed to be born in the edge shear layer, where zonal-flows shear off meso-scale coherent structures......, leading to disconnection of positive and negative pressure perturbations. The newly formed blobs transport azimuthal momentum up the gradient of the azimuthal flow and drive the zonal-flow shear while moving outwards. During this process energy is transferred from the meso-scale coherent structures...

Plasma flow switch characterization for the Los Alamos Foil Implosion Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowers, R.L.; Brownell, J.H.; Greene, A.E.; Peterson, D.L.

1990-01-01

The next system design under consideration for the Los Alamos Foil Implosion Project is projected to deliver tens of mega-amperes of electrical current produced by high-explosive driven flux compression generators on a time scale of about one microsecond to a load foil. The use of such generators, with time scales of order several tenths of a millisecond, leads to considerable pulse shaping problems. Previously it was noted that a commutating switch might serve as an efficient alternative to a closing switch in transferring current from a coaxial transmission line to a cylindrically imploding load. Research at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory (AFWL) has met with considerable success in efficiently transferring currents of order 10 MA to an imploding liner using the plasma flow switch concept (PFS). Besides efficiently transferring current, the plasma flow switch protects the load region from high voltages generated by an opening switch until the current is present to provide magnetic insulation. For these reasons, a PFS is being investigated as the final pulse shaping step in the design. A series of capacitor bank experiments is also being fielded to help investigate physics issues and to benchmark the codes

A 3-MA compact-toroid-plasma-flow-switched plasma focus demonstration experiment on Shiva Star

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kiuttu, G F; Degnan, J H [Phillips Lab., Kirtland AFB, NM (United States). High Energy Sources Div.; Graham, J D [Maxwell Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); and others

1997-12-31

A novel dense plasma focus experiment using the Shiva Star capacitor bank is described. The experiment uses a compact toroid (CT) magnetized plasma flow switch (PFS) to initiate the focus implosion. The CT armature stably and reproducibly translates up to 3 MA from the vacuum feed region through coaxial electrodes to the gas puff central load. The inertia of the 1 mg CT and the work that must be done in compressing the internal magnetic fields during the translation provide a delay in current delivery to the pinch of 5 - 10 {mu}s, which matches the bank quarter cycle time relatively well. Effectiveness of the current delivery was monitored primarily by inductive probes in the PFS region, fast photography of the focus, and x-ray and neutron measurements of the pinch. K shell x-ray yields using neon gas were as high as 1 kJ, and 10{sup 8} neutrons were produced in a deuterium gas focus. (author). 4 figs., 10 refs.

A 3-MA compact-toroid-plasma-flow-switched plasma focus demonstration experiment on Shiva Star

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiuttu, G.F.; Degnan, J.H.

1996-01-01

A novel dense plasma focus experiment using the Shiva Star capacitor bank is described. The experiment uses a compact toroid (CT) magnetized plasma flow switch (PFS) to initiate the focus implosion. The CT armature stably and reproducibly translates up to 3 MA from the vacuum feed region through coaxial electrodes to the gas puff central load. The inertia of the 1 mg CT and the work that must be done in compressing the internal magnetic fields during the translation provide a delay in current delivery to the pinch of 5 - 10 μs, which matches the bank quarter cycle time relatively well. Effectiveness of the current delivery was monitored primarily by inductive probes in the PFS region, fast photography of the focus, and x-ray and neutron measurements of the pinch. K shell x-ray yields using neon gas were as high as 1 kJ, and 10 8 neutrons were produced in a deuterium gas focus. (author). 4 figs., 10 refs

Miniaturized heat flux sensor for high enthalpy plasma flow characterization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gardarein, Jean-Laurent; Battaglia, Jean-Luc; Lohlec, Stefan; Jullien, Pierre; Van Ootegemd, Bruno; Couzie, Jacques; Lasserre, Jean-Pierre

2013-01-01

An improved miniaturized heat flux sensor is presented aiming at measuring extreme heat fluxes of plasma wind tunnel flows. The sensor concept is based on an in-depth thermocouple measurement with a miniaturized design and an advanced calibration approach. Moreover, a better spatial estimation of the heat flux profile along the flow cross section is realized with this improved small sensor design. Based on the linearity assumption, the heat flux is determined using the impulse response of the sensor relating the heat flux to the temperature of the embedded thermocouple. The non-integer system identification (NISI) procedure is applied that allows a calculation of the impulse response from transient calibration measurements with a known heat flux of a laser source. The results show that the new sensor leads to radially highly resolved heat flux measurement for a flow with only a few centimetres in diameter, the so far not understood non-symmetric heat flux profiles do not occur with the new sensor design. It is shown that this former effect is not a physical effect of the flow, but a drawback of the classical sensor design. (authors)

Cluster view of the plasma sheet boundary layer and bursty bulk flow connection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. W. Lennartsson

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The high-latitude boundaries of the plasma sheet (PSBL are dynamic latitude zones of recurring and transient (minutes to tens of minutes earthward and magnetic field-aligned bursts of plasma, each being more or less confined in longitude as well, whose ionic component is dominated by protons with flux, energies and density that are consistent with a central plasma sheet (CPS source at varying distance (varying rates of energy time dispersion, sometimes as close as the ~19 RE Cluster apogees, or closer still. The arguably most plausible source consists of so called "bursty bulk flows" (BBFs, i.e. proton bulk flow events with large, positive and bursty GSE vx. Known mainly from CPS observations made at GSE x>−30 RE, the BBF type events probably take place much further downtail as well. What makes the BBFs an especially plausible source are (1 their earthward bulk flow, which helps explain the lack of distinctive latitudinal PSBL energy dispersion, and (2 their association with a transient strong increase of the local tail Bz component ("local dipolarization". The enhanced Bz provides intermittent access to higher latitudes for the CPS plasma, resulting in local density reductions in the tail midplane, as illustrated here by proton data from the Cluster CIS CODIF instruments. Another sign of kinship between the PSBL bursts and the BBFs is their similar spatial fine structure. The PSBL bursts have prominent filaments aligned along the magnetic field with transverse flux gradients that are often characterized by local ~10 keV proton gyroradii scale size (or even smaller, as evidenced by Cluster measurements. The same kind of fine structure is also found during Cluster near-apogee traversals of the tail midplane, as illustrated here and implied by recently published statistics on BBFs obtained with Cluster multipoint observations at varying satellite separations. Altogether, the Cluster observations described here mesh rather well with theories

An unstructured shock-fitting solver for hypersonic plasma flows in chemical non-equilibrium

Science.gov (United States)

Pepe, R.; Bonfiglioli, A.; D'Angola, A.; Colonna, G.; Paciorri, R.

2015-11-01

A CFD solver, using Residual Distribution Schemes on unstructured grids, has been extended to deal with inviscid chemical non-equilibrium flows. The conservative equations have been coupled with a kinetic model for argon plasma which includes the argon metastable state as independent species, taking into account electron-atom and atom-atom processes. Results in the case of an hypersonic flow around an infinite cylinder, obtained by using both shock-capturing and shock-fitting approaches, show higher accuracy of the shock-fitting approach.

Investigating the flow dynamics and chemistry of an expanding thermal plasma through CH(A-X) emission spectra

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hansen, T. A. R.; Colsters, P. G. J.; M. C. M. van de Sanden,; Engeln, R.

2011-01-01

The gas flow in a linear plasma reactor and the plasma chemistry during hydrogenated amorphous carbon and graphite etching are investigated via time and spatially resolved measurements of the ion density and CH emission. A convolution of the ion and hydrocarbon density shows the importance of charge

Rydberg gas theory of a glow discharge plasma: I. Application to the electrical behaviour of a fast flowing glow discharge plasma.

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Rod S; Mitchell, David J; Dickinson, Paul M

2010-04-21

Current-voltage (I-V) curves have been measured, independent of the main discharge, for electricity passing through the steady state fast flowing 'afterglow' plasma of a low power dc glow discharge in Ar. Voltage profiles along the axial line of conduction have been mapped using fixed probes and potentiometry, and the mass spectra of cations emerging from the downstream sampling Cone, also acting as a probe anode, were recorded simultaneously. Floating double probe experiments were also carried out. The electrical behavior is consistent with the well established I-V characteristics of such discharges, but does not comply with classical plasma theory predictions. The plasma decays along the line of conduction, with a lifetime of approximately 1 ms, despite carrying a steady state current, and its potential is below that of the large surface area anode voltage; a situation which cannot exist in the presence of a conventional free ion-electron plasma, unless the electron temperature is super cold. Currents, large by comparison with the main discharge current, and independent of it, are induced to flow through the downstream plasma, from the Anode (acting as a cathode) to the anodic ion exit Cone, induced by electron impact ionisation at the anode, but without necessarily increasing the plasma density. It appears to be conducted by direct charge transfer between a part of the anode surface (acting as cathode to the auxiliary circuit) and the plasma, without secondary electron emission or heating, which suggests the direct involvement of Rydberg atom intermediates. The reaction energy defect (= the work function of the electrode surface) fits with the plasma potential threshold observed for the cathodic reaction to occur. A true free ion-electron plasma is readily detected by the observation of cations at the anode surface, when induced at the downstream anode, at high bias voltages, by the electron impact ionisation in the boundary region. In contrast to the classical

Two dimensional radial gas flows in atmospheric pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Gwihyun; Park, Seran; Shin, Hyunsu; Song, Seungho; Oh, Hoon-Jung; Ko, Dae Hong; Choi, Jung-Il; Baik, Seung Jae

2017-12-01

Atmospheric pressure (AP) operation of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is one of promising concepts for high quality and low cost processing. Atmospheric plasma discharge requires narrow gap configuration, which causes an inherent feature of AP PECVD. Two dimensional radial gas flows in AP PECVD induces radial variation of mass-transport and that of substrate temperature. The opposite trend of these variations would be the key consideration in the development of uniform deposition process. Another inherent feature of AP PECVD is confined plasma discharge, from which volume power density concept is derived as a key parameter for the control of deposition rate. We investigated deposition rate as a function of volume power density, gas flux, source gas partial pressure, hydrogen partial pressure, plasma source frequency, and substrate temperature; and derived a design guideline of deposition tool and process development in terms of deposition rate and uniformity.

Evolution of an electron plasma vortex in a strain flow

Science.gov (United States)

Danielson, J. R.

2016-10-01

Coherent vortex structures are ubiquitous in fluids and plasmas and are examples of self-organized structures in nonlinear dynamical systems. The fate of these structures in strain and shear flows is an important issue in many physical systems, including geophysical fluids and shear suppression of turbulence in plasmas. In two-dimensions, an inviscid, incompressible, ideal fluid can be modeled with the Euler equations, which is perhaps the simplest system that supports vortices. The Drift-Poisson equations for pure electron plasmas in a strong, uniform magnetic field are isomorphic to the Euler equations, and so electron plasmas are an excellent test bed for the study of 2D vortex dynamics. This talk will describe results from a new experiment using pure electron plasmas in a specially designed Penning-Malmberg (PM) trap to study the evolution of an initially axisymmetric 2D vortex subject to externally imposed strains. Complementary vortex-in-cell simulations are conducted to validate the 2D nature of the experimental results and to extend the parameter range of these studies. Data for vortex destruction using both instantaneously applied and time dependent strains with flat (constant vorticity) and extended radial profiles will be presented. The role of vortex self-organization will be discussed. A simple 2D model works well for flat vorticity profiles. However, extended profiles exhibit more complicated behavior, such as filamentation and stripping; and these effects and their consequences will be discussed. Work done in collaboration with N. C. Hurst, D. H. E. Dubin, and C. M. Surko.

Dynamics and control of the vortex flow behind a slender conical forebody by a pair of plasma actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Xuanshi; Long, Yuexiao; Wang, Jianlei; Liu, Feng; Luo, Shijun

2018-02-01

Detailed particle-image-velocimetry (PIV) and surface pressure measurements are presented to study the vortex flow behind a slender conical forebody at high angles of attack. The results confirm the existence of two randomly appearing mirror imaged asymmetric bi-stable states of the separation vortices, giving rise to large side force and moment. A pair of carefully designed dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators mounted near the apex and on both sides of the conical body are used to manipulate the vortex flow and thus provide control of the side forces on the body without using flaps. By making use of a duty-cycle actuation scheme that alternately actuates the port and starboard plasma actuators and optimizing the duty-cycle frequency, the present work demonstrates the feasibility of achieving a nearly perfect linear proportional control of the side force and moment in response to the duty-cycle ratio. Phase-locked PIV and surface pressure measurements are used to study the unsteady dynamic evolution of the flow within one duty-cycle actuation to reveal the flow control mechanism. It is found that under the duty-cycle actuation with the optimized frequency, the vortex flow essentially follows the plasma actuation by alternating between the two bi-stable states controlled directly by the duty-cycle ratio.

Steam Plasma Flows Generated in Gerdien Arc: Environment for Energy Gas Production from Organics and for Surface Coatings

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Hrabovský, Milan

2011-01-01

Roč. 6, č. 5 (2011), s. 792-801 ISSN 1880-5558. [Seventh International Conference on Flow Dynamics. Sendai, 01.11.2010-03.11.2010] R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP205/11/2070 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20430508 Keywords : Thermal Plasma * Dc Arc Plasma Torch * Gerdien Arc * Plasma Gasification Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jfst/6/5/792/_pdf

Development of localized arc filament RF plasma actuators for high-speed and high Reynolds number flow control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, J.-H.; Nishihara, M.; Adamovich, I.V.; Samimy, M.; Gorbatov, S.V.; Pliavaka, F.V.

2010-01-01

Recently developed localized arc filament plasma actuators (LAFPAs) have shown tremendous control authority in high-speed and high Reynolds number flow for mixing enhancement and noise mitigation. Previously, these actuators were powered by a high-voltage pulsed DC plasma generator with low energy coupling efficiency of 5-10%. In the present work, a new custom-designed 8-channel pulsed radio frequency (RF) plasma generator has been developed to power up to 8 plasma actuators operated over a wide range of forcing frequencies (up to 50 kHz) and duty cycles (1-50%), and at high energy coupling efficiency (up to 80-85%). This reduces input electrical power requirements by approximately an order of magnitude, down to 12 W per actuator operating at 10% duty cycle. The new pulsed RF plasma generator is scalable to a system with a large number of channels. Performance of pulsed RF plasma actuators used for flow control was studied in a Mach 0.9 circular jet with a Reynolds number of about 623,000 and compared with that of pulsed DC actuators. Eight actuators were distributed uniformly on the perimeter of a 2.54-cm diameter circular nozzle extension. Both types of actuators coupled approximately the same amount of power to the flow, but with drastically different electrical inputs to the power supplies. Particle image velocimetry measurements showed that jet centerline Mach number decay produced by DC and RF actuators operating at the same forcing frequencies and duty cycles is very similar. At a forcing Strouhal number near 0.3, close to the jet column instability frequency, well-organized periodic structures, with similar patterns and dimensions, were generated in the jets forced by both DC and RF actuators. Far-field acoustic measurements demonstrated similar trends in the overall sound pressure level (OASPL) change produced by both types of actuators, resulting in OASPL reduction up to 1.2-1.5 dB in both cases. We conclude that pulsed RF actuators demonstrate flow

Wind tunnel experiments on flow separation control of an Unmanned Air Vehicle by nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Kang; Liang Hua

2016-01-01

Plasma flow control (PFC) is a new kind of active flow control technology, which can improve the aerodynamic performances of aircrafts remarkably. The flow separation control of an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) by nanosecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation (NDPAA) is investigated experimentally in this paper. Experimental results show that the applied voltages for both the nanosecond discharge and the millisecond discharge are nearly the same, but the current for nanosecond discharge (30 A) is much bigger than that for millisecond discharge (0.1 A). The flow field induced by the NDPAA is similar to a shock wave upward, and has a maximal velocity of less than 0.5 m/s. Fast heating effect for nanosecond discharge induces shock waves in the quiescent air. The lasting time of the shock waves is about 80 μs and its spread velocity is nearly 380 m/s. By using the NDPAA, the flow separation on the suction side of the UAV can be totally suppressed and the critical stall angle of attack increases from 20° to 27° with a maximal lift coefficient increment of 11.24%. The flow separation can be suppressed when the discharge voltage is larger than the threshold value, and the optimum operation frequency for the NDPAA is the one which makes the Strouhal number equal one. The NDPAA is more effective than the millisecond discharge plasma aerodynamic actuation (MDPAA) in boundary layer flow control. The main mechanism for nanosecond discharge is shock effect. Shock effect is more effective in flow control than momentum effect in high speed flow control. (paper)

Mean and oscillating plasma flows and turbulence interactions across the L-H confinement transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, G D; Angioni, C; Ryter, F; Sauter, P; Vicente, J

2011-02-11

A complex interaction between turbulence driven E × B zonal flow oscillations, i.e., geodesic acoustic modes (GAMs), the turbulence, and mean equilibrium flows is observed during the low to high (L-H) plasma confinement mode transition in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. Below the L-H threshold at low densities a limit-cycle oscillation forms with competition between the turbulence level and the GAM flow shearing. At higher densities the cycle is diminished, while in the H mode the cycle duration becomes too short to sustain the GAM, which is replaced by large amplitude broadband flow perturbations. Initially GAM amplitude increases as the H-mode transition is approached, but is then suppressed in the H mode by enhanced mean flow shear.

A flowing plasma model to describe drift waves in a cylindrical helicon discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, L.; Hole, M. J.; Corr, C. S.

2011-01-01

A two-fluid model developed originally to describe wave oscillations in the vacuum arc centrifuge, a cylindrical, rapidly rotating, low temperature, and confined plasma column, is applied to interpret plasma oscillations in a RF generated linear magnetized plasma [WOMBAT (waves on magnetized beams and turbulence)], with similar density and field strength. Compared to typical centrifuge plasmas, WOMBAT plasmas have slower normalized rotation frequency, lower temperature, and lower axial velocity. Despite these differences, the two-fluid model provides a consistent description of the WOMBAT plasma configuration and yields qualitative agreement between measured and predicted wave oscillation frequencies with axial field strength. In addition, the radial profile of the density perturbation predicted by this model is consistent with the data. Parameter scans show that the dispersion curve is sensitive to the axial field strength and the electron temperature, and the dependence of oscillation frequency with electron temperature matches the experiment. These results consolidate earlier claims that the density and floating potential oscillations are a resistive drift mode, driven by the density gradient. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed physics model of flowing plasmas in the diffusion region away from the RF source. Possible extensions to the model, including temperature nonuniformity and magnetic field oscillations, are also discussed.

Numerical study on plasma flow control to enhance the aerodynamic characteristic of the aerofoil on propeller root region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Yufeng; Nie Wansheng; Che Xueke

2012-01-01

Based on the body force aerodynamic actuation mechanism of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma, the effect of DBD plasma flow control to enhance the aerodynamic characteristics of aerofoil on propeller root region under the negative angle of attack condition was numerically studied at two kinds of actuator location schemes. The results show that the plasma induce body force imparted by the actuator located at down surface of the aerofoil is bigger than that imparted by the actuator located at front or behind of the aerofoil. When DBD actuator is located at down surface of the aerofoil, the separate flow phenomenon can be entirely restrained, but the negative thrust of propeller will increase, so the torque of propeller will decrease. When the actuator is located at front and behind of the aerofoil, the thrust generated by the aerofoil of propeller root region under the negative angle of attack condition will increase, but the separate flow phenomenon cannot be restrained, so the torque of propeller will also increase. (authors)

11th International Conference on Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows: ASTRONUM-2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

PREFACEThe Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR) at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Maison de la Simulation at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat a l’energie atomique et aux energies alternatives, CEA) organized the 11th annual International Conference on Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows (ASTRONUM-2016) on June 6—10, 2016 in Monterey, California, USA.The Program Committee consisted of Tahar Amari (CNRS Ecole Polytechnique, France), Edouard Audit (CEA/CNRS Maison de la Simulation, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, co-chair), Amitava Bhattacharjee (Princeton University, USA), Phillip Colella (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA), Anthony Mezzacappa (University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA), Ewald Müller (Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics, Garching, Germany), Nikolai Pogorelov (University of Alabama in Huntsville/CSPAR, USA, chair), Kazunari Shibata (Kyoto University, Japan), James Stone (Princeton University, USA), Jon Linker (Predictive Science, Inc., USA), and Gary P. Zank (University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA).The conference attracted 92 scientists representing different branches of the plasma simulation community. The distinctive feature of this conference is a combination of diverse research topics, all of which are essential for performing high-resolution, continuum mechanics and particle, simulations of physical phenomena in space physics and astrophysics. Among such topics were software packages for modeling and analyzing plasma flows; advanced numerical methods for space and astrophysical flows; large-scale fluid-based, kinetic, and hybrid simulations; turbulence and cosmic ray transport; and magnetohydrodynamics. The applications discussed included cosmology and galaxy formation, supernova explosions, physics of the Sun-heliosphere-magnetosphere environments, the interstellar medium and star formation, stellar physics, experimental plasma physics, astrophysical

Alternative model of space-charge-limited thermionic current flow through a plasma

Science.gov (United States)

Campanell, M. D.

2018-04-01

It is widely assumed that thermionic current flow through a plasma is limited by a "space-charge-limited" (SCL) cathode sheath that consumes the hot cathode's negative bias and accelerates upstream ions into the cathode. Here, we formulate a fundamentally different current-limited mode. In the "inverse" mode, the potentials of both electrodes are above the plasma potential, so that the plasma ions are confined. The bias is consumed by the anode sheath. There is no potential gradient in the neutral plasma region from resistivity or presheath. The inverse cathode sheath pulls some thermoelectrons back to the cathode, thereby limiting the circuit current. Thermoelectrons entering the zero-field plasma region that undergo collisions may also be sent back to the cathode, further attenuating the circuit current. In planar geometry, the plasma density is shown to vary linearly across the electrode gap. A continuum kinetic planar plasma diode simulation model is set up to compare the properties of current modes with classical, conventional SCL, and inverse cathode sheaths. SCL modes can exist only if charge-exchange collisions are turned off in the potential well of the virtual cathode to prevent ion trapping. With the collisions, the current-limited equilibrium must be inverse. Inverse operating modes should therefore be present or possible in many plasma devices that rely on hot cathodes. Evidence from past experiments is discussed. The inverse mode may offer opportunities to minimize sputtering and power consumption that were not previously explored due to the common assumption of SCL sheaths.

Self-regulated shear flow turbulence in confined plasmas: Basic concepts and potential applications to the L → H transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamond, P.H.; Shapiro, V.; Schevchenko, V.; Kim, Y.B.; Rosenbluth, M.N.; Carreras, B.A.; Sidikman, K.; Lynch, V.E.; Garcia, L.; Terry, P.W.; Sagdeev, R.Z.

1992-01-01

This paper describes developments in the theory of edge plasma turbulence in a differentially rotating plasma. The thesis that such systems are dynamically self-regulating is presented. Results indicate that relevant fluctuations will generate a predominantly curved flow. Similar, curvature is shown to be the predominant flow profile effect on fluctuations. A system fixed point is identified, the eigenfrequencies for small oscillations around it are calculated, and an over-all stability criterion is determined

Parameters of the plasma of a dc pulsating discharge in a supersonic air flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shibkov, V. M., E-mail: shibkov@phys.msu.ru; Shibkova, L. V.; Logunov, A. A. [Moscow State University, Faculty of Physics (Russian Federation)

2017-03-15

A dc discharge in a cold (T = 200 K) supersonic air flow at a static pressure of 200–400 Torr was studied experimentally. The excited unsteady pulsating discharge has the form of a thin plasma channel with a diameter of ≤1 mm, stretched downstream the flow. Depending on the discharge current, the pulsation frequency varies from 800 to 1600 Hz and the electron temperature varies from 8000 to 15000 K.

Method for acquiring pressure measurements in presence of plasma-induced interference for supersonic flow control applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Narayanaswamy, Venkateswaran; Clemens, Noel T; Raja, Laxminarayan L

2011-01-01

The operation of pulsed-plasma actuators for flow control is often associated with the presence of charged species in the flow and severe electromagnetic interference with external circuitry. These effects can lead to time-resolved transducer pressure measurements that are contaminated with electromagnetic interference effects or even transducer damage due to the interaction with charged species. A new technique is developed that enables high-bandwidth pressure measurements to be made in the presence of such rapidly switched plasma actuators. The technique is applied for the specific configuration of a pulsed-plasma jet actuator (spark jet) that is used to control the unsteadiness of a shock wave/boundary layer interaction generated by a compression ramp in a Mach 3 flow. The critical component of the technique involves using a pulsed-ground electrode to drain the charged species from the plasma jet before they reach the pressure transducer. The pulsed-ground electrode was shown to drain charged species into the pulsed ground prior to interacting with the transducer, which made it possible to make measurements without damaging the transducer. The resulting signals were still contaminated by electromagnetic interference spikes and so a data-processing technique was used to remove the artifacts and recover a largely uncontaminated power spectrum. The signal processing scheme used interpolation schemes previously developed for laser Doppler velocimetry applications. The data-processing procedure is demonstrated with a benchmark case in which the electromagnetic interference was isolated from the pulsed-plasma jet actuation effect. It is shown that the data-processing procedure removed the contamination from the electromagnetic interference at all frequencies but for the pulsing frequency and its higher harmonics

HF DBD plasma actuators for reduction of cylinder noise in flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kopiev, V F; Kopiev, V A; Zaytsev, M Yu; Kazansky, P N; Moralev, I A

2017-01-01

Surface high frequency dielectric barrier discharge (HF DBD) was used to reduce flow-induced noise, radiated by circular cylinder in cross flow. Effect of HF DBD actuators is studied for flow velocity up to 80 m s −1 (Reynolds numbers up to 2.18 · 10 5 ), corresponding to the typical aircraft landing approach speed. Noise measurements were performed by microphone array in anechoic chamber; averaged flow parameters were studied by particle image velocimetry (PIV). Actuator was powered by high-frequency voltage in hundreds kHz range in steady or modulated mode with the modulation frequency of 0.3–20 kHz (Strouhal number St of 0.4 to 20). It is demonstrated that upstream directed plasma actuators are able to reduce the vortex noise of a cylinder by 10 dB. Noise reduction is accompanied by significant reorganization of the wake behind a cylinder, decreasing both wake width and turbulence level. The physical mechanism related to broadband noise control by HF DBD actuator is also discussed. (paper)

Use of nonimaging nuclear medicine techniques to assess the effect of flunixin meglumine on effective renal plasma flow and effective renal blood flow in healthy horses.

Science.gov (United States)

Held, J P; Daniel, G B

1991-10-01

The effect of flunixin meglumine on renal function was studied in 6 healthy horses by use of nonimaging nuclear medicine techniques. Effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) and effective renal blood flow (ERBF) were determined by plasma clearance of 131I-orthoiodohippuric acid before and after administration of flunixin meglumine. Mean ERPF and ERBF was 6.03 ml/min/kg and 10.7 ml/min/kg, respectively, before treatment and was 5.7 ml/min/kg and 9.7 ml/min/kg, respectively, after treatment. Although ERPF and ERBF decreased after flunixin meglumine administration, the difference was not statistically significant.

Plasma flow around and charge distribution of a dust cluster in a rf discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Schleede, J.; Lewerentz, L.; Bronold, F. X.; Schneider, R.; Fehske, H.

2018-04-01

We employ a particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision/particle-particle particle-mesh simulation to study the plasma flow around and the charge distribution of a three-dimensional dust cluster in the sheath of a low-pressure rf argon discharge. The geometry of the cluster and its position in the sheath are fixed to the experimental values, prohibiting a mechanical response of the cluster. Electrically, however, the cluster and the plasma environment, mimicking also the experimental situation, are coupled self-consistently. We find a broad distribution of the charges collected by the grains. The ion flux shows on the scale of the Debye length strong focusing and shadowing inside and outside the cluster due to the attraction of the ions to the negatively charged grains, whereas the electron flux is characterized on this scale only by a weak spatial modulation of its magnitude depending on the rf phase. On the scale of the individual dust potentials, however, the electron flux deviates in the vicinity of the cluster strongly from the laminar flow associated with the plasma sheath. It develops convection patterns to compensate for the depletion of electrons inside the dust cluster.

Microchannel-flowed-plasma modification of octadecyltrichlorosilane self-assembled-monolayers for liquid crystal alignment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, W.; Chiang, C.-Y.; Underwood, I.

2013-01-01

We report that a chemical patterning technique based on local plasma modification of self-assembled monolayers has been utilized to fabricate surfaces for domain liquid crystal alignment. Highly hydrophobic octadecyltrichlorosilane monolayers deposited on glass substrates coated with Indium-Tin-Oxide were brought into contact with elastomeric stamps comprising trenches on a micro scale, and then exposed to an oxygen plasma. In the regions exposed to the plasma the monolayer was etched away leaving a patterned surface that exhibited surface energy differences between surface domains. The surfaces that bear the micropatterns have been shown to be capable of producing patterned alignment of nematic liquid crystal. - Highlights: • Chemical surface-patterning is used to fabricate liquid crystal alignment surface. • Highly hydrophobic octadecyltrichlorosilane monolayer is deposited on substrate. • O 2 plasma flow is used to etch the monolayer to form patterned surface. • The patterned surface exhibits surface energy differences between surface domains. • The surface borne the micropatterns is capable of domain liquid crystal alignment

Radiation yield from SHIVA Star plasma flow switch driven fast liner implosions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Degnan, J.H.; Baker, W.L.; Beason, J.D.

1987-01-01

A 2.5 Terawatt 0.5 MJ isotropic equivalent radiation yield was obtained in a SHIVA Star plasma flow switch driven fast liner implosion. The 1313 μF 80 kV discharge delivered 13 MA to a coaxial vacuum inductive store with a plasma armature. Over 9.4 MA current was plasma flow switched to the implosion load (>90% of the gun muzzle current at that time). The load wa a 5 cm radius, 2 cm tall, 200 μg/cm/sup 2/ aluminum plated Formvar cylindrical foil. The radiation pulse was measured with an array of seven X-ray diodes (XRDs). The XRDs all had aluminum photocathodes, a variety of filters and nickel mesh to reduce the incident X-ray photon flux to avoid Child-Langmuir saturation. The filters were chosen so that the authors had seven different diode response functions covering the energy range from 15 eV to about 3 keV. The filters were mounted remote (about 30 cm) from the XRDs. The anode mesh served as part of the mesh array. The distance between meshes was greater than 10 cm. Each XRD had a 5 cm diameter cathode with an aperture limited to a 2 cm diameter. The XRD anode-cathode gap was 1 cm and the bias was 5 kV. The theoretical Child-Langmuir saturation signal was 125 V with 50 Ω termination. The maximum observed signal was 75 V

Control of stationary crossflow modes in swept Hiemenz flows with dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuators

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhefu; Wang, Liang; Fu, Song

2017-09-01

Sensitivity analyses and non-linear parabolized stability equations are solved to provide a computational assessment of the potential use of a Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma actuator for a prolonging laminar region in swept Hiemenz flow. The derivative of the kinetic energy with respect to the body force is deduced, and its components in different directions are defined as sensitivity functions. The results of sensitivity analyses and non-linear parabolized stability equations both indicate that the introduction of a body force as the plasma actuator at the bottom of a crossflow vortex can mitigate instability to delay flow transition. In addition, the actuator is more effective when placed more upstream until the neutral point. In fact, if the actuator is sufficiently close to the neutral point, it is likely to act as a strong disturbance over-riding the natural disturbance and dominating transition. Different operating voltages of the DBD actuators are tested, resulting in an optimal practice for transition delay. The results demonstrate that plasma actuators offer great potential for transition control.

A Novel Plasma-Based Fluid for Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV): In-Vitro Feasibility Study of Flow Diverter Effects in Aneurysm Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Clauser, Johanna; Knieps, Marius S; Büsen, Martin; Ding, Andreas; Schmitz-Rode, Thomas; Steinseifer, Ulrich; Arens, Jutta; Cattaneo, Giorgio

2018-02-27

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a commonly used method for in vitro investigation of fluid dynamics in biomedical devices, such as flow diverters for intracranial aneurysm treatment. Since it is limited to transparent blood substituting fluids like water-glycerol mixture, the influence of coagulation and platelet aggregation is neglected. We aimed at the development and the application of a modified platelet rich plasma as a new PIV fluid with blood-like rheological and coagulation properties. In standardized intracranial aneurysm silicone models, the effect of this new PIV plasma on the fluid dynamics before and after flow diverter implantation was evaluated and compared with water-glycerol measurements. The flow diverting effect was strongly dependent on the used fluid, with considerably lower velocities achieved using PIV plasma, despite the same starting viscosity of both fluids. Moreover, triggering coagulation of PIV plasma allowed for intra-aneurysmal clot formation. We presented the first in vitro PIV investigation using a non-Newtonian, clottable PIV plasma, demonstrating a mismatch to a standard PIV fluid and allowing for thrombus formation.

Compartment model for the measurement of the effective renal plasma flow by radionuclidenephrography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryabov, S.I.; Degtyareva, O.A.

1988-01-01

By reason of model ideas on hippuran kinetics radionuclide nephrograms were split up into a renal component and a component of the tissue background. New indices for the evaluation of renal function symmetry were proposed comprising the proportional determination of the effective renal plasma flow as well as of the symmetrical blood flow. For early diagnosis of latent renal dysfunction a new index is proposed characterizing the excretory renal transport as to local renal blood supply. Empirical indices of 120 patients suffering from chronic glomerulonephritis and pyelonephritis, resp., are stated

Experimental Study of RailPAc Plasma Actuator for High-Authority Aerodynamic Flow Control in One Atmosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Miles; Choi, Young-Joon; Raja, Laxminarayan; Sirohi, Jayant

2014-10-01

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) actuators, a type of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) plasma actuator, have generated considerable interest in recent years. However, theoretical performance limitations hinder their application for high speed flows. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma actuators with higher control authority circumvent these limitations, offering an excellent alternative. The rail plasma actuator (RailPAc) is an MHD actuator which uses Lorentz force to impart momentum to the surrounding air. RailPAc functions by generating a fast propagating arc column between two rail electrodes that accelerate the arc through J × B forces in a self-induced B-field. The arc column drags the surrounding air to induce aerodynamic flow motion. Our study of the RailPAc will include a description of the transient arc discharge structure through high-speed imaging and a description of the arc composition and temperature through time-resolved emission spectroscopy. Time-resolved force measurements quantify momentum transfer from the arc to the surrounding air and provides a direct measure of the actuator control authority.

Sheared flow layer formation in tokamak plasmas with reversed magnetic shear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, J.Q.; Long, Y.X.; Mou, Z.Z.; Zhang, J.H.; Li, J.Q.

2005-01-01

Sheared flow layer (SFL) formation due to magnetic energy release through tearing-reconnections in tokamak plasmas is investigated. The characteristics of the SFLs created in the development of double tearing mode, mediated by electron viscosity in configurations with non-monotonic safety factor q profiles and, therefore, two rational flux surfaces of same q value, are analyzed in detail as an example. Quasi-linear simulations demonstrate that the sheared flows induced by the mode have desirable characteristics (lying at the boundaries of the magnetic islands), and sufficient levels required for internal transport barrier (ITB) formation. A possible correlation of the SFLs with experimental observations, that double transport barrier structures are preferentially formed in proximity of the two rational surfaces, is also proffered. (author)

Levitated superconductor ring trap (mini-RT) project - A new self-organized structure with strong plasma flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogawa, Y.; Himura, H.; Hishinuma, Y.

2003-01-01

Mahajan-Yoshida has theoretically developed a new relaxation state under the condition of a strong plasma flow, and proposed a possibility for confining high beta plasmas. In this self-organized state, two fluids (electron and ion) would relax to the condition given by the relation β + (V/V A ) 2 = const.. An internal coil device is suitable for studying a self-organized structure with strong plasma flow, because a strong toroidal flow is easily induced by introducing an appropriate radial electric field. We are constructing a Mini-RT device, which is equipping a floating coil with a high temperature superconductor (HTS) coil (R=0.15m, Ic=50kAturns). The magnetic field strength near the floating coil is around 0.1 T, and the plasma production with 2.45 GHz Electron Cyclotron Heating is planned. We are preparing several techniques to build up the radial electric field in the plasma such as the direct insertion of the electrode and so on. The utilization of direct orbit loss of high energy electrons produced by ECH might be an interesting method. The orbit calculation results show that the electrons with the energy of more than 10 keV would escape at the outer region of the plasma column, yielding the build-up of the radial electric field. The engineering aspect of the HTS coil is in progress. We have fabricated a small HTS coil (R=0.04 m and Ic= 2.6 kAturns), and succeeded in levitating it during four minutes with an accuracy of a few tens of micrometers. Since the HTS coil is excited by the external power supply, the persistent current switch for the HTS coil has been developed. The HTS coil system with the PCS coil has been fabricated and the excitation test has been carried out. We have succeeded in achieving a persistent current, and it is found that the decay constant of the coil current is evaluated to be around 40 hours and 6.5 hours at 20 K and 40 K, respectively. (author)

Numerical simulations of counterstreaming plasmas and their relevance to interhemispheric flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, N.; Schunk, R.W.

1983-01-01

The collisionless expansion of ccounterstreaming plasmas has been studied by solving the self-consistent set of Vlasov and Poisson equations in one dimension. The motivation for the study is to elucidate some of the basic physical processes which may occur during the initial refilling of depleted flux tubes after a magnetic storm. The simulation geometry consisted of two high-density H + -O + -electron plasmas (conjugate ionospheres) separated by a low density H + -electron plasma (equatorial plasmasphere). The temporal evolution of the expandinng plasmas and the electrostatic potential in the region between the two sources hass the following characteristics. The initially minor H + ions rapidly flow out of the source regions, creating counterstreaming density shock fronts which propagate at the Sagdeev Mach number for ion acoustic shocks (Mapprox.1.6). However, the shocks are preceded by suprathermal forerunner ions, which are the first to fill the ''equatorial'' region. When the counterstreaming ion acoustic shocks collide, the density in the equatorial region becomes nearly a constant, twice the value of the density in the individual shocks. The electrostatic potential distribution from the source plasmas to the midpoint of the expansion region displays an interesting feature. A potential hill forms near the midpoint after the arrival of the main density shock fronts. This localized potential hill plays an important role in the thermalization of the ion streams and may occur in the equatorial plasmasphere after magnetic storms. The numerical simulations indicate that the ion beams in the counterstreaming plasmas are remarkably stable with respect to the ion acoustic instability, which is in agreement with the linear instability theory

Measurement of effective renal plasma flow in congestive heart failure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tauxe, W.N.; Dubovsky, E.V.; Mantle, J.A.; Dustan, H.P.; Logic, J.R.

1981-01-01

In the management of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), it is often desirable to have precise knowledge of overall renal function, including the effective renal plasma flow (ERPF). It has long been recognized that ERPF is diminished in CHF. Since glomerular filtration rate is often decreased to a much lesser extent, other noninvasive procedures such as the measurement of creatinine clearances may not be entirely suitable. ERPF determination by the single plasma sampling (SPS) method affords a rapid, simple, noninvasive, and economical technique that is quite accurate and reproducible. A SPS method has been well-tested in patients following renal transplantation plus a wide variety of nephrological disorders. We have been concerned whether the SPS method would be valid in volume expanded patients. In 28 determinations of ERPF in patients with CHF, and in five patients who did not have CHF, we have found the SPS estimation of ERPF to yield results that are not clinically significantly different from those obtained by the detailed compartmental analysis method. The volumes of 131 I-orthoiodohippurate (OIH) distribution were found to be somewhat higher in CHF than in controls, but fractional rate constants were proportionately lower so that intercompartmental flow rates and OIH concentrations were not different from controls. Therefore, the SPS estimation of ERPF is valid in patients with CHF and may be useful in monitoring the renal effects of various hemodynamic and pharmacological interventions. (orig.)

Three-dimensional earthward fast flow in the near-Earth plasma sheet in a sheared field: comparisons between simulations and observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Kondoh

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Three-dimensional configuration of earthward fast flow in the near-Earth plasma sheet is studied using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD simulations on the basis of the spontaneous fast reconnection model. In this study, the sheared magnetic field in the plasma sheet is newly considered in order to investigate the effects of it to the earthward fast flow, and the results are discussed in comparison with no-shear simulations. The virtual probes located at different positions in our simulation domain in shear/no-shear cases could explain different behavior of fast flows in the real observations.

High-frequency counter-flow plasma synthetic jet actuator and its application in suppression of supersonic flow separation

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hongyu; Li, Jun; Jin, Di; Tang, Mengxiao; Wu, Yun; Xiao, Lianghua

2018-01-01

We come up with a control strategy for suppression of supersonic flow separation based on high-frequency Counter-flow Plasma Synthetic Jet Actuator (CPSJA). The main purpose of this investigation is to verify if its control authority can be enhanced by the jet/shock interaction. We use a blunt nose to generate a bow shock, a step on a flat plate to introduce a massive separation in a Mach 2 wind tunnel, and the CPSJA to generate Plasma Synthetic Jet (PSJ). In this study, pulsed capacitive discharge is provided for an array of CPSJAs, which makes the actuation (discharge) frequency f1 = 1 kHz, f2 = 2 kHz and f3 = 3 kHz. We use the high-speed schlieren imaging and fast response pressure transducers as well as a numerical simulation to investigate the quiescent PSJ properties, the interaction between the jet and bow shock, and its disturbance effect on the downstream separated region. The schlieren images show that PSJ is characterized by a succession of vortex rings; the jet strength weakens with the increase of frequency. A 4.5 mN jet thrust is found for all the frequencies. The simulation results show that jet/shock interaction produces vorticity in the vortex ring of the jet, enhancing turbulent mixing in PSJ so that a great deal of momentum is produced into the flow. We found the downstream flow is significantly disturbed by the enhanced actuation. Actuation with frequency of f2, f3 which is close to the natural frequency fn of the separation bubble suppresses the separation with the upstream laminar boundary layer being periodically attenuated, which has a better control effect than f1. The control effect is sensitive to the position where PSJ interacts with the shear layer, but the amount of energy deposited in one pulse is not crucial in a separation reduction in the experiment.

Effect of Ambipolar Plasma Flow on the Penetration of Resonant Magnetic Perturbations in a Quasi-axisymmetric Stellarator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiman, A.; Zarnstorff, M.; Mikkelsen, D.; Owen, L.; Mynick, H.; Hudson, S.; Monticello, D.

2005-01-01

A reference equilibrium for the U.S. National Compact Stellarator Experiment is predicted to be sufficiently close to quasi-symmetry to allow the plasma to flow in the toroidal direction with little viscous damping, yet to have sufficiently large deviations from quasi-symmetry that nonambipolarity significantly affects the physics of the shielding of resonant magnetic perturbations by plasma flow. The unperturbed velocity profile is modified by the presence of an ambipolar potential, which produces a broad velocity profile. In the presence of a resonant magnetic field perturbation, nonambipolar transport produces a radial current, and the resulting j x B force resists departures from the ambipolar velocity and enhances the shielding

Scaling relations for plasma production and acceleration of rotating plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikehata, Takashi; Tanabe, Toshio; Mase, Hiroshi; Sekine, Ryusuke; Hasegawa, Kazuyuki.

1989-01-01

Scaling relations are investigated theoretically and experimentally of the plasma production and acceleration in the rotating plasma gun which has been developed as a new means of plasma centrifuge. Two operational modes: the gas-discharge mode for gaseous elements and the vacuum-discharge mode for solid elements are studied. Relations of the plasma density and velocities to the discharge current and the magnetic field are derived. The agreement between experiment and theory is quite well. It is found that fully-ionized rotating plasmas produced in the gas-discharge mode is most advantageous to realize efficient plasma centrifuge. (author)

Plasma parameters and electromagnetic forces induced by the magneto hydro dynamic interaction in a hypersonic argon flow experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cristofolini, Andrea; Neretti, Gabriele; Borghi, Carlo A.

2012-01-01

This work proposes an experimental analysis on the magneto hydro dynamic (MHD) interaction induced by a magnetic test body immersed into a hypersonic argon flow. The characteristic plasma parameters are measured. They are related to the voltages arising in the Hall direction and to the variation of the fluid dynamic properties induced by the interaction. The tests have been performed in a hypersonic wind tunnel at Mach 6 and Mach 15. The plasma parameters are measured in the stagnation region in front of the nozzle of the wind tunnel and in the free stream region at the nozzle exit. The test body has a conical shape with the cone axis in the gas flow direction and the cone vertex against the flow. It is placed at the nozzle exit and is equipped with three permanent magnets. In the configuration adopted, the Faraday current flows in a closed loop completely immersed into the plasma of the shock layer. The electric field and the pressure variation due to MHD interaction have been measured on the test body walls. Microwave adsorption measurements have been used for the determination of the electron number density and the electron collision frequency. Continuum recombination radiation and line radiation emissions have been detected. The electron temperature has been determined by means of the spectroscopic data by using different methods. The electron number density has been also determined by means of the Stark broadening of H α and the H β lines. Optical imaging has been utilized to visualize the pattern of the electric current distribution in the shock layer around the test body. The experiments show a considerable effect of the electromagnetic forces produced by the MHD interaction acting on the plasma flow around the test body. A comparison of the experimental data with simulation results shows a good agreement.

Flow induced dispersion analysis rapidly quantifies proteins in human plasma samples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Nicklas N; Andersen, Nina Z; Østergaard, Jesper

2015-01-01

Rapid and sensitive quantification of protein based biomarkers and drugs is a substantial challenge in diagnostics and biopharmaceutical drug development. Current technologies, such as ELISA, are characterized by being slow (hours), requiring relatively large amounts of sample and being subject...... to cumbersome and expensive assay development. In this work a new approach for quantification based on changes in diffusivity is presented. The apparent diffusivity of an indicator molecule interacting with the protein of interest is determined by Taylor Dispersion Analysis (TDA) in a hydrodynamic flow system...... in a blood plasma matrix), fully automated, and being subject to a simple assay development. FIDA is demonstrated for quantification of the protein Human Serum Albumin (HSA) in human plasma as well as for quantification of an antibody against HSA. The sensitivity of the FIDA assay depends on the indicator...

Variable property, steady, axi-symmetric, laminar, continuum plasma flow over spheroidal particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen Yuemin; Jog, Milind A.

2005-01-01

Steady, continuum, laminar plasma flow over spheroidal particles has been numerically investigated in this paper using a finite volume method. To body-fit the non-spherical particle surface, an adaptive orthogonal grid is generated. The flow field and the temperature distribution are calculated for oblate and prolate particle shapes. A number of particle surface temperatures and far field temperatures are considered and thermo-physical property variation is fully accounted for in our model. The particle shapes are represented in terms of axis ratio which is defined as the ratio of axis perpendicular to the flow direction to the axis along the flow direction. For oblate shape, axis ratios from 1.6 (disk-like) to 1 (sphere) are used whereas for prolate shape, axis ratios of 1(sphere) to 0.4 (cylinder-like) are used. Effects of flow Reynolds number, particle shape, surface and far field temperatures, and variable properties, on the flow field, temperature variations, drag coefficient, and Nusselt number are outlined. Results show that particle shape has significant effect on flow and heat transfer to particle surface. Compared to a constant property flow, accounting for thermo-physical property variation leads to prediction of higher temperature and velocity gradients in the vicinity of the particle surface. Based on the numerical results, a correlation for the Nusslet number is proposed that accounts for the effect of particle shape in continuum flow with large thermo-physical property variation

Study of plasma-chemical NO-containing gas flow for treatment of wounds and inflammatory processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Pekshev, Alexander V; Shekhter, Anatoly B; Vagapov, Andrey B; Sharapov, Nikolay A; Vanin, Anatoly F

2018-02-28

This work is aimed at exhaustive and detailed study of chemical, physical and physico-chemical characteristics of NO-containing gas flow (NO-CGF) generated by a plasma-chemical generator of Plason device, which has been used in medical practice for more than 15 years for effectively healing wound and inflammatory conditions with exogenous nitric oxide (NO-therapy). Data was obtained on spatial structure of the gas flow, and values of its local parameters in axial and radial directions, such as nitric oxide content, velocity, temperature and mass flow density of nitric oxide, providing altogether the effectiveness of treatment by the exogenous NO-therapy method, were determined experimentally and by computations. It was demonstrated that plasma-chemical synthesis of NO from atmospheric air in a low direct current (DC) arc provides a high mass flow of nitric oxide at the level of 1.6-1.8 mg/s, while in the area of impact of NO-CGF on the biological tissue, on its axis, NO content is 400-600 ppm, flow velocity about 5 m/s, nitric oxide mass flow density 0.25-0.40 mg/(s·cm 2 ), temperature 40-60 °C. Tendencies were determined for designing new devices for further experimental biological and medical research in the field of NO-therapy: lowering the temperature of NO-CGF to ambient temperature will enable variation, in experiments, of the affecting flow parameters in a wide range up to their maximum values: NO content up to 2000 ppm, velocity up to 20 m/s, nitric oxide mass flow density up to 2.5 mg/(s·cm 2 ). Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Plasma flow reactor for steady state monitoring of physical and chemical processes at high temperatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Koroglu, Batikan; Mehl, Marco; Armstrong, Michael R; Crowhurst, Jonathan C; Weisz, David G; Zaug, Joseph M; Dai, Zurong; Radousky, Harry B; Chernov, Alex; Ramon, Erick; Stavrou, Elissaios; Knight, Kim; Fabris, Andrea L; Cappelli, Mark A; Rose, Timothy P

2017-09-01

We present the development of a steady state plasma flow reactor to investigate gas phase physical and chemical processes that occur at high temperature (1000 flow injector). We have modeled the system using computational fluid dynamics simulations that are bounded by measured temperatures. In situ line-of-sight optical emission and absorption spectroscopy have been used to determine the structures and concentrations of molecules formed during rapid cooling of reactants after they pass through the plasma. Emission spectroscopy also enables us to determine the temperatures at which these dynamic processes occur. A sample collection probe inserted from the open end of the reactor is used to collect condensed materials and analyze them ex situ using electron microscopy. The preliminary results of two separate investigations involving the condensation of metal oxides and chemical kinetics of high-temperature gas reactions are discussed.

Metamorphosis of plasma turbulence-shear-flow dynamics through a transcritical bifurcation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ball, R.; Dewar, R.L.; Sugama, H.

2002-01-01

The structural properties of an economical model for a confined plasma turbulence governor are investigated through bifurcation and stability analyses. A close relationship is demonstrated between the underlying bifurcation framework of the model and typical behavior associated with low- to high-confinement transitions such as shear-flow stabilization of turbulence and oscillatory collective action. In particular, the analysis evinces two types of discontinuous transition that are qualitatively distinct. One involves classical hysteresis, governed by viscous dissipation. The other is intrinsically oscillatory and nonhysteretic, and thus provides a model for the so-called dithering transitions that are frequently observed. This metamorphosis, or transformation, of the system dynamics is an important late side-effect of symmetry breaking, which manifests as an unusual nonsymmetric transcritical bifurcation induced by a significant shear-flow drive

Improvement of In-Flight Alumina Spheroidization Process Using a Small Power Argon DC-RF Hybrid Plasma Flow System by Helium Mixture

Science.gov (United States)

Takana, Hidemasa; Jang, Juyong; Igawa, Junji; Nakajima, Tomoki; Solonenko, Oleg P.; Nishiyama, Hideya

2011-03-01

For the further improvement of in-flight alumina spheroidization process with a low-power direct-current radiofrequency (DC-RF) hybrid plasma flow system, the effect of a small amount of helium gas mixture in argon main gas and also the effect of increasing DC nozzle diameter on powder spheroidization ratio have been experimentally clarified with correlating helium gas mixture percentage, plasma enthalpy, powder in-flight velocity, and temperature. The alumina spheroidization ratio increases by helium gas mixture as a result of enhancement of plasma enthalpy. The highest spheroidization ratio is obtained by 4% mixture of helium in central gas with enlarging nozzle diameter from 3 to 4 mm, even under the constant low input electric power given to a DC-RF hybrid plasma flow system.

A reduced set of gyrofluid equations for plasma flow in a diverging magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robertson, Scott

2016-01-01

Plasmas are often generated in a small diameter source with a strong magnetic field and subsequently flow into a region with greater diameter and smaller field. The magnetic mirror force that accelerates plasma in a diverging magnetic field appears in the gyrofluid equations developed for applications to toroidal devices, but this force is often absent from fluid equations. A set of gyrofluid equations with reduced complexity is developed in which drifts are assumed negligible and the mirror force is retained. The Chew–Goldberger–Low equations of state are used for a simple closure. These reduced gyrofluid equations are applied to plasma equilibrium in a magnetic mirror, to acceleration of plasma in a magnetic nozzle, and to space charge neutralization of an ion beam by electrons in a diverging magnetic field. The results from gyrofluid theory are compared with results from drift kinetic theory to find the accuracy of the gyrofluid approximation in these applications.

Modeling, fabrication and plasma actuator coupling of flexible pressure sensors for flow separation detection and control in aeronautical applications

Science.gov (United States)

Francioso, L.; De Pascali, C.; Pescini, E.; De Giorgi, M. G.; Siciliano, P.

2016-06-01

Preventing the flow separation could enhance the performance of propulsion systems and future civil aircraft. To this end, a fast detection of boundary layer separation is mandatory for a sustainable and successful application of active flow control devices, such as plasma actuators. The present work reports on the design, fabrication and functional tests of low-cost capacitive pressure sensors coupled with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators to detect and then control flow separation. Finite element method (FEM) simulations were used to obtain information on the deflection and the stress distribution in different-shaped floating membranes. The sensor sensitivity as a function of the pressure load was also calculated by experimental tests. The results of the calibration of different capacitive pressure sensors are reported in this work, together with functional tests in a wind tunnel equipped with a curved wall plate on which a DBD plasma actuator was mounted to control the flow separation. The flow behavior was experimentally investigated by particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Statistical and spectral analysis, applied to the output signals of the pressure sensor placed downstream of the profile leading edge, demonstrated that the sensor is able to discriminate different ionic wind velocity and turbulence conditions. The sensor sensitivity in the 0-100 Pa range was experimentally measured and it ranged between 0.0030 and 0.0046 pF Pa-1 for the best devices.

EFFECT OF ION ∇ B DRIFT DIRECTION ON TURBULENCE FLOW AND FLOW SHEAR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

FENZI, C; McKEE, G.R; BURRELL, K.H; CARLSTROM, T.N; FONCK, R.J; GROEBNER, R.J

2003-01-01

The divertor magnetic geometry has a significant effect on the poloidal flow and resulting flow shear of turbulence in the outer region of L-mode tokamak plasmas, as determined via two-dimensional measurements of density fluctuations with Beam Emission Spectroscopy on DIII-D. Plasmas with similar parameters, except that in one case the ion (del)B drift points towards the divertor X-point (lower single-null, LSN), and in the other case, the ion (del)B drift points away from the divertor X-point (upper single-null, USN), are compared. Inside of r/a=0.9, the turbulence characteristics (amplitude, flow direction, correlation lengths) are similar in both cases, while near r/a=0.92, a dramatic reversal of the poloidal flow of turbulence relative to the core flow direction is observed in plasmas with the ion (del)B drift pointing towards the divertor X-point. No such flow reversal is observed in plasmas with the ion (del)B drift pointing away from the divertor X-point. This poloidal flow reversal results in a significantly larger local shear in the poloidal turbulence flow velocity in plasmas with the ion (del)B drift pointing towards the divertor X-point. Additionally, these plasmas locally exhibit significant dispersion, with two distinct and counter-propagating turbulence modes. Likewise, the radial correlation length of the turbulence is reduced in these plasmas, consistent with biorthogonal decomposition measurements of dominant turbulence structures. The naturally occurring turbulence flow shear in these LSN plasmas may facilitate the LH transition that occurs at an input power of roughly one-half to one-third that of corresponding plasmas with the ion (del)B drift pointing away from the X-point

Production of O2(1Δ) in flowing plasmas using spiker-sustainer excitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Babaeva, Natalia Y.; Arakoni, Ramesh A.; Kushner, Mark J.

2006-01-01

In chemical oxygen iodine lasers (COILs), oscillation at 1.315 μm in atomic iodine ( 2 P 1/2 → 2 P 3/2 ) is produced by collisional excitation transfer of O 2 ( 1 Δ) to I 2 and I. Plasma production of O 2 ( 1 Δ) in electrical COILs (eCOILs) eliminates liquid phase generators. For the flowing plasmas used for eCOILs (He/O 2 , a few to tens of torr), self-sustaining electron temperatures, T e , are 2-3 eV whereas excitation of O 2 ( 1 Δ) optimizes with T e =1-1.5 eV. One method to increase O 2 ( 1 Δ) production is by lowering the average value of T e using spiker-sustainer (SS) excitation where a high power pulse (spiker) is followed by a lower power period (sustainer). Excess ionization produced by the spiker enables the sustainer to operate with a lower T e . Previous investigations suggested that SS techniques can significantly raise yields of O 2 ( 1 Δ). In this paper, we report on the results from a two-dimensional computational investigation of radio frequency (rf) excited flowing He/O 2 plasmas with emphasis on SS excitation. We found that the efficiency of SS methods generally increase with increasing frequency by producing a higher electron density, lower T e , and, as a consequence, a more efficient production of O 2 ( 1 Δ)

Multiscale gyrokinetics for rotating tokamak plasmas: fluctuations, transport and energy flows.

Science.gov (United States)

Abel, I G; Plunk, G G; Wang, E; Barnes, M; Cowley, S C; Dorland, W; Schekochihin, A A

2013-11-01

This paper presents a complete theoretical framework for studying turbulence and transport in rapidly rotating tokamak plasmas. The fundamental scale separations present in plasma turbulence are codified as an asymptotic expansion in the ratio ε = ρi/α of the gyroradius to the equilibrium scale length. Proceeding order by order in this expansion, a set of coupled multiscale equations is developed. They describe an instantaneous equilibrium, the fluctuations driven by gradients in the equilibrium quantities, and the transport-timescale evolution of mean profiles of these quantities driven by the interplay between the equilibrium and the fluctuations. The equilibrium distribution functions are local Maxwellians with each flux surface rotating toroidally as a rigid body. The magnetic equilibrium is obtained from the generalized Grad-Shafranov equation for a rotating plasma, determining the magnetic flux function from the mean pressure and velocity profiles of the plasma. The slow (resistive-timescale) evolution of the magnetic field is given by an evolution equation for the safety factor q. Large-scale deviations of the distribution function from a Maxwellian are given by neoclassical theory. The fluctuations are determined by the 'high-flow' gyrokinetic equation, from which we derive the governing principle for gyrokinetic turbulence in tokamaks: the conservation and local (in space) cascade of the free energy of the fluctuations (i.e. there is no turbulence spreading). Transport equations for the evolution of the mean density, temperature and flow velocity profiles are derived. These transport equations show how the neoclassical and fluctuating corrections to the equilibrium Maxwellian act back upon the mean profiles through fluxes and heating. The energy and entropy conservation laws for the mean profiles are derived from the transport equations. Total energy, thermal, kinetic and magnetic, is conserved and there is no net turbulent heating. Entropy is produced

The interaction of a flowing plasma with a dipole magnetic field: measurements and modelling of a diamagnetic cavity relevant to spacecraft protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bamford, R; Bradford, J; Bingham, R; Gargate, L; Hapgood, M; Stamper, R; Gibson, K J; Thornton, A J; Silva, L O; Fonseca, R A; Norberg, C; Todd, T

2008-01-01

Here we describe a new experiment to test the shielding concept of a dipole-like magnetic field and plasma, surrounding a spacecraft forming a 'mini magnetosphere'. Initial laboratory experiments have been conducted to determine the effectiveness of a magnetized plasma barrier to be able to expel an impacting, low beta, supersonic flowing energetic plasma representing the solar wind. Optical and Langmuir probe data of the plasma density, the plasma flow velocity and the intensity of the dipole field clearly show the creation of a narrow transport barrier region and diamagnetic cavity virtually devoid of energetic plasma particles. This demonstrates the potential viability of being able to create a small 'hole' in a solar wind plasma, of the order of the ion Larmor orbit width, in which an inhabited spacecraft could reside in relative safety. The experimental results have been quantitatively compared with a 3D particle-in-cell 'hybrid' code simulation that uses kinetic ions and fluid electrons, showing good qualitative agreement and excellent quantitative agreement. Together the results demonstrate the pivotal role of particle kinetics in determining generic plasma transport barriers.

Supersonic flow with shock waves. Monte-Carlo calculations for low density plasma. I; Flujo supersonico de un plasma con ondas de choque, un metodo de montecarlo para plasmas de baja densidad, I.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Almenara, E; Hidalgo, M; Saviron, J M

1980-07-01

This Report gives preliminary information about a Monte Carlo procedure to simulate supersonic flow past a body of a low density plasma in the transition regime. A computer program has been written for a UNIVAC 1108 machine to account for a plasma composed by neutral molecules and positive and negative ions. Different and rather general body geometries can be analyzed. Special attention is played to tho detached shock waves growth In front of the body. (Author) 30 refs.

The role of the sheath in magnetized plasma turbulence and flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loizu, J.

2013-01-01

Controlled nuclear fusion could provide our society with a clean, safe, and virtually inexhaustible source of electric power production. The tokamak has proven to be capable of producing large amounts of fusion reactions by conning magnetically the fusion fuel at sufficiently high density and temperature, thus in the plasma state. Because of turbulence, however, high temperature plasma reaches the outermost region of the tokamak, the Scrape-Off Layer (SOL), which features open magnetic field lines that channel particles and heat into a dedicated region of the vacuum vessel. The plasma dynamics in the SOL is crucial in determining the performance of tokamak devices, and constitutes one of the greatest uncertainties in the success of the fusion program. In the last few years, the development of numerical codes based on reduced fluid models has provided a tool to study turbulence in open field line configurations. In particular, the GBS (Global Braginskii Solver) code has been developed at CRPP and is used to perform global, three-dimensional, full-n, flux-driven simulations of plasma turbulence in open field lines. Reaching predictive capabilities is an outstanding challenge that involves a proper treatment of the plasma-wall interactions at the end of the field lines, to well describe the particle and energy losses. This involves the study of plasma sheaths, namely the layers forming at the interface between plasmas and solid surfaces, where the drift and quasi neutrality approximations break down. This is an investigation of general interest, as sheaths are present in all laboratory plasmas. This thesis presents progress in the understanding of plasma sheaths and their coupling with the turbulence in the main plasma. A kinetic code is developed to study the magnetized plasma-wall transition region and derive a complete set of analytical boundary conditions that supply the sheath physics to fluid codes. These boundary conditions are implemented in the GBS code and

Elemental transport coefficients in viscous plasma flows near local thermodynamic equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orsini, Alessio; Kustova, Elena V.

2009-01-01

We propose a convenient formulation of elemental transport coefficients in chemically reacting and plasma flows locally approaching thermodynamic equilibrium. A set of transport coefficients for elemental diffusion velocities, heat flux, and electric current is introduced. These coefficients relate the transport fluxes with the electric field and with the spatial gradients of elemental fractions, pressure, and temperature. The proposed formalism based on chemical elements and fully symmetric with the classical transport theory based on chemical species, is particularly suitable to model mixing and demixing phenomena due to diffusion of chemical elements. The aim of this work is threefold: to define a simple and rigorous framework suitable for numerical implementation, to allow order of magnitude estimations and qualitative predictions of elemental transport phenomena, and to gain a deeper insight into the physics of chemically reacting flows near local equilibrium.

Spectroscopic study of atmospheric pressure 915 MHz microwave plasma at high argon flow rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miotk, R; Hrycak, B; Jasinski, M; Mizeraczyk, J

2012-01-01

In this paper results of optical emission spectroscopic (OES) study of atmospheric pressure microwave 915 MHz argon plasma are presented. The plasma was generated in microwave plasma source (MPS) cavity-resonant type. The aim of research was determination of electron excitation temperature T exc gas temperature Tg and electron number density n e . All experimental tests were performed with a gas flow rate of 100 and 200 l/min and absorbed microwave power PA from 0.25 to 0.9 kW. The emission spectra at the range of 300 – 600 nm were recorded. Boltzmann plot method for argon 5p – 4s and 5d – 4p transition lines allowed to determine T exc at level of 7000 K. Gas temperature was determined by comparing the measured and simulated spectra using LIFBASE program and by analyzing intensities of two groups of unresolved rotational lines of the OH band. Gas temperature ranged 600 – 800 K. The electron number density was determined using the method based on the Stark broadening of hydrogen H β line. The measured n e rang ed 2 × 10 15 − 3.5×10 15 cm −3 , depending on the absorbed microwave power. The described MPS works very stable with various working gases at high flow rates, that makes it an attractive tool for different gas processing.

Monitoring Temperature in High Enthalpy Arc-heated Plasma Flows using Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Marcel Nations; Chang, Leyen S.; Jeffries, Jay B.; Hanson, Ronald K.; Nawaz, Anuscheh; Taunk, Jaswinder S.; Driver, David M.; Raiche, George

2013-01-01

A tunable diode laser sensor was designed for in situ monitoring of temperature in the arc heater of the NASA Ames IHF arcjet facility (60 MW). An external cavity diode laser was used to generate light at 777.2 nm and laser absorption used to monitor the population of electronically excited oxygen atoms in an air plasma flow. Under the assumption of thermochemical equilibrium, time-resolved temperature measurements were obtained on four lines-of-sight, which enabled evaluation of the temperature uniformity in the plasma column for different arcjet operating conditions.

Charge dependence of the plasma travel length in atmospheric-pressure plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yambe, Kiyoyuki; Konda, Kohmei; Masuda, Seiya [Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181 (Japan)

2016-06-15

Plasma plume is generated using a quartz tube, helium gas, and foil electrode by applying AC high voltage under the atmosphere. The plasma plume is released into the atmosphere from inside of the quartz tube and is seen as the continuous movement of the plasma bullet. The travel length of plasma bullet is defined from plasma energy and force due to electric field. The drift velocity of plasma bullet has the upper limit under atmospheric-pressure because the drift velocity is determined from the balance between electric field and resistive force due to collisions between plasma and air. The plasma plume charge depends on the drift velocity. Consequently, in the laminar flow of helium gas flow state, the travel length of the plasma plume logarithmically depends on the plasma plume charge which changes with both the electric field and the resistive force.

Charge dependence of the plasma travel length in atmospheric-pressure plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yambe, Kiyoyuki; Konda, Kohmei; Masuda, Seiya

2016-01-01

Plasma plume is generated using a quartz tube, helium gas, and foil electrode by applying AC high voltage under the atmosphere. The plasma plume is released into the atmosphere from inside of the quartz tube and is seen as the continuous movement of the plasma bullet. The travel length of plasma bullet is defined from plasma energy and force due to electric field. The drift velocity of plasma bullet has the upper limit under atmospheric-pressure because the drift velocity is determined from the balance between electric field and resistive force due to collisions between plasma and air. The plasma plume charge depends on the drift velocity. Consequently, in the laminar flow of helium gas flow state, the travel length of the plasma plume logarithmically depends on the plasma plume charge which changes with both the electric field and the resistive force.

Physics of plasma etching and plasma deposition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schram, D.C.; Hoog, de F.J.; Bisschops, T.J.; Kroesen, G.M.W.; Howorka, F.; Lindinger, W.; Maerk, T.D.

1986-01-01

The kinetics and mechanism of the title processes are discussed on the basis of a model in which the plasma-surface system is subdivided into 5 regions: (I) plasma prodn., (II) plasma flow plus radicals, (III) gas adsorbed layer, (IV) modified surface, and (V) undisturbed solid (or liq.) state.

Modeling, fabrication and plasma actuator coupling of flexible pressure sensors for flow separation detection and control in aeronautical applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Francioso, L; De Pascali, C; Siciliano, P; Pescini, E; De Giorgi, M G

2016-01-01

Preventing the flow separation could enhance the performance of propulsion systems and future civil aircraft. To this end, a fast detection of boundary layer separation is mandatory for a sustainable and successful application of active flow control devices, such as plasma actuators. The present work reports on the design, fabrication and functional tests of low-cost capacitive pressure sensors coupled with dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators to detect and then control flow separation. Finite element method (FEM) simulations were used to obtain information on the deflection and the stress distribution in different-shaped floating membranes. The sensor sensitivity as a function of the pressure load was also calculated by experimental tests. The results of the calibration of different capacitive pressure sensors are reported in this work, together with functional tests in a wind tunnel equipped with a curved wall plate on which a DBD plasma actuator was mounted to control the flow separation. The flow behavior was experimentally investigated by particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Statistical and spectral analysis, applied to the output signals of the pressure sensor placed downstream of the profile leading edge, demonstrated that the sensor is able to discriminate different ionic wind velocity and turbulence conditions. The sensor sensitivity in the 0–100 Pa range was experimentally measured and it ranged between 0.0030 and 0.0046 pF Pa −1 for the best devices. (paper)

Cross-B convection of artificially created, negative-ion clouds and plasma depressions: Low-speed flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernhardt, P.A.

1988-01-01

A negative-ion, positive-ion plasma produced by the release of an electron attachment chemical into the F region becomes electrically polarized by the collisions with neutrals moving across magnetic field lines. The resulting electric field causes E x B drift of the two ion species and the residual electrons. The cross-field flow of the modified ionosphere is computed using a two-dimensional numerical simulation which includes electron attachment and mutual neutralization chemistry, self-consistent electric fields, and three-species plasma transport. The velocity of the plasma is initially in the direction of the neutral wind because the negative-ion cloud is a Pedersen conductivity enhancement. As the positive and negative ions react, the Pedersen conductivity becomes depressed below the ambient value and the velocity of the plasma reverses direction. A plasma hole remains after the positive and negative ions have mutually neutralized. The E x B gradient drift instability produces irregularities on the upwind edge of the hole. These processes may be observed experimentally with optical and backscatter-radar diagnostics

The Challenge of Incorporating Charged Dust in the Physics of Flowing Plasma Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Y.; Russell, C. T.; Ma, Y.; Lai, H.; Jian, L.; Toth, G.

2013-12-01

The presence of two oppositely charged species with very different mass ratios leads to interesting physical processes and difficult numerical simulations. The reconnection problem is a classic example of this principle with a proton-electron mass ratio of 1836, but it is not the only example. Increasingly we are discovering situations in which heavy, electrically charged dust particles are major players in a plasma interaction. The mass of a 1mm dust particle is about 2000 proton masses and of a 10 mm dust particle about 2 million proton masses. One example comes from planetary magnetospheres. Charged dust pervades Enceladus' southern plume. The saturnian magnetospheric plasma flows through this dusty plume interacting with the charged dust and ionized plume gas. Multiple wakes are seen downstream. The flow is diverted in one direction. The field aligned-current systems are elsewhere. How can these two wake features be understood? Next we have an example from the solar wind. When asteroids collide in a disruptive collision, the solar wind strips the nano-scale charged dust from the debris forming a dusty plasma cloud that may be over 106km in extent and containing over 100 million kg of dust accelerated to the solar wind speed. How does this occur, especially as rapidly as it appears to happen? In this paper we illustrate a start on understanding these phenomena using multifluid MHD simulations but these simulations are only part of the answer to this complex problem that needs attention from a broader range of the community.

Effects of gas chamber geometry and gas flow on the neutron production in a fast plasma focus neutron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tarifeño-Saldivia, Ariel; Soto, Leopoldo

2014-01-01

This work reports that gas chamber geometry and gas flow management substantially affect the neutron production of a repetitive fast plasma focus. The gas flow rate is the most sensitive parameter. An appropriate design of the gas chamber combined with a suitable flow-rate management can lead to improvements in the neutron production of one order of magnitude working in a fast repetitive mode. (paper)

An Experimental Study of Continuous Plasma Flows Driven by a Confined Arc in a Transverse Magnetic Field

Science.gov (United States)

Barger, R. L.; Brooks, J. D.; Beasley, W. D.

1961-01-01

A crossed-field, continuous-flow plasma accelerator has been built and operated. The highest measured velocity of the flow, which was driven by the interaction of the electric and magnetic fields, was about 500 meters per second. Some of the problems discussed are ion slip, stability and uniformity of the discharge, effect of the magnetic field on electron emission, use of preionization, and electrode contamination.

Characterization of the supersonic flowing microwave discharge using two dimensional plasma tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nikolic, M.; Samolov, A.; Popovic, S.; Vuskovic, L.; Godunov, A. [Department of Physics, Center for Accelerator Science, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529 (United States); Cuckov, F. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529 (United States)

2013-03-14

A tomographic numerical method based on the two-dimensional Radon formula for a cylindrical cavity has been employed for obtaining spatial distributions of the argon excited levels. The spectroscopy measurements were taken at different positions and directions to observe populations of excited species in the plasmoid region and the corresponding excitation temperatures. Excited argon states are concentrated near the tube walls, thus, confirming the assumption that the post discharge plasma is dominantly sustained by travelling surface wave. An automated optical measurement system has been developed for reconstruction of local plasma parameters of the plasmoid structure formed in an argon supersonic flowing microwave discharge. The system carries out angle and distance measurements using a rotating, flat mirror, as well as two high precision stepper motors operated by a microcontroller-based system and several sensors for precise feedback control.

Numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow of an impinging round jet of plasma into confined walls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ezato, Koichiro; Shimizu, Akihiko; Kunugi, Tomoaki.

1995-01-01

Numerical simulations are presented on the flow and heat transfer characteristics of an impinging round jet of argon plasma with atmospheric pressure. The target slab with finite thickness upon which plasma jet impinges is assumed to be as SiC which is a candidate material for plasma facing material of fusion reactor. The plasma jet is treated by use of a magnetohydrodynamics model that takes its two-temperature non-equilibrium state into account. The rear side of the target slab is assumed to be cooled by a gas-solid suspension impinging round jet. The result shows that the plasma is in non-equilibrium state in which the electron temperature is higher than the heavy particle in the outer region of plasma jet core and that the heat flux to the target slab is over 8 MW/m 2 in the region of the plasma jet core contacts. (author)

Flow Cytometry Assessment of In Vitro Generated CD138+ Human Plasma Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rayelle Itoua Maïga

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The in vitro CD40-CD154 interaction promotes human B lymphocytes differentiation into plasma cells. Currently, CD138 is the hallmark marker enabling the detection of human plasma cells, both in vitro and in vivo; its presence can be monitored by flow cytometry using a specific antibody. We have developed a culture system allowing for the differentiation of memory B lymphocytes. In order to detect the newly formed plasma cells, we have compared their staining using five anti-CD138 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs. As a reference, we also tested human cell lines, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and bone marrow samples. The five anti-CD138 mAbs stained RPMI-8226 cells (>98% with variable stain index (SI. The highest SI was obtained with B-A38 mAb while the lowest SI was obtained with DL-101 and 1D4 mAbs. However, the anti-CD138 mAbs were not showing equivalent CD138+ cells frequencies within the generated plasma cells. B-A38, B-B4, and MI-15 were similar (15–25% while DL-101 mAb stained a higher proportion of CD138-positive cells (38–42%. DL-101 and B-A38 mAbs stained similar populations in bone marrow samples but differed in their capacity to bind to CD138high and CD138lo cell lines. In conclusion, such cellular fluctuations suggest heterogeneity in human plasma cell populations and/or in CD138 molecules.

Differential effect of T-type voltage-gated calcium channel disruption on renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate in vivo

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thuesen, Anne D; Andersen, Henrik; Cardel, Majken

2014-01-01

Voltage-gated calcium channels (Cav) play an essential role in regulation of renal blood flow and GFR. Because T-type Cavs are differentially expressed in pre- and postglomerular vessels it was hypothesized that they impact renal blood flow and GFR differentially. The question was addressed by use...... of two T-type Cav knock-out mice strains. Continuous recordings of blood pressure and heart rate, and para-aminohippurate clearance (renal plasma flow) and inulin clearance (GFR) were performed in conscious, chronically catheterized, wild type and Cav 3.1-/- and Cav 3.2-/- mice. Contractility of afferent...... and efferent arterioles was determined in isolated perfused blood vessels. Efferent arterioles from Cav 3.2-/- mice constricted significantly more in response to a depolarization compared to Wt mice. GFR was increased in Cav 3.2-/- mice with no significant changes in renal plasma flow, heart rate and blood...

Enhancement of glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow by oral glucose load in well controlled insulin-dependent diabetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sandahl Christiansen, J; Christensen, C K; Hermansen, K

1986-01-01

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal plasma flow (RPF) were measured in 27 patients with uncomplicated insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM) before and after an oral glucose load of 1.1 g glucose/kg body wt. In the 18 patients showing near-normoglycaemia (blood glucose less than or equal to 8....... No changes in blood pressure or urinary albumin excretion rates took place in either group. The reduction in plasma protein and in plasma growth hormone concentration were similar in the two groups. No change was seen in plasma arginine vasopressin concentration. There was no difference in the qualitative...

Pioneer 7 observations of plasma flow and field reversal regions in the distant geomagnetic tail

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, R.C.; Villante, U.; Lazarus, A.J.

1975-01-01

We present the results of an extensive analysis of plasma and magnetic field data from Pioneer 7 taken in the geomagnetic tail approximately 1000 R/sub E/ downstream from earth. The principal observations are (1) measurable fluxes of protons in the tail, flowing away from earth, sometimes with a double-peaked velocity distribution; (2) field reversal regions in which the field changes from radial to antiradial by a vector rotation in the north-south plane; and (3) general characteristics of the tail similar to those observed near earth with good correlation between taillike magnetic fields and plasma

Pioneer 7 observations of plasma flow and field reversal regions in the distant geomagnetic tail

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, R. C.; Lazarus, A. J.; Villante, U.

1975-01-01

The present paper gives the results of an extensive analysis of plasma and magnetic-field data from Pioneer 7 taken in the geomagnetic tail approximately 1000 earth radii downstream from earth. The principal observations are: (1) measurable fluxes of protons in the tail, flowing away from earth, sometimes with a double-peaked velocity distribution; (2) field reversal regions in which the field changes from radial to antiradial by a vector rotation in the north-south plane; and (3) general characteristics of the tail similar to those observed near earth with good correlation between taillike magnetic fields and plasma.

Magnetohydrodynamic simulation of kink instability and plasma flow during sustainment of a coaxial gun spheromak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanki, Takashi; Nagata, Masayoshi; Kagei, Yasuhiro

2010-01-01

Kink instability and the subsequent plasma flow during the sustainment of a coaxial gun spheromak are investigated by three-dimensional nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Analysis of the parallel current density λ profile in the central open column revealed that the n = 1 mode structure plays an important role in the relaxation and current drive. The toroidal flow (v t ≈ 37 km/s) is driven by magnetic reconnection occurring as a result of the helical kink distortion of the central open column during repetitive plasmoid ejection and merging. (author)

Heat transfer characteristics of rectangular coolant channels with various aspect ratios in the plasma-facing components under fully developed MHD laminar flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takase, K.; Hasan, M.Z.

1995-01-01

Convective heat transfer in MHD laminar flow through rectangular channels in the plasma-facing components of a fusion reactor has been analyzed numerically to investigate the effects of channel aspect ratio, defined as the ratio of the lengths of the plasma-facing side to the other side. The adverse effect of the nonuniformity of surface heat flus on Nusselt number (Nu) at the plasma-facing side can be alleviated by increasing the aspect ratio of a rectangular duct. At the center and corner of the plasma-facing side of a square duct, the Nu of non-MHD flow are 6.8 and 2.2, respectively, for uniform surface heat flux. In the presence of a strong magnetic field, Nu at the center and corner increases to 22 and 3.6, respectively. However, when the heat flux is highly nonuniform, as in the plasma-facing components, Nu decreases from 22 to 3.1 at the center and from 3.6 to 3.1 at the corner. When the aspect ratio is increased to 4, Nu at the center and corner increase to 5 and 4.7. Along the circumference of a rectangular channel, there are locations where the wall temperature is equal to or less than the bulk coolant temperature, thus making the Nu with conventional definition infinity or negative. The ratio between Nu of MHD flow and Nu of non-MHD flow for various aspect ratios is constant in the region of Hartmann number of more than 200 at least. On the other hand, its ratio increases monotonously with increasing the aspect ratio

The spherical segmented Langmuir probe in a flowing thermal plasma: numerical model of the current collection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Séran

2005-07-01

Full Text Available The segmented Langmuir probe (SLP has been recently proposed by one of the authors (Lebreton, 2002 as an instrument to derive the bulk velocity of terrestrial or planetary plasmas, in addition to the electron density and temperature that are routinely measured by Langmuir probes. It is part of the scientific payload on the DEMETER micro-satellite developed by CNES. The basic concept of this probe is to measure the current distribution over the surface using independent collectors under the form of small spherical caps and to use the angular anisotropy of these currents to obtain the plasma bulk velocity in the probe reference frame. In order to determine the SLP capabilities, we have developed a numerical PIC (Particles In Cell model which provides a tool to compute the distribution of the current collected by a spherical probe. Our model is based on the simultaneous determination of the charge densities in the probe sheath and on the probe surface, from which the potential distribution in the sheath region can be obtained. This method is well adapted to the SLP problem and has some advantages since it provides a natural control of the charge neutrality inside the simulation box, allows independent mesh sizes in the sheath and on the probe surface, and can be applied to complex surfaces. We present in this paper initial results obtained for plasma conditions corresponding to a Debye length equal to the probe radius. These plasma conditions are observed along the Demeter orbit. The model results are found to be in very good agreement with those published by Laframboise (1966 for a spherical probe in a thermal non-flowing plasma. This demonstrates the adequacy of the computation method and of the adjustable numerical parameters (size of the numerical box and mesh, time step, number of macro-particles, etc. for the considered plasma-probe configuration. We also present the results obtained in the case of plasma flowing with mesothermal conditions

The spherical segmented Langmuir probe in a flowing thermal plasma: numerical model of the current collection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Séran

2005-07-01

Full Text Available The segmented Langmuir probe (SLP has been recently proposed by one of the authors (Lebreton, 2002 as an instrument to derive the bulk velocity of terrestrial or planetary plasmas, in addition to the electron density and temperature that are routinely measured by Langmuir probes. It is part of the scientific payload on the DEMETER micro-satellite developed by CNES. The basic concept of this probe is to measure the current distribution over the surface using independent collectors under the form of small spherical caps and to use the angular anisotropy of these currents to obtain the plasma bulk velocity in the probe reference frame. In order to determine the SLP capabilities, we have developed a numerical PIC (Particles In Cell model which provides a tool to compute the distribution of the current collected by a spherical probe. Our model is based on the simultaneous determination of the charge densities in the probe sheath and on the probe surface, from which the potential distribution in the sheath region can be obtained. This method is well adapted to the SLP problem and has some advantages since it provides a natural control of the charge neutrality inside the simulation box, allows independent mesh sizes in the sheath and on the probe surface, and can be applied to complex surfaces. We present in this paper initial results obtained for plasma conditions corresponding to a Debye length equal to the probe radius. These plasma conditions are observed along the Demeter orbit. The model results are found to be in very good agreement with those published by Laframboise (1966 for a spherical probe in a thermal non-flowing plasma. This demonstrates the adequacy of the computation method and of the adjustable numerical parameters (size of the numerical box and mesh, time step, number of macro-particles, etc. for the considered plasma-probe configuration. We also present the results obtained in the case of plasma flowing with mesothermal conditions

Characterization of In-Flight Processing of Alumina Powder Using a DC-RF Hybrid Plasma Flow System at Constant Low Operating Power

Science.gov (United States)

Nishiyama, H.; Onodera, M.; Igawa, J.; Nakajima, T.

2009-12-01

The aim of this study is to provide the optimum operating conditions for enhancing in-flight alumina particle heating as much as possible for particle spheroidization and aggregation of melted particles using a DC-RF hybrid plasma flow system even at constant low operating power based on the thermofluid considerations. It is clarified that the swirl flow and higher operating pressure enhance the particle melting and aggregation of melted particles coupled with increasing gas temperature downstream of a plasma uniformly in the radial direction at constant electrical discharge conditions.

Diffusive processes in the cross-field flow of intense plasma beams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newberger, B.; Rostoker, N.

1988-09-01

We consider magnetic field diffusion in the presence of strongly magnetized electrons (ω/sub ce//tau//sub co/ > 1) as a mechanism for the rapid field penetration observed in cross-field flows of high-β plasma beams. The diffusion has been investigated in several cases which are amenable to analytic solution. The flux penetration times are found to be insensitive to the particular configuration. Comparison with two experiments is made. Agreement within the limits of the experiments is found. Both require an anomalous collision rate which is consistent with observed fluctuations in one case but apparently not the other. 17 refs., 1 fig

Gene expression responses of HeLa cells to chemical species generated by an atmospheric plasma flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoyama, Mayo; Johkura, Kohei; Sato, Takehiko

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Response of HeLa cells to a plasma-irradiated medium was revealed by DNA microarray. • Gene expression pattern was basically different from that in a H 2 O 2 -added medium. • Prominently up-/down-regulated genes were partly shared by the two media. • Gene ontology analysis showed both similar and different responses in the two media. • Candidate genes involved in response to ROS were detected in each medium. - Abstract: Plasma irradiation generates many factors able to affect the cellular condition, and this feature has been studied for its application in the field of medicine. We previously reported that hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) was the major cause of HeLa cell death among the chemical species generated by high level irradiation of a culture medium by atmospheric plasma. To assess the effect of plasma-induced factors on the response of live cells, HeLa cells were exposed to a medium irradiated by a non-lethal plasma flow level, and their gene expression was broadly analyzed by DNA microarray in comparison with that in a corresponding concentration of 51 μM H 2 O 2 . As a result, though the cell viability was sufficiently maintained at more than 90% in both cases, the plasma-medium had a greater impact on it than the H 2 O 2 -medium. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed fundamentally different cellular responses between these two media. A larger population of genes was upregulated in the plasma-medium, whereas genes were downregulated in the H 2 O 2 -medium. However, a part of the genes that showed prominent differential expression was shared by them, including an immediate early gene ID2. In gene ontology analysis of upregulated genes, the plasma-medium showed more diverse ontologies than the H 2 O 2 -medium, whereas ontologies such as “response to stimulus” were common, and several genes corresponded to “response to reactive oxygen species.” Genes of AP-1 proteins, e.g., JUN and FOS, were detected and notably elevated in

Gene expression responses of HeLa cells to chemical species generated by an atmospheric plasma flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yokoyama, Mayo, E-mail: yokoyama@plasma.ifs.tohoku.ac.jp [Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan); Johkura, Kohei, E-mail: kohei@shinshu-u.ac.jp [Department of Histology and Embryology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto 390-8621 (Japan); Sato, Takehiko, E-mail: sato@ifs.tohoku.ac.jp [Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577 (Japan)

2014-08-08

Highlights: • Response of HeLa cells to a plasma-irradiated medium was revealed by DNA microarray. • Gene expression pattern was basically different from that in a H{sub 2}O{sub 2}-added medium. • Prominently up-/down-regulated genes were partly shared by the two media. • Gene ontology analysis showed both similar and different responses in the two media. • Candidate genes involved in response to ROS were detected in each medium. - Abstract: Plasma irradiation generates many factors able to affect the cellular condition, and this feature has been studied for its application in the field of medicine. We previously reported that hydrogen peroxide (H{sub 2}O{sub 2}) was the major cause of HeLa cell death among the chemical species generated by high level irradiation of a culture medium by atmospheric plasma. To assess the effect of plasma-induced factors on the response of live cells, HeLa cells were exposed to a medium irradiated by a non-lethal plasma flow level, and their gene expression was broadly analyzed by DNA microarray in comparison with that in a corresponding concentration of 51 μM H{sub 2}O{sub 2}. As a result, though the cell viability was sufficiently maintained at more than 90% in both cases, the plasma-medium had a greater impact on it than the H{sub 2}O{sub 2}-medium. Hierarchical clustering analysis revealed fundamentally different cellular responses between these two media. A larger population of genes was upregulated in the plasma-medium, whereas genes were downregulated in the H{sub 2}O{sub 2}-medium. However, a part of the genes that showed prominent differential expression was shared by them, including an immediate early gene ID2. In gene ontology analysis of upregulated genes, the plasma-medium showed more diverse ontologies than the H{sub 2}O{sub 2}-medium, whereas ontologies such as “response to stimulus” were common, and several genes corresponded to “response to reactive oxygen species.” Genes of AP-1 proteins, e.g., JUN

Collisional Rayleigh-Taylor instability and shear-flow in equatorial Spread-F plasma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Chakrabarti

2003-05-01

Full Text Available Collisional Rayleigh-Taylor (RT instability is considered in the bottom side of the equatorial F-region. By a novel nonmodal calculation it is shown that for an applied shear flow in equilibrium, the growth of the instability is considerably reduced. Finite but small amounts of diffusion enhances the stabilization process. The results may be relevant to the observations of long-lived irregularities at the bottom-side of the F-layer.Key words. Ionosphere (ionospheric irregularities, equatorial ionosphere, plasma waves and instabilities

Theory of steady state plasma flow and confinement in a periodic magnetic field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, M.G.

1981-02-01

The steady flow of plasmas through spatially periodic magnetic fields is examined, and a theoretical model is developed for the case of axisymmetric geometry. The externally applied magnetic fields can be cusps or mirrors joined end to end; electrons are then localised by these fields because of their small Larmor radius, while the ions can traverse the magnetic mirrors. The properties of the model equations are studied and dimensionless parameters which appear are interpreted. Numerical methods used in steady flow applications are reviewed, and some techniques of solution for the model equations are discussed. A solution method involving numerical integration of time-dependent equations is described, which approaches the steady state asymptotically; results from this method are presented and compared with the results from perturbation theory. (author)

Multi-instrument observations of the ionospheric counterpart of a bursty bulk flow in the near-Earth plasma sheet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Grocott

2004-04-01

Full Text Available On 07 September 2001 the Cluster spacecraft observed a "bursty bulk flow" event in the near-Earth central plasma sheet. This paper presents a detailed study of the coincident ground-based observations and attempts to place them within a simple physical framework. The event in question occurs at ~22:30 UT, some 10min after a southward turning of the IMF. IMAGE and SAMNET magnetometer measurements of the ground magnetic field reveal perturbations of a few tens of nT and small amplitude Pi2 pulsations. CUTLASS radar observations of ionospheric plasma convection show enhanced flows out of the polar cap near midnight, accompanied by an elevated transpolar voltage. Optical data from the IMAGE satellite also show that there is a transient, localised ~1 kR brightening in the UV aurora. These observations are consistent with the earthward transport of plasma in the tail, but also indicate the absence of a typical "large-scale" substorm current wedge. An analysis of the field-aligned current system implied by the radar measurements does suggest the existence of a small-scale current "wedgelet", but one which lacks the global scale and high conductivities observed during substorm expansions.

Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionospheremagnetosphere interactions; plasma convection

Generation of sheared poloidal flows by electrostatic and magnetic Reynolds stress in the boundary plasma of HT-7 tokamak

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, G.S.; Wan, B.N.; Li, J.

2005-01-01

The radial profiles of electrostatic and magnetic Reynolds stress (Maxwell stress) have been measured in the plasma boundary region of HT-7 tokamak. Experimental results show that the radial gradient of electrostatic Reynolds stress (ERS) changes sign across the last closed flux surface, and the neoclassical flow damping and the damping due to charge exchange processes are balanced by the radial gradient of ERS, which sustains the equilibrium sheared flow structure in a steady state. The contribution of magnetic Reynolds stress was found unimportant in a low β plasma. Detailed analyses indicate that the propagation properties of turbulence in radial and poloidal directions and the profiles of potential fluctuation level are responsible for the radial structure of ERS. (author)

Zonal flow shear amplification by depletion of anisotropic potential eddies in a magnetized plasma: idealized models and laboratory experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fedorczak, N; Manz, P; Chakraborty Thakur, S; Xu, M; Tynan, G R

2013-01-01

The consequences of vorticity conservation on the spatio-temporal interaction of a E × B zonal shear with a generic pattern of plasma potential modes are investigated in a magnetized plasma environment. Eddies organized on a chain along the zonal direction are locally depleted, resulting in what appears to be a radial decorrelation by the shear flow in the absence of dissipation. The eddy depletion occurs due to a transfer of enstrophy from the chain to the shear flow during the progressive growth in the chain anisotropy. The rate of zonal shear acceleration is derived analytically and its expression is validated by numerical simulations. The rate is proportional to the chain amplitude in the weak shear regime and to the shearing rate in the strong shear regime. Basic properties of the model are validated with fast visible imaging data collected on a magnetized plasma column experiment. A characteristic vorticity flux across the edge shear layer of tokamak plasmas is associated with the model predictions. The dependence of the interaction rate with turbulence amplitude and shearing rate could be an important ingredient of the low to high confinement mode transition. (paper)

Current delivery and radiation yield in plasma flow switch-driven implosions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, W.L.; Degnan, J.H.; Beason, J.D.

1995-01-01

Vacuum inductive-store, plasma flow switch-driven implosion experiments have been performed using the Shiva Star capacitor bank (1300 μf, 3 nH, 120 kV, 9.4 MJ). A coaxial plasma gun arrangement is employed to store magnetic energy in the vacuum volume upstream of a dynamic discharge during the 3- to 4-μs rise of current from the capacitor bank. Motion of the discharge off the end of the inner conductor of the gun releases this energy to implode a coaxial cylindrical foil. The implosion loads are 5-cm-radius, 2-cm-long, 200 to 400 μg/cm 2 cylinders of aluminum or aluminized Formvar. With 5 MJ stored initially in the capacitor bank, more than 9 MA are delivered to the implosion load with a rise time of nearly 200 ns. The subsequent implosion results in a radiation output of 0.95 MJ at a power exceeding 5 TW (assuming isotropic emission). Experimental results and related two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations are discussed. 10 refs., 12 figs

Modification of structural materials by pulsed plasma flows

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bandura, A.N.; Garkusha, I.E.; Byrka, O.V.; Makhlaj, V.A.

2011-01-01

Features of surface modification and materials alloying from gas and metallic plasma as a result of the plasma ions mixing with the steel substrate in liquid phase are investigated in this paper.The experiments have been carried out with pulsed plasma gun, which generates plasma streams with ion energy up to 2 keV, plasma density 2x10 14 cm -3 , average specific power of 10 MW/cm 2 and plasma energy density in the range of (5-40) J/cm 2 . The nitrogen, helium, other gases and their mixtures can be used as working gases. The regime of plasma treatment was chosen with variation of both the discharge voltage and the distance of the material surface from the gun output. Modification of thin (0.5-2 µm) PVD coatings of MoN, C+W, TiN, TiC, Cr, Cr+CrN and others by the pulsed plasma streams are analyzed also. It is shown that pulsed plasma treatment results in essential improvement of physical and mechanical properties of exposed materials. For example, microhardness of samples with Cr coating, after plasma treatment, increased in 2,5 times. Mechanisms of surface modification of a different alloys and coating irradiated with pulsed plasma streams of different ions are discussed. (authors)

Flow control over a NACA 0012 airfoil using dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma actuator with a Gurney flap

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feng, Li-Hao [Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Fluid Mechanics Key Laboratory of Education Ministry, Beijing (China); University of Nottingham, University Park, Faculty of Engineering, Nottingham (United Kingdom); Jukes, Timothy N. [University of Nottingham, University Park, Faculty of Engineering, Nottingham (United Kingdom); AIST, Research Centre for New Fuels and Vehicle Technology, Tsukuba (Japan); Choi, Kwing-So [University of Nottingham, University Park, Faculty of Engineering, Nottingham (United Kingdom); Wang, Jin-Jun [Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Fluid Mechanics Key Laboratory of Education Ministry, Beijing (China)

2012-06-15

Flow control study of a NACA 0012 airfoil with a Gurney flap was carried out in a wind tunnel, where it was demonstrated that a dielectric-barrier-discharge (DBD) plasma actuator attached to the flap could increase the lift further, but with a small drag penalty. Time-resolved PIV measurements of the near-wake region indicated that the plasma forcing shifted the wake downwards, reducing its recirculation length. Analysis of wake vortex dynamics suggested that the plasma actuator initially amplified the lower wake shear layer by adding momentum along the downstream surface of the Gurney flap. This enhanced mutual entrainment between the upper and lower wake vortices, leading to an increase in lift on the airfoil. (orig.)

Improvement of the Performance of Graphite Felt Electrodes for Vanadium-Redox-Flow-Batteries by Plasma Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva-Maria Hammer

2014-02-01

Full Text Available In the frame of the present contribution oxidizing plasma pretreatment is used for the improvement of the electrocatalytic activity of graphite felt electrodes for Vanadium-Redox-Flow-Batteries (VRB. The influence of the working gas media on the catalytic activity and the surface morphology is demonstrated. The electrocatalytical properties of the graphite felt electrodes were examined by cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The obtained results show that a significant improvement of the redox reaction kinetics can be achieved for all plasma modified samples using different working gasses (Ar, N2 and compressed air in an oxidizing environment. Nitrogen plasma treatment leads to the highest catalytical activities at the same operational conditions. Through a variation of the nitrogen plasma treatment duration a maximum performance at about 14 min cm-2 was observed, which is also represented by a minimum of 90 Ω in the charge transfer resistance obtained by EIS measurements. The morphology changes of the graphitized surface were followed using SEM.

Increased kidney size, glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow in short-term insulin-dependent diabetics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, JS; Gammelgaard, J; Frandsen, M

1981-01-01

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR), renal plasma flow (RPF) and kidney volume were measured in thirteen male subjects (mean age 30 years) with short-term insulin-dependent diabetes (mean duration of disease 2.4 years) and fourteen normal male subjects (mean age 29 years). GFR and RPF were measured...

Nonlinear interaction of a parallel-flow relativistic electron beam with a plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jungwirth, K.; Koerbel, S.; Simon, P.; Vrba, P.

1975-01-01

Nonlinear evolution of single-mode high-frequency instabilities (ω approximately ksub(parallel)vsub(b)) excited by a parallel-flow high-current relativistic electron beam in a magnetized plasma is investigated. Fairly general dimensionless equations are derived. They describe both the temporal and the spatial evolution of amplitude and phase of the fundamental wave. Numerically, the special case of excitation of the linearly most unstable mode is solved in detail assuming that the wave energy dissipation is negligible. Then the strength of interaction and the relativistic properties of the beam are fully respected by a single parameter lambda. The value of lambda ensuring the optimum efficiency of the wave excitation as well as the efficiency of the self-acceleration of some beam electrons at higher values of lambda>1 are determined in the case of a fully compensated relativistic beam. Finally, the effect of the return current dissipation is also included (phenomenologically) into the theoretical model, its role for the beam-plasma interaction being checked numerically. (J.U.)

Experimental investigation of gas flow rate and electric field effect on refractive index and electron density distribution of cold atmospheric pressure-plasma by optical method, Moiré deflectometry

Science.gov (United States)

Khanzadeh, Mohammad; Jamal, Fatemeh; Shariat, Mahdi

2018-04-01

Nowadays, cold atmospheric-pressure (CAP) helium plasma jets are widely used in material processing devices in various industries. Researchers often use indirect and spectrometric methods for measuring the plasma parameters which are very expensive. In this paper, for the first time, characterization of CAP, i.e., finding its parameters such as refractive index and electron density distribution, was carried out using an optical method, Moiré deflectometry. This method is a wave front analysis technique based on geometric optics. The advantages of this method are simplicity, high accuracy, and low cost along with the non-contact, non-destructive, and direct measurement of CAP parameters. This method demonstrates that as the helium gas flow rate decreases, the refractive index increases. Also, we must note that the refractive index is larger in the gas flow consisting of different flow rates of plasma comparing with the gas flow without the plasma.

Energy principle for excitations in plasmas with counterstreaming electron flows

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Atul; Shukla, Chandrasekhar; Das, Amita; Kaw, Predhiman

2018-05-01

A relativistic electron beam propagating through plasma induces a return electron current in the system. Such a system of interpenetrating forward and return electron current is susceptible to a host of instabilities. The physics of such instabilities underlies the conversion of the flow kinetic energy to the electromagnetic field energy. Keeping this in view, an energy principle analysis has been enunciated in this paper. Such analyses have been widely utilized earlier in the context of conducting fluids described by MHD model [I. B. Bernstein et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 244(1236), 17-40 (1958)]. Lately, such an approach has been employed for the electrostatic two stream instability for the electron beam plasma system [C. N. Lashmore-Davies, Physics of Plasmas 14(9), 092101 (2007)]. In contrast, it has been shown here that even purely growing mode like Weibel/current filamentation instability for the electron beam plasma system is amenable to such a treatment. The treatment provides an understanding of the energetics associated with the growing mode. The growth rate expression has also been obtained from it. Furthermore, it has been conclusively demonstrated in this paper that for identical values of S4=∑αn0 αv0α 2/n0γ0 α, the growth rate is higher when the counterstreaming beams are symmetric (i.e. S3 = ∑αn0αv 0α/n0γ0α = 0) compared to the case when the two beams are asymmetric (i.e. when S3 is finite). Here, v 0α, n0α and γ0α are the equilibrium velocity, electron density and the relativistic factor for the electron species `α' respectively and n0 = ∑αn0α is the total electron density. Particle - In - Cell simulations have been employed to show that the saturated amplitude of the field energy is also higher in the symmetric case.

Plasma flow driven by fusion-generated alpha particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikuta, Kazunari.

1978-05-01

The confinement of fusion-generated alpha particles will affect the transports of the background plasma particles by the momentum transfer from the energetic alphas. The ions tend to migrate towards the center of plasma (i.e. fuel injection) and electrons towards the plasma periphery. This means the existence of a mechanism which enable to pump out the ashes in the fuel plasma because of the momentum conservation of whole plasma particles. (author)

Plasma equilibria and stationary flows in axisymmetric systems. Pt. 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zelazny, R.; Stankiewicz, R.; Galkowski, A.; Potempski, S.; Pietak, R.

1990-08-01

The problem of the importance of poloidal flows for the behaviour of plasmas in axisymmetric systems has caused a lot of discussion and controversy during the last 15 years. There is no doubt that the mere existence of poloidal flow transforms the elliptic Grad-Shafranov-Schlueter equation into a system of mixed type partial differential equation and an algebraic multivalued Bernoulli equation. This fact leads to the appearance of Bernoulli branches in the solutions. Then, one can come across three branches of elliptic solutions as well as two branches of hyperbolic solutions with the possible appearance of phenomena connected with ''transsonic'' effects. Problems connected with such a mathematical situation have been extensively discussed in the report with the same title, dated May 1988, which we shall call later Part I of our studies on this subject. The present report, considered as Part III, is devoted to the presentation of results of efforts aimed at constructing programmes which allow us to solve the extended Grad-Shafranov-Schlueter equation (EGSS) (with stationary flows) in a more realistic situation relevant to the JET operating conditions. The main problem is to specify for a wider class of profiles the boundary conditions at the magnetic axis for a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations ODE, resulting from EGSS equation after application of Fourier transformation techniques and of inverse method approach. The present report elaborates a much more general case and describes the computational framework enabling us to derive those boundary conditions. (author)

Multiprobe characterization of plasma flows for space propulsion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Damba, Julius; Argente, P.; Maldonado, P. E.; Cervone, A.; Domenech-Garret, J.L.; Conde, Luis

2018-01-01

Plasma engines for space propulsion generate plasma jets (also denominated plasma plumes) having supersonic ion groups with typical speeds in the order of tens of kilometers per second, which lies between electron and ion thermal speeds. Studies of the stationary plasma expansion process using a

Fluctuation characteristics of arc voltage and jet flow in a non-transferred dc plasma generated at reduced pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pan, W X; Guo, Z Y; Meng, X; Huang, H J; Wu, C K

2009-01-01

A torch with a set of inter-electrode inserts between the cathode and the anode/nozzle with a wide nozzle exit was designed to generate plasma jets at chamber pressures of 500-10 000 Pa. The variation of the arc voltage was examined with the change in working parameters such as gas flow rate and chamber pressure. The fluctuation in the arc voltage was recorded with an oscilloscope, and the plasma jet fluctuation near the torch exit was observed with a high-speed video camera and detected with a double-electrostatic probe. Results show that the 300 Hz wave originated from the tri-phase rectified power supply was always detected under all generating conditions. Helmholtz oscillations over 3000 Hz was detected superposed on the 300 Hz wave at gas flow rates higher than 8.8 slm with a peak to valley amplitude lower than 5% of the average voltage value. No appreciable voltage fluctuation caused by the irregular arc root movement is detected, and mechanisms for the arc voltage and jet flow fluctuations are discussed.

Dynamic effects on the stretching of the magnetic field by a plasma flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nunez, Manuel [Departamento de Analisis Matematico, Universidad de Valladolid, 47005 Valladolid (Spain)

2003-08-22

A key mechanism in the growth of magnetic energy in kinematic dynamos is the stretching of the magnetic field vector by making it point in an unstable direction of the strain matrix. Our objective is to study whether this feature may be maintained in an ideal plasma when also considering the back reaction of the magnetic field upon the flow through the Lorentz force. Several effects occur: in addition to the nonlocal ones exerted by the total pressure, a complex geometry of magnetic field lines decreases the rate of growth of magnetic energy, rotation of the flow enhances it and above all the rate of growth decreases with minus the square of the eigenvalue associated with the magnetic field direction. Thus local dynamics tend to rapidly quench the stretching of the field.

Two-dimensional PIC simulations of ion beam instabilities in Supernova-driven plasma flows

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dieckmann, M E; Shukla, P K [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik IV, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Meli, A; Mastichiadis, A [Department of Physics, National University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografos 15783 (Greece); Drury, L O C [Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin 2 (Ireland)], E-mail: markd@tp4.rub.de

2008-06-15

Supernova remnant blast shells can reach the flow speed v{sub s} = 0.1c and shocks form at its front. Instabilities driven by shock-reflected ion beams heat the plasma in the foreshock, which may inject particles into diffusive acceleration. The ion beams can have the speed v{sub b} {approx} v{sub s}. For v{sub b} << v{sub s} the Buneman or upper-hybrid instabilities dominate, while for v{sub b} >> v{sub s} the filamentation and mixed modes grow faster. Here the relevant waves for v{sub b} {approx} v{sub s} are examined and how they interact nonlinearly with the particles. The collision of two plasma clouds at the speed v{sub s} is modelled with particle-in-cell simulations, which convect with them magnetic fields oriented perpendicular to their flow velocity vector. One simulation models equally dense clouds and the other one uses a density ratio of 2. Both simulations show upper-hybrid waves that are planar over large spatial intervals and that accelerate electrons to {approx}10 keV. The symmetric collision yields only short oscillatory wave pulses, while the asymmetric collision also produces large-scale electric fields, probably through a magnetic pressure gradient. The large-scale fields destroy the electron phase space holes and they accelerate the ions, which facilitates the formation of a precursor shock.

On the influence of plasma DBD actuator on the flow in a rectangular channel

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Procházka, Pavel P.; Uruba, Václav

2014-01-01

Roč. 14, č. 1 (2014), s. 727-728 ISSN 1617-7061. [Annual Meeting of the International Association of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics /85./. Erlangen, 10.03.2014-14.03.2014] R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GP14-25354P Institutional support: RVO:61388998 Keywords : plasma DBD * boundary layer * channel flow Subject RIV: BK - Fluid Dynamics http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pamm.201410346/abstract

Investigating plasma-rotation methods for the Space-Plasma Physics Campaign at UCLA's BAPSF.

Science.gov (United States)

Finnegan, S. M.; Koepke, M. E.; Reynolds, E. W.

2006-10-01

In D'Angelo et al., JGR 79, 4747 (1974), rigid-body ExB plasma flow was inferred from parabolic floating-potential profiles produced by a spiral ionizing surface. Here, taking a different approach, we report effects on barium-ion azimuthal-flow profiles using either a non-emissive or emissive spiral end-electrode in the WVU Q-machine. Neither electrode produced a radially-parabolic space-potential profile. The emissive spiral, however, generated controllable, radially-parabolic structure in the floating potential, consistent with a second population of electrons having a radially-parabolic parallel-energy profile. Laser-induced-fluorescence measurements of spatially resolved, azimuthal-velocity distribution functions show that, for a given flow profile, the diamagnetic drift of hot (>>0.2eV) ions overwhelms the ExB-drift contribution. Our experiments constitute a first attempt at producing controllable, rigid-body, ExB plasma flow for future experiments on the LArge-Plasma-Device (LAPD), as part of the Space-Plasma Physics Campaign (at UCLA's BAPSF).

Chemically reacting flow of a compressible thermally radiating two-component plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bestman, A.R.

1990-12-01

The paper studies the compressible flow of a hot two-component plasma in the presence of gravitation and chemical reaction in a vertical channel. For the optically thick gas approximation, closed form analytical solutions are possible. Asymptotic solutions are also obtained for the general differential approximation when the temperature of the two bounding walls are the same. In the general case the problem is reduced to the solution of standard nonlinear integral equations which can be tackled by iterative procedure. The results are discussed quantitatively. The problem may be applicable to the understanding of explosive hydrogen-burning model of solar flares. (author). 6 refs, 4 figs

Effect of disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) and antihistamines on postirradiation cerebral blood flow and plasma levels of histamine and neurotensin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cockerham, L.G.; Pautler, E.L.; Carraway, R.E.; Cochrane, D.E.; Hampton, J.D.

1988-01-01

In an attempt to elucidate mechanisms underlying the irradiation-induced decrease in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in primates, hippocampal and visual cortical blood flows of rhesus monkeys were measured by hydrogen clearance, before and after exposure to 100 Gy, whole-body, gamma irradiation. Systemic blood pressures were monitored simultaneously. Systemic arterial plasma histamine and neurotensin levels were determined preirradiation and postirradiation. Compared to control animals, the irradiated monkeys exhibited an abrupt decline in systemic blood pressure to 23% of the preirradiation level within 10 min postirradiation, falling to 12% by 60 min. A decrease in hippocampal blood flow to 32% of the preirradiation level was noted at 10 min postirradiation, followed by a slight recovery to 43% at 30 min and a decline to 23% by 60 min. The cortical blood flow for the same animals showed a steady decrease to 29% of the preirradiation levels by 60 min postirradiation. Animals given the mast cell stabilizer disodium cromoglycate and the antihistamines mepyramine and cimetidine before irradiation did not exhibit an abrupt decline in blood pressure but displayed a gradual decrease to a level 33% below preirradiation levels by 60 min postirradiation. Also, the treated, irradiated monkeys displayed rCBF values that were not significantly different from the nonirradiated controls. The plasma neurotensin levels in the irradiated animals, treated and untreated, indicated a nonsignificant postirradiation increase above control levels. However, the postirradiation plasma histamine levels in both irradiated groups showed an increase of approximately 1600% above the preirradiation levels and the postirradiation control levels

The Influence of Relative Humidity on Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Flow Control Actuator Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Wicks, M.; Thomas, F. O.; Corke, T. C.; Patel, M.

2012-11-01

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma actuators possess numerous advantages for flow control applications and have been the focus of several previous studies. Most work has been performed in relatively pristine laboratory settings. In actual flow control applications, however, it is essential to assess the impact of various environmental influences on actuator performance. As a first effort toward assessing a broad range of environmental effects on DBD actuator performance, the influence of relative humidity (RH) is considered. Actuator performance is quantified by force balance measurements of reactive thrust while RH is systematically varied via an ultrasonic humidifier. The DBD plasma actuator assembly, force balance, and ultrasonic humidifier are all contained inside a large, closed test chamber instrumented with RH and temperature sensors in order to accurately estimate the average RH at the actuator. Measurements of DBD actuator thrust as a function of RH for several different applied voltage regimes and dielectric materials and thicknesses are presented. Based on these results, several important design recommendations are made. This work was supported by Innovative Technology Applications Company (ITAC), LLC under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Contract No. N00014-11-C-0267 issued by the U.S. Department of the Navy.

Radiation accompanied by self absorption in nonequilibrium argon plasma flow in a circular tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shirai, Hiroyuki; Tabei, Katsuine; Koaizawa, Hisashi.

1983-01-01

In high temperature, nonequilibrium plasma flow, generally strong radiation arises, but the radiation phenomena are complicated by the thermo-chemical nonequilibrium of gas and the self absorption in light path, accordingly it is important to correctly understand and estimate their effects. In this research, for the radiation from the argon afterglow plasma flow with large nonequilibrium property in a circular tube, the experimental and theoretical studies were carried out taking the self absorption in consideration. Experimentally, the absolute intensity distribution of the radiated spectrum lines was measured from outside of the tube, and converted to the true radial distribution of atom number density at excited level using the mathematical conversion theory for the radiation accompanied by absorption of Elder et al. Theoretically, the radial distributions of electron temperature, electron density and atom temperature measured in the tube were applied to the collision-radiation process model including self absorption, and the distribution of the atom number density at excited level was calculated. Fairly good agreement was obtained between both results, and it was found that the consideration of self absorption was important. The theory, the experiment, the numerical examination of a number of physical quantities and the simplification of the theory, and the results are reported. (Kako, I.)

Temporally resolved ozone distribution of a time modulated RF atmospheric pressure argon plasma jet: flow, chemical reaction, and transient vortex

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, S; Sobota, A; Van Veldhuizen, E M; Bruggeman, P J

2015-01-01

The ozone density distribution in the effluent of a time modulated RF atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is investigated by time and spatially resolved by UV absorption spectroscopy. The plasma jet is operated with an averaged dissipated power of 6.5 W and gas flow rate 2 slm argon  +2% O 2 . The modulation frequency of the RF power is 50 Hz with a duty cycle of 50%. To investigate the production and destruction mechanism of ozone in the plasma effluent, the atomic oxygen and gas temperature is also obtained by TALIF and Rayleigh scattering, respectively. A temporal increase in ozone density is observed close to the quartz tube exit when the plasma is switched off due to the decrease in O density and gas temperature. Ozone absorption at different axial positions indicates that the ozone distribution is dominated by the convection induced by the gas flow and allows estimating the on-axis local gas velocity in the jet effluent. Transient vortex structures occurring during the switch on and off of the RF power also significantly affect the ozone density in the far effluent. (paper)

Free-flow electrophoresis of plasma membrane vesicles enriched by two-phase partitioning enhances the quality of the proteome from Arabidopsis seedlings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Michele, Roberto; McFarlane, Heather E; Parsons, Harriet Tempé

2016-01-01

The plant plasma membrane is the interface between the cell and its environment undertaking a range of important functions related to transport, signaling, cell wall biosynthesis, and secretion. Multiple proteomic studies have attempted to capture the diversity of proteins in the plasma membrane...... using biochemical fractionation techniques. In this study, two-phase partitioning was combined with free-flow electrophoresis to produce a population of highly purified plasma membrane vesicles that were subsequently characterized by tandem mass spectroscopy. This combined high-quality plasma membrane...... isolation technique produced a reproducible proteomic library of over 1000 proteins with an extended dynamic range including plasma membrane-associated proteins. The approach enabled the detection of a number of putative plasma membrane proteins not previously identified by other studies, including...

Numerical model for swirl flow cooling in high-heat-flux particle beam targets and the design of a swirl-flow-based plasma limiter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milora, S.L.; Combs, S.K.; Foster, C.A.

1984-11-01

An unsteady, two-dimensional heat conduction code has been used to study the performance of swirl-flow-based neutral particle beam targets. The model includes the effects of two-phase heat transfer and asymmetric heating of tubular elements. The calorimeter installed in the Medium Energy Test Facility, which has been subjected to 30-s neutral beam pulses with incident heat flux intensities of greater than or equal to 5 kW/cm 2 , has been modeled. The numerical results indicate that local heat fluxes in excess of 7 kW/cm 2 occur at the water-cooled surface on the side exposed to the beam. This exceeds critical heat flux limits for uniformly heated tubes wih straight flow by approximately a factor of 5. The design of a plasma limiter based on swirl flow heat transfer is presented

Hybrid Simulation of Supersonic Flow of Weakly Ionized Plasma along Open Field Magnetic Line Effect of Background Pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Laosunthara, Ampan; Akatsuka, Hiroshi

2016-09-01

In previous study, we experimentally examined physical properties of supersonic flow of weakly ionized expanding arc-jet plasma through an open magnetic field line (Bmax 0.16T). We found supersonic velocity of helium plasma up to Mach 3 and the space potential drop at the end of the magnets. To understand the plasma in numerical point of view, the flows of ion and neutral are treated by particle-based Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, electron is treated as a fluid. The previous numerical study, we assumed 2 conditions. Ion and electron temperatures were the same (LTE condition). Ion and electron velocities were the same (current-free condition). We found that ion velocity decreased by collision with residual gas molecules (background pressure). We also found that space potential changing with background pressure. In other words, it was indicated that electric field exists and the current-free assumption is not proper. In this study, we add electron continuity and electron momentum equations to obtain electron velocity and space potential. We find that space potential changing with background pressure slightly. It is indicated that electron is essential to space potential formation than ion.

Measuring the Plasma Density of a Ferroelectric Plasma Source in an Expanding Plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunaevsky, A.; Fisch, N.J.

2003-01-01

The initial density and electron temperature at the surface of a ferroelectric plasma source were deduced from floating probe measurements in an expanding plasma. The method exploits negative charging of the floating probe capacitance by fast flows before the expanding plasma reaches the probe. The temporal profiles of the plasma density can be obtained from the voltage traces of the discharge of the charged probe capacitance by the ion current from the expanding plasma. The temporal profiles of the plasma density, at two different distances from the surface of the ferroelectric plasma source, could be further fitted by using the density profiles for the expanding plasma. This gives the initial values of the plasma density and electron temperature at the surface. The method could be useful for any pulsed discharge, which is accompanied by considerable electromagnetic noise, if the initial plasma parameters might be deduced from measurements in expanding plasma

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and spontaneous Raman scattering diagnostics of nonequilibrium plasmas and flows

Science.gov (United States)

Lempert, Walter R.; Adamovich, Igor V.

2014-10-01

The paper provides an overview of the use of coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and spontaneous Raman scattering for diagnostics of low-temperature nonequilibrium plasmas and nonequilibrium high-enthalpy flows. A brief review of the theoretical background of CARS, four-wave mixing and Raman scattering, as well as a discussion of experimental techniques and data reduction, are included. The experimental results reviewed include measurements of vibrational level populations, rotational/translational temperature, electric fields in a quasi-steady-state and transient molecular plasmas and afterglow, in nonequilibrium expansion flows, and behind strong shock waves. Insight into the kinetics of vibrational energy transfer, energy thermalization mechanisms and dynamics of the pulse discharge development, provided by these experiments, is discussed. Availability of short pulse duration, high peak power lasers, as well as broadband dye lasers, makes possible the use of these diagnostics at relatively low pressures, potentially with a sub-nanosecond time resolution, as well as obtaining single laser shot, high signal-to-noise spectra at higher pressures. Possibilities for the development of single-shot 2D CARS imaging and spectroscopy, using picosecond and femtosecond lasers, as well as novel phase matching and detection techniques, are discussed.

Effects of pressure anisotropy on plasma transport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zawaideh, E.; Najmabadi, F.; Conn, R.W.

1986-03-01

In a recent paper a new set of generalized two-field equations is derived which describes plasma transport along the field lines of a space and time dependent magnetic field. These equations are valid for collisional to weakly collisional plasmas; they reduce to the conventional fluid equations of Braginskii for highly collisional plasmas. An important feature of these equations is that the anisotropy in the ion pressure is explicitly included. In this paper, these generalized transport equations are applied to a model problem of plasma flow through a magnetic mirror field. The profiles of the plasma parameters (density, flow speed, and pressures) are numerically calculated for plasma in different collisionality regimes. These profiles are explained by examining the competing terms in the transport equation. The pressure anisotropy is found to profoundly impact the plasma flow behavior. As a result, the new generalized equations predict flow behavior more accurately than the conventional transport equations. A large density and pressure drop is predicted as the flow passes through a magnetic mirror. Further, the new equations uniquely predict oscillations in the density profile, an effect missing in results from the conventional equations

Influence of external 3D magnetic fields on helical equilibrium and plasma flow in RFX-mod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piovesan, P; Bonfiglio, D; Bonomo, F; Cappello, S; Carraro, L; Cavazzana, R; Gobbin, M; Marrelli, L; Martin, P; Martines, E; Momo, B; Piron, L; Puiatti, M E; Soppelsa, A; Valisa, M; Zanca, P; Zaniol, B

2011-01-01

A spontaneous transition to a helical equilibrium with an electron internal transport barrier is observed in RFX-mod as the plasma current is raised above 1 MA (Lorenzini R et al 2009 Nature Phys. 5 570). The helical magnetic equilibrium can be controlled with external three-dimensional (3D) magnetic fields applied by 192 active coils, providing proper helical boundary conditions either rotating or static. The persistence of the helical equilibrium is strongly increased in this way. A slight reduction in the energy confinement time of about 15% is observed, likely due to the increased plasma-wall interaction associated with the finite radial magnetic field imposed at the edge. A global helical flow develops in these states and is expected to play a role in the helical self-organization. In particular, its shear may contribute to the ITB formation and is observed to increase with the externally applied radial field. The possible origins of this flow, from nonlinear visco-resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and/or ambipolar electric fields, will be discussed.

Study of single and binary ion plasma expansion into laboratory-generated plasma wakes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wright, K.H. Jr.

1988-02-01

Plasma expansion into the wake of a large rectangular plate immersed in a collisionless, supersonic plasma was investigated in laboratory experiments. The experimental conditions address both single ion and binary ion plasma flows for the case of a body whose size is large in comparison with the Debye length, when the potential difference between the body and the plasma is relatively small. A new plasma source was developed to generate equi-velocity, binary ion plasma flows, which allows access to new parameter space that have previously been unavailable for laboratory studies. Specifically, the new parameters are the ionic mass ratio and the ionic component density ratio. In a series of experiments, a krypton-neon plasma is employed where the ambient density ratio of neon to krypton is varied more than an order of magnitude. The expansion in both the single ion and binary ion plasma cases is limited to early times, i.e., a few ion plasma periods, by the combination of plasma density, plasma drift speed, and vacuum chamber size, which prevented detailed comparison with self-similar theory

Measurements of the cesium flow from a surface-plasma H- ion source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, H.V.; Allison, P.W.

1979-01-01

A surface ionization gauge (SIG) was constructed and used to measure the Cs 0 flow rate through the emission slit of a surface-plasma source (SPS) of H - ions with Penning geometry. The equivalent cesium density in the SPS discharge is deduced from these flow measurements. For dc operation the optimum H - current occurs at an equivalent cesium density of approx. 7 x 10 12 cm -3 (corresponding to an average cesium consumption rate of 0.5 mg/h). For pulsed operation the optimum H - current occurs at an equivalent cesium density of approx. 2 x 10 13 cm -3 (1-mg/h average cesium consumption rate). Cesium trapping by the SPS discharge was observed for both dc and pulsed operation. A cesium energy of approx. 0.1 eV is deduced from the observed time of flight to the SIG. In addition to providing information on the physics of the source, the SIG is a useful diagnostic tool for source startup and operation

Electrostatic instabilities and nonlinear structures of low-frequency waves in nonuniform electron-positron-ion plasmas with shear flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mirza, Arshad M.; Hasan, Asma; Azeem, M.; Saleem, H.

2003-01-01

It is found that the low-frequency ion acoustic and electrostatic drift waves can become unstable in uniform electron-ion and electron-positron-ion plasmas due to the ion shear flow. In a collisional plasma a drift-dissipative instability can also take place. In the presence of collisions the temporal behavior of nonlinear drift-dissipative mode can be represented in the form of well-known Lorenz and Stenflo type equations that admit chaotic trajectories. On the other hand, a quasi-stationary solution of the mode coupling equations can be represented in the form of monopolar vortex. The results of the present investigation can be helpful in understanding electrostatic turbulence and wave phenomena in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas

Conservation laws for steady flow and solitons in a multifluid plasma revisited

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mace, R. L.; McKenzie, J. F.; Webb, G. M.

2007-01-01

The conservation laws used in constructing the governing equations for planar solitons in multifluid plasmas are revisited. In particular, the concept of generalized vorticity facilitates the derivation of some general ''Bernoulli theorems,'' which reduce, in specific instances, to conservation laws previously deduced by other means. These theorems clarify the underlying physical principles that give rise to the conserved quantities. As an example of the usefulness of the techniques, even for relatively simple flows and progressive waves, the equations governing stationary nonlinear whistler waves propagating parallel to an ambient magnetic field are derived using generalized vorticity concepts

Plasma spheroidization of iron powders in a non-transferred DC thermal plasma jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, S.; Selvarajan, V.

2008-01-01

In this paper, the results of plasma spheroidization of iron powders using a DC non-transferred plasma spray torch are presented. The morphology of the processed powders was characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy (OM). The percentages of spheroidized powders were calculated by the shape factors such as the Irregularity Parameter (IP) and Roundness (RN). A maximum of 83% of spheroidization can be achieved. The spheroidization results are compared with the theoretical estimation and they are found to be in good agreement. The phase composition of the spheroidized powder was analyzed by XRD. The effect of plasma jet temperature and plasma gas flow rate on spheroidization is discussed. At low plasma gas flow rates and at high plasma jet temperatures, the percentage of spheroidization is high

Inductively coupled plasma--atomic emission spectroscopy: an evaluation of the use of nitrogen--argon admixtures as plasma discharge atmospheres

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zalewski, J.C.

1979-01-01

The effects of the use of nitrogen in either the plasma coolant or aerosol carrier gas flows on the physical and spectrochemical properties of the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) were examined. While the plasma operated with nitrogen in the coolant flow exhibited a stability comparable to that of the argon plasma, the use of nitrogen in the aerosol carrier gas flow resulted in a plasma that was less stable. The detection limits obtained for the three plasmas exhibited a similar trend. In addition, the use of nitrogen--argon admixtures in the plasma coolant gas flow yielded an increase in both the net analyte and the background emission intensities when the corresponding argon and nitrogen--argon plasmas were operated under various conditions. Furthermore, the effect of aluminum on the Ca II (393.4 nm) spectral line was reported for the 1000/1 Al/Ca molar ratio. At an observation height of 15 mm, the signal depressions were 4 and 14% for the nitrogen--argon and the argon plasmas, respectively. The above experimental evidence suggested that the operation of the ICP with an Ar--N 2 coolant gas might be hotter than the argon plasma currently in use in this laboratory. The demountable plasma torch designed in collaboration with K. Olson yielded detection limits for 15 elements and 19 spectral lines that were approximately within a factor of two of those obtained with the torch of fused quartz design. The design also appeared to offer a more readily initiated plasma discharge. The experimental evidence presented supports the utilization of nitrogen--argon admixtures in the plasma coolant gas flow as alternate discharge atmospheres for inductively coupled plasma--atomic emission spectroscopy. In contrast, the experimental evidence shows that there is a deterioration in both physical and spectrochemical properties of plasmas operated with a nitrogen aerosol carrier gas

Effects of gas-flow structures on radical and etch-product density distributions on wafers in magnetomicrowave plasma etching reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikegawa, Masato; Kobayashi, Jun'ichi; Fukuyama, Ryoji

2001-01-01

To achieve high etch rate, uniformity, good selectivity, and etch profile control across large diameter wafers, the distributions of ions, radicals, and etch products in magnetomicrowave high-etch-rate plasma etching reactors must be accurately controlled. In this work the effects of chamber heights, a focus ring around the wafer, and gas supply structures (or gas flow structures) on the radicals and etch products flux distribution onto the wafer were examined using the direct simulation Monte Carlo method and used to determine the optimal reactor geometry. The pressure uniformity on the wafer was less than ±1% when the chamber height was taller than 60 mm. The focus ring around the wafer produced uniform radical and etch-product fluxes but increased the etch-product flux on the wafer. A downward-flow gas-supply structure (type II) produced a more uniform radical distribution than that produced by a radial gas-supply structure (type I). The impact flow of the type II structure removed etch products from the wafer effectively and produced a uniform etch-product distribution even without the focus ring. Thus the downward-flow gas-supply structure (type II) was adopted in the design for the second-generation of a magnetomicrowave plasma etching reactor with a higher etching rate

A study of single and binary ion plasma expansion into laboratory-generated plasma wakes

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Kenneth Herbert, Jr.

1988-01-01

Plasma expansion into the wake of a large rectangular plate immersed in a collisionless, supersonic plasma was investigated in laboratory experiments. The experimental conditions address both single ion and binary ion plasma flows for the case of a body whose size is large in comparison with the Debye length, when the potential difference between the body and the plasma is relatively small. A new plasma source was developed to generate equi-velocity, binary ion plasma flows, which allows access to new parameter space that have previously been unavailable for laboratory studies. Specifically, the new parameters are the ionic mass ratio and the ionic component density ratio. In a series of experiments, a krypton-neon plasma is employed where the ambient density ratio of neon to krypton is varied more than an order of magnitude. The expansion in both the single ion and binary ion plasma cases is limited to early times, i.e., a few ion plasma periods, by the combination of plasma density, plasma drift speed, and vacuum chamber size, which prevented detailed comparison with self-similar theory.

Observation of ion cyclotron range of frequencies mode conversion plasma flow drive on Alcator C-Moda)

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Y.; Rice, J. E.; Wukitch, S. J.; Greenwald, M. J.; Hubbard, A. E.; Ince-Cushman, A.; Lin, L.; Marmar, E. S.; Porkolab, M.; Reinke, M. L.; Tsujii, N.; Wright, J. C.; Alcator C-Mod Team

2009-05-01

At modest H3e levels (n3He/ne˜8%-12%), in relatively low density D(H3e) plasmas, n¯e≤1.3×1020 m-3, heated with 50 MHz rf power at Bt0˜5.1 T, strong (up to 90 km/s) toroidal rotation (Vϕ) in the cocurrent direction has been observed by high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy on Alcator C-Mod. The change in central Vϕ scales with the applied rf power (≤30 km s-1 MW-1), and is generally at least a factor of 2 higher than the empirically determined intrinsic plasma rotation scaling. The rotation in the inner plasma (r /a≤0.3) responds to the rf power more quickly than that of the outer region (r /a≥0.7), and the rotation profile is broadly peaked for r /a≤0.5. Localized poloidal rotation (0.3≤r/a≤0.6) in the ion diamagnetic drift direction (˜2 km/s at 3 MW) is also observed, and similarly increases with rf power. Changing the toroidal phase of the antenna does not affect the rotation direction, and it only weakly affects the rotation magnitude. The mode converted ion cyclotron wave (MC ICW) has been detected by a phase contrast imaging system and the MC process is confirmed by two-dimensional full wave TORIC simulations. The simulations also show that the MC ICW is strongly damped on H3e ions in the vicinity of the MC layer, approximately on the same flux surfaces where the rf driven flow is observed. The flow shear in our experiment is marginally sufficient for plasma confinement enhancement based on the comparison of the E ×B shearing rate and gyrokinetic linear stability analysis.

Test-bed and Full-Scale Demonstration of Plasma Flow Control for Wind Turbines. Phase 1

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-15

The approach, which uses Gauss - Seidel iterations and successive under-relaxation by lines, Plasma Flow Control for Wind Turbines – Final Report...Compute a and a’ using Equations (6-16) and (6-17). Loop over steps 3 through 6 until these values converge to within some preset tolerance...predicted by XFOIL. The consistency of the two solutions, coupled with convergence studies of the CFD solution (not shown), give us confidence that

Boundary conditions on the plasma emitter surface in the presence of a particle counter flow: I. Ion emitter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Astrelin, V. T., E-mail: V.T.Astrelin@inp.nsk.su; Kotelnikov, I. A. [Russian Academy of Sciences, Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Siberian Branch (Russian Federation)

2017-02-15

Emission of positively charged ions from a plasma emitter irradiated by a counterpropagating electron beam is studied theoretically. A bipolar diode with a plasma emitter in which the ion temperature is lower than the electron temperature and the counter electron flow is extracted from the ion collector is calculated in the one-dimensional model. An analog of Bohm’s criterion for ion emission in the presence of a counterpropagating electron beam is derived. The limiting density of the counterpropagating beam in a bipolar diode operating in the space-charge-limited-emission regime is calculated. The full set of boundary conditions on the plasma emitter surface that are required for operation of the high-current optics module in numerical codes used to simulate charged particle sources is formulated.

Continuous supersonic plasma wind tunnel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, S.A.; Jensen, Vagn Orla; Nielsen, P.

1968-01-01

The B field configuration of a Q-device has been modified into a magnetic Laval nozzle. Continuous supersonic plasma flow is observed with M≈3......The B field configuration of a Q-device has been modified into a magnetic Laval nozzle. Continuous supersonic plasma flow is observed with M≈3...