Nonlinear saturation of trapped electron modes via perpendicular particle diffusion

In magnetized fusion plasmas, trapped electron mode (TEM) turbulence constitutes, together with ion temperature gradient (ITG) turbulence, the dominant source of anomalous transport on ion scales. While ITG modes are known to saturate via nonlinear zonal flow generation, this mechanism is shown to be of little importance for TEM turbulence in the parameter regime explored here. Instead, a careful analysis of the statistical properties of the ExB nonlinearity in the context of gyrokinetic turbulence simulations reveals that perpendicular particle diffusion is the dominant saturation mechanism. These findings allow for the construction of a rather realistic quasilinear model of TEM induced transport.     

Harmonic propagation of finite amplitude sound beams: experimental determination of the nonlinearity parameter B/A

We propose a method to determine the nonlinearity parameter B/A of a liquid from the spatial evolution of harmonic components. We describe an analytical model, in the parabolic and quasi-linear approximations, that predicts the continuous finite amplitude sound beam propagation radiated by a plane piston source. This model takes into consideration attenuation, diffraction and nonlinear effects. The fundamental and second harmonic ultrasonic fields are expressed as the superposition of Gaussian beams. Axial propagation curves are then compared with those obtained by direct numerical solution of the transformed beam equation using the finite difference method, and with experimental results. Accurate measurements of pressure levels for the nonlinearly generated harmonics in water are performed along and across the propagation axis for different pressure values delivered at the piston surface. Experimental results, for water and ethanol, are in agreement with those of our model, which allows us to obtain the expected value of the nonlinearity parameter B/A.     

The nonlinear decay of complex signals in dissipative media

The solution of Burgers' equation with random initial conditions is often said to describe "Burgers turbulence." The Burgers equation describes two fundamental effects characteristic of any turbulence-the nonlinear transfer of energy over the spectrum and the dissipation of energy in the small-scale components. Strong interaction between coherent harmonics, associated with the nondispersive nature of the dynamics, leads to the appearance of local self-similar structure. In Burgers' equation, continuous random initial fields are transformed into sequences of regions with regular behavior, with random locations of the shocks separating them. Moreover, the statistical properties of such random fields are also self-similar. It is already known that the merging of the shocks leads to an increase of the external scale of the turbulence, and because of this the energy of a random signal ("noise") decreases more slowly than the energy of simple signals. Here we show that similar behavior takes place for complex regular signals with fractal structure in the coordinate or in the wave-number space. In all these cases, the law of increase of the external scale is determined by the behavior of the structure function of the integral of the initial field-i.e., the structure function of the initial action. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.     

Role of the zonal flow in multi-scale multi-mode turbulence with small-scale shear flow in tokamak plasmas

The structural characteristics of zonal flows and their roles in the nonlinear interaction of multi-scale multi-mode turbulence are investigated numerically via a self-consistent Landau-fluid model. The multi-mode turbulence here is composed of a shorter wavelength electromagnetic (EM) ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode and a Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability with long wavelengths excited by externally imposed small-scale shear flows. For strong shear flow, a prominent periodic intermittency of fluctuation intensity except for dominant ITG component is revealed in turbulence evolution, which onset time depends on the ion temperature gradient and the shear flow amplitudes corresponding to different KH instabilities. It is identified that the intermittency phenomenon results from the zonal flow dynamics, which is mainly generated by the KH mode and back-reacts on it. It is demonstrated that the odd symmetric components of zonal flow (same symmetry as the external flow) make the radial parity of the KH mode alteration through adjusting the drift velocities at two sides of the resonant surface so that the KH mode becomes bursty first. Afterwards, the ITG intermittency follows due to nonlinear mode coupling. Parametric dependences of the features of the intermittency are elaborated. Finally, associated turbulent heat transport is evaluated.     

Nonlinear interaction phenomenon of dust acoustic solitary and shock waves in dusty plasma

The effects of head-on collision on dust acoustic (DA) solitary and shock waves in dusty plasma are investigated considering positively charged inertial dust, Boltzmann distributed negatively charged heavy ions, positively charged light ions, and superthermal electrons in the plasma system. The nonlinear Korteweg-de-Vries (KdV) Burger equations are derived taking the extended Poincaré-Lighthill-Kuo method into account to study the characteristic properties of nonlinearity and production of solitary shock due to collisions. The study reveals that the amplitudes and widths of the DA shock waves are decreasing with increasing viscosity, electron to dust density ratio, and dust to ion temperature ratio, while they are increasing due to the presence of superthermal electrons. The nonlinearity of DA waves are enhanced with increasing density ratio of electron to dust and temperature ratio of dust to ion and electron, respectively, but it is reducing with superthermal electrons. The phase shifts of DA solitary waves are found to decrease with rising superthermality of electrons and increase with the density ratio of electron to dust.     

Large-amplitude nonlinear vibrations of a Mooney–Rivlin rectangular membrane

An analysis of the linear and nonlinear vibration response and stability of a pre-stretched hyperelastic rectangular membrane under harmonic lateral pressure and finite initial deformations is presented in this paper. Geometric nonlinearity due to finite deformations and material nonlinearity associated with the hyperelastic constitutive law are taken into account. The membrane is assumed to be made of an isotropic, homogeneous, and incompressible Mooney–Rivlin material. The results for a neo-Hookean material are obtained as a particular case and a comparison of these two constitutive models is carried out. First, the exact solution of the membrane under a biaxial stretch is obtained, being this initial stress state responsible for the membrane stiffness. The equations of motion of the pre-stretched membrane are then derived. From the linearized equations, the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the membrane are analytically obtained for both materials. The natural modes are then used to approximate the nonlinear deformation field using the Galerkin method. A detailed parametric analysis shows the strong influence of the stretching ratios and material parameters on the linear and nonlinear oscillations of the membrane. Frequency–amplitude relations, resonance curves, and bifurcation diagrams, are used to illustrate the nonlinear dynamics of the membrane. The present results are compared favorably with the results evaluated for the same membrane using a nonlinear finite element formulation.     

Acoustic nonlinearity parameter tomography for biological tissues via parametric array from a circular piston source--theoretical analysis and computer simulations

The acoustic nonlinearity parameter B/A describes the nonlinear features of a medium and may become a novel parameter for ultrasonic tissue characterization. This paper presents a theoretical analysis for acoustic nonlinear parameter tomography via a parametric array. As two primary waves of different frequencies are radiated simultaneously from a circular piston source, a secondary wave at the difference frequency is generated due to the nonlinear interaction of the primary waves. The axial and radial distributions of sound pressure amplitude for the generated difference frequency wave in the near field are calculated by a superposition of Gaussian beams. The calculated results indicated that the difference frequency component of the parametric array grows linearly with distance from the piston source. It therefore provides a better source to do the acoustic nonlinearity parameter tomography because the fundamental and second harmonic signals both have a near field that goes through many oscillations due to diffraction. By using a finite-amplitude insert substitution method and a filtered convolution algorithm, a computer simulation for B/A tomography from the calculated sound pressure of the difference frequency wave is studied. For biological tissues, the sound attenuation is considered and compensated in the image reconstruction. Nonlinear parameter computed tomography (CT) images for several biological sample models are obtained with quite good quality in this study.     

Energy spectra stemming from interactions of Alfvén waves and turbulent eddies

We present a numerical analysis of an incompressible decaying magnetohydrodynamic turbulence run on a grid of 1536{3} points. The Taylor Reynolds number at the maximum of dissipation is approximately 1100, and the initial condition is a superposition of large-scale Arn'old-Beltrami-Childress flows and random noise at small scales, with no uniform magnetic field. The initial kinetic and magnetic energies are equal, with negligible correlation. The resulting energy spectrum is a combination of two components, each moderately resolved. Isotropy obtains in the large scales, with a spectral law compatible with the Iroshnikov-Kraichnan theory stemming from the weakening of nonlinear interactions due to Alfvén waves; scaling of structure functions confirms the non-Kolmogorovian nature of the flow in this range. At small scales, weak turbulence emerges with a k{perpendicular}{-2} spectrum, the perpendicular direction referring to the local quasiuniform magnetic field.     

Gyrokinetic simulations of solar wind turbulence from ion to electron scales

A three-dimensional, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulation of plasma turbulence resolving scales from the ion to electron gyroradius with a realistic mass ratio is presented, where all damping is provided by resolved physical mechanisms. The resulting energy spectra are quantitatively consistent with a magnetic power spectrum scaling of k(-2.8) as observed in in situ spacecraft measurements of the "dissipation range" of solar wind turbulence. Despite the strongly nonlinear nature of the turbulence, the linear kinetic Alfvén wave mode quantitatively describes the polarization of the turbulent fluctuations. The collisional ion heating is measured at subion-Larmor radius scales, which provides evidence of the ion entropy cascade in an electromagnetic turbulence simulation.     

Evidence of diffusion regions at a subsolar magnetopause crossing

On 1 April 2001, the Polar satellite crossed a subsolar magnetopause associated with antiparallel magnetic fields. Over a width approximately 6 magnetosheath ion skin depths (approximately 3 magnetospheric ion skin depths), perpendicular ion flows different from E x B/B(2) as well as Hall magnetic and electric field signatures were observed. At a smaller scale, the electron flow decoupled from the magnetic field near a deep minimum in the magnetic field strength. Separatrices were identified as boundaries of low frequency electric field turbulence associated with density minima and parallel electric fields. The reconnection rate was less than 2% of the asymptotic Alfvén speed.     

Role of zonal flow predator-prey oscillations in triggering the transition to H-mode confinement

Direct evidence of zonal flow (ZF) predator-prey oscillations and the synergistic roles of ZF- and equilibrium E×B flow shear in triggering the low- to high-confinement (L- to H-mode) transition in the DIII-D tokamak is presented. Periodic turbulence suppression is first observed in a narrow layer at and just inside the separatrix when the shearing rate transiently exceeds the turbulence decorrelation rate. The final transition to H mode with sustained turbulence and transport reduction is controlled by equilibrium E×B shear due to the increasing ion pressure gradient.     

Linear and nonlinear 2D finite element analysis of sloshing modes and pressures in rectangular tanks subject to horizontal harmonic motions

The influence of nonlinear wave theory on the sloshing natural periods and their modal pressure distributions are investigated for rectangular tanks under the assumption of two-dimensional behavior. Natural periods and mode shapes are computed and compared for both linear wave theory (LWT) and nonlinear wave theory (NLWT) models, using the finite element package ABAQUS. Linear wave theory is implemented in an acoustic model, whereas a plane strain problem with large displacements is used in NLWT. Pressure distributions acting on the tank walls are obtained for the first three sloshing modes using both linear and nonlinear wave theory. It is found that the nonlinearity does not have significant effects on the natural sloshing periods. For the sloshing pressures on the tank walls, different distributions were found using linear and nonlinear wave theory models. However, in all cases studied, the linear wave theory conservatively estimated the magnitude of the pressure distribution, whereas larger pressures resultant heights were obtained when using the nonlinear theory. It is concluded that the nonlinearity of the surface wave does not have major effects in the pressure distribution on the walls for rectangular tanks.     

电子回旋共振等离子体密度均匀性的数值研究

基于漂移扩散近似,在轴对称假设下,对电子回旋共振等离子体源腔室内的等离子体建立了二维流体模型.采用有限差分法对所建立的模型进行了自洽数值模拟,得到了等离子体密度均匀性随时间演化的数值结果.通过对数值结果的分析,研究了背景气体压强、微波功率和磁场线圈电流对等离子体密度均匀性的影响.研究表明,在电离初期,电子密度的均匀性好于离子密度的均匀性.在电离后期,离子密度的均匀性好于电子密度的均匀性.随着背景气体压强的增大,电子密度和离子密度的均匀性都在增加,且离子密度的均匀性增加的更快.随着微波功率的增大,电子密度和 关键词： 等离子体密度均匀性 背景气体压强 微波功率 磁场线圈电流     

The mechanical waveform of the basilar membrane. IV. Tone and noise stimuli

Analysis of mechanical cochlear responses to wide bands of random noise clarifies many effects of cochlear nonlinearity. The previous paper [de Boer and Nuttall, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 1497-1507 (2000)] illustrates how closely results of computations in a nonlinear cochlear model agree with responses from physiological experiments. In the present paper results for tone stimuli are reported. It was found that the measured frequency response for pure tones differs little from the frequency response associated with a noise signal. For strong stimuli, well into the nonlinear region, tones have to be presented at a specific level with respect to the noise for this to be true. In this report the nonlinear cochlear model originally developed for noise analysis was modified to accommodate pure tones. For this purpose the efficiency with which outer hair cells modify the basilar-membrane response was made into a function of cochlear location based on local excitation. For each experiment, the modified model is able to account for the experimental findings, within 1 or 2 dB. Therefore, the model explains why the type of filtering that tones undergo in the cochlea is essentially the same as that for noise signals (provided the tones are presented at the appropriate level).     

Analytical and numerical prediction of harmonic sound power in the inlet of aero-engines with emphasis on transonic rotation speeds

Tone noise radiated through the inlet of a turbofan is mainly due to rotor-stator interactions at subsonic regimes (approach flight), and to the shock waves attached to each blade at supersonic helical tip speeds (takeoff). The axial compressor of a helicopter turboshaft engine is transonic as well and can be studied like turbofans at takeoff. The objective of the paper is to predict the sound power at the inlet radiating into the free field, with a focus on transonic conditions because sound levels are much higher. Direct numerical computation of tone acoustic power is based on a RANS (Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes) solver followed by an integration of acoustic intensity over specified inlet cross-sections, derived from Cantrell and Hart equations (valid in irrotational flows). In transonic regimes, sound power decreases along the intake because of nonlinear propagation, which must be discriminated from numerical dissipation. This is one of the reasons why an analytical approach is also suggested. It is based on three steps: (i) appraisal of the initial pressure jump of the shock waves; (ii) 2D nonlinear propagation model of Morfey and Fisher; (iii) calculation of the sound power of the 3D ducted acoustic field. In this model, all the blades are assumed to be identical such that only the blade passing frequency and its harmonics are predicted (like in the present numerical simulations). However, transfer from blade passing frequency to multiple pure tones can be evaluated in a fourth step through a statistical analysis of irregularities between blades. Interest of the analytical method is to provide a good estimate of nonlinear acoustic propagation in the upstream duct while being easy and fast to compute. The various methods are applied to two turbofan models, respectively in approach (subsonic) and takeoff (transonic) conditions, and to a Turbomeca turboshaft engine (transonic case). The analytical method in transonic appears to be quite reliable by comparison with the numerical solution and with available experimental data.     

An investigation into the noise generation of CPAP devices: Experimental and numerical study

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices are popularly used for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) treatment. However, the noise level emission from these devices has been identified as a potential factor for patient’s discomfort and rejection. There is a need to obtain information on the noise characteristics and source locations in order to tackle the most serious noise source within these devices. A typical CPAP device was used for the investigation and its sound characteristics and sound power levels were determined. The noise generated from a centrifugal fan was also independently investigated to address its contribution to the overall noise of the device. Frequency analysis suggested that the noise generated from both the CPAP device and the fan is broadband in nature with discrete peaks containing rotational and non-rotational components. The broadband components were then studied in detail using numerical simulation approach. Computational aeroacoustics (CAA) method with hybrid approach was used to a three-dimensional (3-D) CPAP fluid model to predict the aerodynamic and aeroacoustics behaviours of the device. This showed a complicated flow structure involving flow separation, rotation, and vortices in several locations which resulted in high level of flow turbulence inside the device. The turbulent components were used to estimate the broadband noise level at source using the broadband noise source (BNS) models. It shows the most critical location is at the fan region and at the fan inlet.     

Higher order corrections and temperature effects to ion acoustic shock waves in quantum degenerate electron-ion plasma

The contribution of higher-order nonlinearity and dissipation to nonlinear ion acoustic shock waves (IASWs) is investigated by using the reductive perturbation technique in dense electron-ion plasma. The model consists of degenerate electrons (being either ultrarelativistic or nonrelativistic) and nonrelativistic ion fluid. A nonlinear Burger equation and a linear inhomogeneous Burger-type equation are derived. The inclusion of the higher-order corrections results in creating new shock wave structures, humped IASWs. It is found that the kinematic viscosity and the equilibrium ion number density play important roles in the basic features of the produced IA shocks and the associated electric fields. These findings are devoted to explaining the observed waves propagating in the outer periphery of compact dense stars which mostly consists of hydrogen and degenerate electrons.     

Roles of initial condition and vortex pairing in jet noise

This is a study of the effect of initial condition on sound generated by vortex pairing in a low Mach number, cold air jet (0·15 ⩽ M ⩽ 0·35). Data has been taken, both flow velocity fields and sound pressure far fields, in a quality anechoic facility, with careful documentation of the effect of initial condition on the sound field of jets of two different geometries (i.e., circular and elliptic). Explanations are presented for most of the observed effects by applying Möhring's theory of vortex sound to vortex filament models of coherent structures in the jets. The explanations also draw upon experience with coherent structure dynamics. The sound source of interest here is that associated with the pairing of shear layer vortices. The evolution of these vortices is greatly affected by the initial condition as is their resultant sound field. The elliptic jets with laminar boundary layers show azimuthal directivity, namely, sound pressure levels in the minor axis plane were greater than in the major axis plane. This difference decreases as the nozzle boundary layer undergoes natural transition with increasing jet speed. When the nozzle boundary layer is tripped, making it fully turbulent and removing the shear layer mode of pairing, the elliptic jet sound fields become nearly axisymmetric. What appears to be the most acoustically active phase of vortex pairing has been modeled, and the resulting sound field calculated for the circular jet. Supporting evidence is found in the experimental data for the validity of this model. The model explains the connection between the initial condition and the far field sound of jets. Interestingly, a general result of Möhring's theory is that motions of vortex rings (of any arbitrary shape) can produce only axisymmetric sound fields if the rings remain in a plane. This implies that the observed asymmetric directivity of the laminar elliptic jet sound field must be due to non-planar ring motions of the vortical structures. The primary contribution of this paper is to examine quantitatively the role of vortex pairing in the production of jet noise; the results are used to reemphasize that “pairing noise” cannot be dominant in most practical jet sound fields, contrary to claims by other researchers.     

Wave turbulent statistics in non-weak wave turbulence

In wave turbulence, which is made by nonlinear interactions among waves, it has been believed that statistical properties are well described by the weak turbulence theory, where separation of linear and nonlinear time scales derived from weak nonlinearity is assumed. However, the separation of the time scales is often violated. To get rid of this inconsistency, closed equations are derived in wave turbulence without assuming the weak nonlinearity according to Direct-Interaction Approximation (DIA), which has been successful in Navier-Stokes turbulence. The DIA equations is a natural extension of the conventional kinetic equation to not-necessarily-weak wave turbulence.