Observation of coherent sheared turbulence flows in the DIII-D Tokamak

Time-resolved measurements of the turbulent density flow field in a tokamak plasma reveal low-frequency ( approximately 15 KHz), coherent oscillations in the poloidal flow, v(theta). These flow oscillations have a long poloidal wavelength (m<3) and narrow radial extent (k(r)rho(i) approximately 0.2). The estimated flow-shearing rate is of the same order of magnitude as the turbulence decorrelation rate and may thus regulate the turbulence amplitude. These features are consistent with theoretically predicted axisymmetric, self-regulating, sheared flows recognized as geodesic acoustic modes.     

Influence of the static Dynamic Ergodic Divertor on edge turbulence properties in TEXTOR

Systematic measurements on the edge turbulence and turbulent transport have been made by Langmuir probe arrays on TEXTOR under various static Dynamic Ergodic Divertor (DED) configurations. Common features are observed. With the DED, in the ergodic zone the local turbulent flux reverses sign from radially outwards to inwards. The turbulence properties are profoundly modified by energy redistribution in frequency spectra and suppression of large scale eddies. The fluctuation poloidal phase velocity changes direction from electron to ion diamagnetic drift, consistent with the observed reversal of the Er x B flow. In the laminar region, the turbulence is found to react to an observed reduced flow shear.     

Direct measurement of poloidal long-wavelength E x B flows in the HT-7 tokamak

The poloidal long-wavelength E x B time-varying flows were directly measured using a forked Langmuir probe in the HT-7 tokamak. Low-frequency (<10 kHz) E x B flows were observed at the plasma edge, which possess many of the characteristics of zonal flows, including a poloidal long-wavelength (k(theta)rho(i) approximately 0) and narrow radial extent (k(r)rho(i) approximately 0.1). The cross bicoherence of turbulent Reynolds stress indicates the existence of nonlinear three-wave coupling processes and the generation of low-frequency E x B flows. The estimated flow-shearing rate is of the same order of magnitude as the turbulence decorrelation rate and may thus regulate the fluctuation level and thereby the turbulence-driven transport.     

Detection of zero-mean-frequency zonal flows in the core of a high-temperature tokamak plasma

A low-frequency, spectrally broad (Deltaf approximately 10 kHz) poloidal flow structure that peaks near zero frequency is observed in time-resolved measurements of the turbulence velocity field in the core region (r/a approximately 0.6-0.9) of DIII-D tokamak plasmas. These flows exhibit a long poloidal wavelength (low m) and a short radial coherence length comparable to the ambient turbulence decorrelation length. Characteristics of these observed poloidal flows are consistent with the theoretically predicted residual or zero-mean-frequency zonal flows.     

HT-7超导托卡马克边缘涨落谱特征及湍流输运研究

用郎缪尔三探针对HT-7超导托卡马克边缘等离子体涨落进行了高时空分辩测量.给出了欧姆放电下涨落幅度的径向分布、谱特征及传播特性.实验观察表明,在由E_r×B确定的极向旋转速度剪切层附近,等离子体电位、电子温度和电子密度的相对涨落水平和两两间的相干系数均有明显下降,其极向互相关函数亦减小,这说明剪切层对涨落具有去相关作用.由涨落驱动的径向局域粒子输运通量Γ_tur测量显示出湍动输运具有时间上的阵发特性。将悬浮电位涨落φ_f2的自动率谱P_{( 关键词： 托卡马克 边界涨落 湍流输运}     

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.     

Turbulent saturation of tokamak-core zonal flows

Current theories of zonal flow dynamics focus on the transport of poloidal momentum. Different from a cylinder, stationary poloidal flows in a tokamak are accompanied by (possibly kinetic) flows along the magnetic field, which maintain incompressibility, and comprise the major part of the flow energy. In numerical turbulence studies, the flows saturate by the turbulent diffusion of the parallel flow, whereas the poloidal momentum transport continues to strongly drive the flows.     

EAST装置上W波段多道极向相关反射仪的研制

在EAST装置上安装了X模极化W波段多道相关反射仪,用于测量等离子体芯部密度涨落。该诊断利用低损耗(<3dB)多工器将4个不同频率(79.2GHz,85.2GHz,91.8GHz和96GHz)的微波耦合在一起,通过同一个天线发射。反射波由两个极向分离(~5cm)的天线接收,通过下变频技术实现外差测量。通过对两个极向天线接收的信号进行相关分析,获得芯部湍流垂直速度。对2018年低约束模式(L模)放电进行分析发现,在电子回旋共振加热(ECRH)等离子体中,芯部湍流垂直速度在电子逆磁漂移方向。而在注入同向中性束(co-NBI)后,芯部湍流垂直速度变为离子逆磁漂移方向。     

Investigation of Turbulent Transition in Plane Couette Flows Using Energy Gradient Method

The energy gradient method has been proposed with the aim of better understanding the mechanism of flow transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow. In this method, it is demonstrated that the transition to turbulence depends on the relative magnitudes of the transverse gradient of the total mechanical energy which amplifies the disturbance and the energy loss from viscous friction which damps the disturbance, for given imposed disturbance. For a given flow geometry and fluid properties, when the maximum of the function $K$ (a function standing for the ratio of the gradient of total mechanical energy in the transverse direction to the rate of energy loss due to viscous friction in the streamwise direction) in the flow field is larger than a certain critical value, it is expected that instability would occur for some initial disturbances. In this paper, using the energy gradient analysis, the equation for calculating the energy gradient function $K$ for plane Couette flow is derived. The result indicates that $K$ reaches the maximum at the moving walls. Thus, the fluid layer near the moving wall is the most dangerous position to generate initial oscillation at sufficient high $\operatorname{Re}$ for given same level of normalized perturbation in the domain. The critical value of $K$ at turbulent transition, which is observed from experiments, is about 370 for plane Couette flow when two walls move in opposite directions (anti-symmetry). This value is about the same as that for plane Poiseuille flow and pipe Poiseuille flow (385-389). Therefore, it is concluded that the critical value of $K$ at turbulent transition is about 370-389 for wall-bounded parallel shear flows which include both pressure (symmetrical case) and shear driven flows (anti-symmetrical case).     

Turbulent transport in tokamak plasmas with rotational shear

Nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations are conducted to investigate turbulent transport in tokamak plasmas with rotational shear. At sufficiently large flow shears, linear instabilities are suppressed, but transiently growing modes drive subcritical turbulence whose amplitude increases with flow shear. This leads to a local minimum in the heat flux, indicating an optimal E×B shear value for plasma confinement. Local maxima in the momentum fluxes are observed, implying the possibility of bifurcations in the E×B shear. The critical temperature gradient for the onset of turbulence increases with flow shear at low flow shears; at higher flow shears, the dependence of heat flux on temperature gradient becomes less stiff. The turbulent Prandtl number is found to be largely independent of temperature and flow gradients, with a value close to unity.     

Transport reduction by rotation shear in tokamak-edge turbulence

Effects of externally imposed and self-generated poloidal flows on turbulent transport in the edge region of a tokamak are investigated using 3D nonlinear global simulations of resistive pressure-gradient-driven turbulence. Transport reduction is found to be due to synergetic changes in the fluctuation amplitude and in the dephasing of the fluctuations. A scaling of the fluctuation level and turbulent diffusivity with E x B flow shear strength is deduced from these simulations. These scalings agree with recent experimental observations on edge biasing as well as with analytical models.     

Observation of turbulent-driven shear flow in a cylindrical laboratory plasma device

An azimuthally symmetric radially sheared plasma fluid flow is observed to spontaneously form in a cylindrical magnetized helicon plasma device with no external sources of momentum input. A turbulent momentum conservation analysis shows that this shear flow is sustained by the Reynolds stress generated by collisional drift turbulence in the device. The results provide direct experimental support for the basic theoretical picture of drift-wave-shear-flow interactions.     

High magnetic shear gain in a liquid sodium stable Couette flow experiment: a prelude to an α-Ω dynamo

The Ω phase of the liquid sodium α-Ω dynamo experiment at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in cooperation with Los Alamos National Laboratory has demonstrated a high toroidal field B(?) that is ?8×B(r), where B(r) is the radial component of an applied poloidal magnetic field. This enhanced toroidal field is produced by the rotational shear in stable Couette flow within liquid sodium at a magnetic Reynolds number Rm?120. Small turbulence in stable Taylor-Couette flow is caused by Ekman flow at the end walls, which causes an estimated turbulence energy fraction of (δv/v)(2)～10(-3).     

利用风廓线雷达谱宽反演晴空湍流耗散率

 从晴天风廓线雷达的回波信号机制出发,研究了利用风廓线雷达谱宽反演晴空湍流耗散率的方法,即从雷达测量的多普勒速度谱宽中提取出湍流因素引起的谱宽,进而由湍流谱宽和湍流动能耗散率的关系计算出湍流动能耗散率。通过对合肥地区风廓线雷达谱宽资料的分析,得到合肥上空300 m高度上湍流动能耗散率的大小分布在10-4~10^-1 m²/s³之间,与理论相符,说明利用雷达谱宽反演湍流耗散率的方法可行。     

绝热搅拌槽内流体平均剪切速率的一种计算方法

基于流体流动的剪切速率与能量耗散率、以及能量散率与流体温升速率的关系,提出了根据搅拌过程中流体温升速率计算绝热搅拌槽内流体平均剪切速率的方法,并会对一个实验室用的小型高速搅拌系统,建立了流体平均剪切速率与流体黏度及搅拌转速关系的经验模型。本方法确定的是全槽流体的平均剪切速率,其应用不受叶轮类型的限制,可用于湍流搅拌,弥补了Metzner-Otto方法的若干不足。对于控温搅拌槽,可先在绝热条件下确定平均剪切速率与搅拌转速、流体流变性参数及体积的关系。     

Measurements of Reynolds stress and turbulence in the boundary plasma of the HT-7 tokamak

Measurements of electric field fluctuations, Reynolds stress and poloidal flow have been performed in the boundary region of the HT-7 tokamak using a Langmuir probe array.Sheared radial electric field and poloidal flow have been found in the vicinity of the limiter and the turbulence has been clearly modified in this region. Furthermore,the electrostatic Reynolds stress component shows a radial gradient close to the velocity shear layer location.All results here indicate that the radial gradient of Reynolds stress may play an important role in the driving of poloidal flows in the plasma boundary region.     

Signature of turbulent zonal flows observed in the DIII-D tokamak

The spectrum of turbulent density fluctuations at long poloidal wavelengths in the edge plasma of the DIII-D tokamak peaks at nonzero radial wave number. The associated electric-potential fluctuations cause sheared E x B flows primarily in the poloidal direction. These zonal flows have been predicted by theory and are believed to regulate the overall level of turbulence and anomalous transport. This study provides the first indirect experimental identification of zonal flows.     

Spontaneous edge <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis> × <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis> sheared flow development studies in the TJ-II stellarator

The influence of plasma density and edge gradients in the development of perpendicular sheared flow has been investigated in the plasma edge region of the TJ-II stellarator. It has been experimentally observed that the generation of spontaneous perpendicular sheared flow (i.e. the naturally occurring shear layer) requires a minimum plasma density or gradient. It has been found that there is a coupling between the onset of sheared flow development and an increase in the level of plasma edge turbulence; once sheared flow is fully developed the level of fluctuations and turbulent transport slightly decreases whereas edge gradients and plasma density increase. The resulting shearing rate is close to the one required to trigger a transition to improved confinement regimes with reduction of edge turbulence, showing that spontaneous sheared flows and fluctuations keep themselves near marginal stability. Presented at the Workshop “Electric Fields, Structures and Relaxation in Edge Plasmas”, Tarragona, Spain, July 3–4, 2005.     

Large-eddy simulations of temporally accelerating turbulent channel flow

The unsteady turbulent channel flow subject to the temporal acceleration is considered in this study. Large-eddy simulations were performed to study the response of the turbulent flow to the temporal acceleration. The simulations were started with the fully developed turbulent channel flow at an initial Reynolds number of Re₀ = 3500 (based on the channel half-height and the bulk-mean velocity), and then a constant temporal acceleration was applied. During the acceleration, the Reynolds number of the channel flow increased linearly from the initial Reynolds number to the final Reynolds number of Re₁ = 22,600. The effect of grid resolution, domain size, time step size on the simulation results was assessed in a preliminary study using simulations of the accelerating turbulent flow as well as simulations of the steady turbulent channel flow at various Reynolds numbers. Simulation parameters were carefully chosen from the preliminary study to ascertain the accuracy of the simulation. From the accelerating turbulent flow simulations, the delays in the response of various flow properties to the temporal acceleration were measured. The distinctive features of the delays responsible for turbulence production, energy redistribution, and radial propagation were identified. Detailed turbulence statistics including the wall shear stress response during the acceleration were examined. The results reveal the changes in the near-wall structures during the acceleration. A self-sustaining mechanism of turbulence is proposed to explain the response of the turbulent flow to the temporal acceleration. Although the overall flow characteristics are similar between the channel and pipe flows, some differences were observed between the two flows.