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.     

Velocity,temperature, and Reynolds-stress scaling in the wall region of turbulent boundary layer on a permeable surface

A finite total number of flow parameters in the wall region of a turbulent boundary layer points to universal behavior of turbulent shear stress as a function of mean-velocity gradient and turbulent heat flux as a function of both mean-velocity and mean-temperature gradients. Combined with dimensional arguments, this fact is used to reduce the momentum and heat equations to first-order ordinary differential equations for temperature and velocity profiles amenable to general analysis. Scaling laws for velocity and temperature in boundary layer flows with transpiration are obtained as generalizations of well-known logarithmic laws. Scaling relations are also established for shear stress and rms transverse velocity fluctuation. The proposed method has substantial advantages as compared to the classical approach (which does not rely on fluid-dynamics equations [1–3]). It can be applied to establish scaling laws for a broader class of near-wall turbulence problems without invoking closure hypotheses.     

Suppression of electron temperature gradient turbulence via negative magnetic shear in NSTX

Negative magnetic shear is found to suppress electron turbulence and improve electron thermal transport for plasmas in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). Sufficiently negative magnetic shear results in a transition out of a stiff profile regime. Density fluctuation measurements from high-k microwave scattering are verified to be the electron temperature gradient (ETG) mode by matching measured rest frequency and linear growth rate to gyrokinetic calculations. Fluctuation suppression under negligible E×B shear conditions confirm that negative magnetic shear alone is sufficient for ETG suppression. Measured electron temperature gradients can significantly exceed ETG critical gradients with ETG mode activity reduced to intermittent bursts, while electron thermal diffusivity improves to below 0.1?electron gyro-Bohms.     

L-mode to H-mode transition triggered by sawtooth-induced heat flux in EAST

H-modes induced by sawtooth events can be often observed in discharges with marginal auxiliary power injection in EAST. Poloidal flow shear at the very plasma edge, increasing ∼25% up to the threshold value, is observed just before the L-H transition by means of a fast reciprocating probe array in EAST. This suddenly risen poloidal flow shear, caused by the increased turbulent driven Reynolds force, is motived by the heat pulse originally released by a sawtooth crash at the plasma core. Associated with the critical poloidal flow shear, the local turbulent decorrelation rate increases significantly. The increased turbulent decorrelation rate compensated by nonlinear energy transfer rate from the turbulence to the low-frequency shear flows, exceeding the turbulence energy input rate, is sustained for several hundred microseconds till the turbulence quench happening.     

Ripple formation in weakly turbulent flow

The formation of granular ripples under liquid shear flow in an annular channel is studied experimentally. The erodible granular bed is subject to weakly turbulent flows without a defined sharp boundary layer close to the granular bed. The flow field and the degree of turbulence is characterized quantitatively by using a particle image velocimeter and a laser-Doppler velocimeter, respectively. A new range of particle Reynolds numbers at the lower limit of the Shields diagram were explored. Quantitative measurements of the granular flow on the surface reveal that the threshold for particle motion coincides within the order of one percent with the threshold for ripple formation. In fully developed ripples it was found that on the leeward side of the ripples regions of low-velocity gradients exist where granular motion is scarce, indicating that the coupling between the ripples is mainly caused by the flow field of the liquid.     

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.     

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.     

Adjoint-based sensitivity and ignition threshold mapping in a turbulent mixing layer

Successful ignition in non-premixed turbulent flows remains a fundamental challenge in combustion systems. Current design strategies typically rely on iterative testing to map the spatial distribution of ignition probability. We propose to accelerate this by formulating the adjoint of the perturbed and linearised governing equations in such a way that sensitivity of an ignition indicator can be obtained with a cost comparable to the flow solution. A space–time discrete adjoint method for multi-component chemically reacting flows is developed, and the gradient formed via the corresponding adjoint solution is used to identify regions favourable to ignition in a direct numerical simulation of non-premixed turbulent free shear flow. This approach requires a specific definition of an ignition metric, although this can be problematic because ignition either succeeds or fails after some period and thus gradients for some metrics become ill-defined near the ignition threshold. To this end, a quantity of interest is designed to provide short-time sensitivity in conjunction with an indicator function over a long-time period that informs whether successful ignition occurred. The gradients are used in a line-search algorithm to map the ignition boundary under specific constraints. Finally, parametric sensitivity is evaluated at different flow realisations to analyse factors governing local sensitivity in unsteady chemically reacting flows.     

Experimental determination of critical threshold in electron transport on Tore Supra

In Tore Supra plasmas with fast wave electron heating, a critical threshold in the electron temperature gradient (inverted DeltaT(e)) is clearly observed, i.e., a finite value of inverted DeltaT(e) for which the turbulent heat diffusivity vanishes. The radial profile of this critical gradient is experimentally determined from a set of discharges characterized by similar plasma parameters with fast wave powers ranging from 0.75 to 7.4 MW. The dependence of the electron heat flux on the gradient length is found to be offset linearly. The offset term increases linearly with the ratio of the local magnetic shear to the safety factor.     

平行速度剪切驱动湍流引起的粒子输运

通过离子温度梯度及平行速度剪切的准线性湍流理论，得到了由杂质离子及抵频E×B湍流所驱动的径向离子流及相应的输运系数．理论分析表明，主要离子和杂质离子的径向离子流具有相反的方向，并随着平衡流速剪切以及杂质离子的密度梯度的变化而改变．增强平行速度剪切对主要离子的约束可产生有利影响 关键词：     

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

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.     

高超声速湍流流场高折射率梯度区域气动光学畸变仿真研究

基于折射率界面厚度的描述建立了一种高折射率梯度门限的数学模型,在此梯度门限下,研究了高超声速流场中高折射率梯度区域的气动光学传输效应.提出了一种用折射率梯度的调和平均值描述高折射率梯度门限的方法.采用高超声速流场的计算流体力学结果作为分析折射率梯度和进行气动光学传输仿真的源数据,忽略绝对值低于该门限的梯度值重构折射率场,并采用变折射率介质中光线追迹算法仿真其气动光学传输畸变.不同流场状况、不同位置截面的仿真结果表明,采用本门限,重构折射率场和原折射率场的相关性达0.9以上,仿真光程差均方根的相对误差不超过±5%,验证了该高折射率梯度门限模型的有效性和适用性,同时从数值角度证实了高超声速湍流流场中高折射率梯度区域是气动光学传输畸变的主要成因.     

Experimental study of trapped-electron-mode properties in tokamaks: threshold and stabilization by collisions

Trapped electron modes are one of the candidates to explain turbulence driven electron heat transport observed in tokamaks. This instability has two characteristics: a threshold in normalized gradient and stabilization by collisions. Experiments using modulated electron cyclotron heating in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak demonstrate explicitly the existence of the threshold. The stabilization with increasing collisionality is evidenced by a strong decrease of the propagation of heat pulses, explained by a transition to ion temperature gradient driven transport. These results are supported by linear gyrokinetic calculations.     

Trapped electron mode turbulence driven intrinsic rotation in Tokamak plasmas

Progress from global gyrokinetic simulations in understanding the origin of intrinsic rotation in toroidal plasmas is reported. The turbulence-driven intrinsic torque associated with nonlinear residual stress generation due to zonal flow shear induced asymmetry in the parallel wave number spectrum is shown to scale close to linearly with plasma gradients and the inverse of the plasma current, qualitatively reproducing experimental empirical scalings of intrinsic rotation. The origin of current scaling is found to be enhanced k(∥) symmetry breaking induced by the increased radial variation of the safety factor as the current decreases. The intrinsic torque is proportional to the pressure gradient because both turbulence intensity and zonal flow shear, which are two key ingredients for driving residual stress, increase with turbulence drive, which is R/L(T(e)) and R/L(n(e)) for the trapped electron mode.     

微通道内给定壁面热流的气体换热研究

本文利用实施给定热流边界条件的DSMC方法,对短通道内给定壁面热流边界条件下的气体换热情况进行了模拟.结果表明,壁面热流密度增大导致通道内压力分布非线性程度增加.随着热流密度的增大,截面速度分布趋于平缓,滑移速度增大.给定热流密度的通道壁面温度与气流截面平均温度的差值沿程增大,温度梯度沿程下降,气体稀薄性增大时,通道换热减弱.     

The effect of two-dimensional shear flow on the stability of a crystal interface in a supercooled melt

A model is developed based on the time-related thermal diffusion equations to investigate the effects of twodimensional shear flow on the stability of a crystal interface in the supercooled melt of a pure substance.Similar to the three-dimensional shear flow as described in our previous paper,the two-dimensional shear flow can also be found to reduce the growth rate of perturbation amplitude.However,compared with the case of the Laplace equation for a steady-state thermal diffusion field,due to the existence of time partial derivatives of the temperature fields in the diffusion equation the absolute value of the gradients of the temperature fields increases,therefore destabilizing the interface.The circular interface is more unstable than in the case of Laplace equation without time partial derivatives.The critical stability radius of the crystal interface increases with shearing rate increasing.The stability effect of shear flow decreases remarkably with the increase of melt undercooling.     

The effect of two-dimensional shear flow on the stability of a crystal interface in the supercooled melt

A model is developed based on the time-related thermal diffusion equations to investigate the effects of two-dimensional shear flow on the stability of a crystal interface in the supercooled melt of pure substance. Similar to the three-dimensional shear flow as described in our previous paper, the two-dimensional shear flow can also be found to reduce the growth rate of perturbation amplitude. However, compared with the case of Laplace equation for steady state thermal diffusion field, due to the existence of time partial derivatives of the temperature fields in diffusion equation the absolute value of the gradients of the temperature fields increases, therefore destabilizing the interface. The circular interface is more unstable than in the case of Laplace equation without time partial derivatives. The critical stability radius of the crystal interface increases with shearing rate increasing. The stability effect of shear flow decreases remarkably with the increase of melt undercooling.     

毛细管内薄液膜轮廓和传热特性研究

本文认为毛细管的相变传热机理为液膜的导热和表面蒸发;表面蒸发受蒸汽温度、汽液界面的温度以及汽液压力差的共同控制。汽液流动机理为流动受脱离压力梯度、毛细力梯度支配。汽液相互作用机理为存在由于蒸发导致的动量转移切应力和由于汽液流速不同产生的摩擦切应力。提出的物理模型中较为全面地考虑了毛细管内传热、汽液流动及其相互作用。对毛细管半径和传热功率对薄液膜轮廓和传热特性影响程度的计算结果表明,随着毛细管半径的减小、传热功率的增大,蒸发界面区的长度会有所减小,这是针对微小空间得出的不同于常规情况的结论。     

Nonlinear dynamics of transport barrier relaxations in tokamak edge plasmas

A new mechanism for intermittent relaxations of transport barriers is found by using three dimensional fluid turbulence simulations. This mechanism is generic since it only requires a stationary E x B shear flow. It is found here that if the flow shear increases faster than linearly with heating power, the relaxation frequency decreases with power. An analytical study reveals that this nonlinear dynamics is governed by a time delay for effective velocity shear stabilization.