Subdominant modes and optimization trends of DIII-D reverse magnetic shear configurations

Alfven Eigenmodes and magneto-hydrodynamic modes are destabilized in DIII-D reverse magnetic shear configurations and may limit the performance of the device. We use the reduced MHD equations in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles (with gyro-fluid closures) as well as the geodesic acoustic wave dynamics. The aim of the study consists in finding ways to avoid or minimize MHD and AE activity for different magnetic field configurations and neutral beam injection operational regimes. The simulations show at the beginning of the discharge, before the reverse shear region is formed, a plasma that is AE unstable and marginally MHD stable. As soon as the reverse shear region appears, ideal MHD modes are destabilized with a larger growth rate than the AEs. Both MHD modes and AEs coexist during the discharge, although the MHD modes are more unstable as the reverse shear region deepens. The simulations indicate the destabilization of Beta induced AE, Toroidal AE, Elliptical AE and Reverse Shear AE at different phases of the discharges. A further analysis of the NBI operational regime indicates that the AE stability can be improved if the NBI injection is off axis, because on-axis injection leads to AEs with larger growth rate and frequency. In addition, decreasing the beam energy or increasing the NBI relative density leads to AEs with larger growth rate and frequency, so an NBI operation in the weakly resonant regime requires higher beam energies than in the experiment. The MHD linear stability can be also improved if the reverse shear region and the q profile near the magnetic axis are in between the rational surfaces q=2 and q=1, particularly if there is a region in the core with negative shear, avoiding a flat q profile near the magnetic axis

Subdominant modes and optimization trends of DIII-D reverse magnetic shear configurations

Alfvén Eigenmodes (AE) and magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) modes are destabilized in DIII-D reverse magnetic shear configurations and may limit the performance of the device. We use the reduced MHD equations in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles (with gyro-fluid closures) as well as the geodesic acoustic wave dynamics, to study the properties of instabilities observed in DIII-D reverse magnetic shear discharges. The aim of the study consists in finding ways to avoid or minimize MHD and AE activity for different magnetic field configurations and neutral beam injection (NBI) operational regimes. The simulations show at the beginning of the discharge, before the reverse shear region is formed, a plasma that is AE unstable and marginally MHD stable. As soon as the reverse shear region appears, ideal MHD modes are destabilized with a larger growth rate than the AEs. Both MHD modes and AEs coexist during the discharge, although the MHD modes are more unstable as the reverse shear region deepens. The simulations indicate the destabilization of Beta induced AE (BAE), Toroidal AE (TAE), elliptical AE (EAE) and reverse shear AE (RSAE) at different phases of the discharges, showing a reasonable agreement between the frequency range of the dominant modes in the simulations and the diagnostic measurements (...)This material based on work is supported both by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, under Contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC and U.S. Department of Energy, Oce of Science, Oce of Fusion Energy Sciences, using the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, a DOE Oce of Science user facility, under Award No. DE-FC02-04ER54698. This research was sponsored in part by the Ministerio of Economía y Competitividad of Spain under project no.ENE2015-68265-P. DIII-D data shown in this paper can be obtained in digital format by following the links at https://fusion.gat.com/global/D3D DMP.Publicad

Nonlinear dynamics and transport driven by energetic particle instabilities using a gyro-Landau closure model

Energetic particle (EP) destabilized Alfvén eigenmode (AE) instabilities are simulated for a DIII-D experimental case with a pulsed neutral beam using a gyro-Landau moments model which introduces EP phase-mixing effects through closure relations. This provides a computationally efficient reduced model which is applied here in the nonlinear regime over timescales that would be difficult to address with more complete models. The long timescale nonlinear evolution and related collective transport losses are examined including the effects of zonal flow/current generation, nonlinear energy cascades, and EP profile flattening. The model predicts frequencies and mode structures that are consistent with experimental observations. These calculations address issues that have not been considered in previous modelling: The EP critical gradient profile evolution in the presence of zonal flows/currents, and the dynamical nature of the saturated state. A strong level of intermittency is present in the predicted instability-driven transport; this is connected to the zonal flow growth and decay cycles and nonlinear energy transfers. Simulation of intermittent AE-enhanced EP transport will be an important issue for the protection of plasma facing components in the next generation of fusion devices.This material is based upon work supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science using the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, a DOE Office of Science user facility, under Awards DE-AC05-00OR22725, DE-FC02-04ER54698, and the US DOE SciDAC ISEP Center. Support is also acknowledged from project 2019-T1/AMB-13648 founded by the Comunidad de Madrid and Comunidad de Madrid (Spain)—multiannual agreement with UC3M Excelencia para el Profesorado Universitario EPUC3M14 Fifth regional research plan 2016-2020. This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a US Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, operated under Contract No. DE-AC02- 05CH11231. We would like to thank Matt Beidler of Oak Ridge National Laboratory for helpful suggestions on this manuscript

Particle Distribution Modification by Low Amplitude Modes

Modification of a high energy particle distribution by a spectrum of low amplitude modes is investigated using a guiding center code. Only through resonance are modes effective in modifying the distribution. Diagnostics are used to illustrate the mode-particle interaction and to find which effects are relevant in producing significant resonance, including kinetic Poincare plots and plots showing those orbits with time averaged mode-particle energy transfer. Effects of pitch angle scattering and drag are studied, as well as plasma rotation and time dependence of the equilibrium and mode frequencies. A specific example of changes observed in a DIII-D deuterium beam distribution in the presence of low amplitude experimentally validated Toroidal Alfven (TAE) eigenmodes and Reversed Shear Alfven (RSAE) eigenmodes is examined in detail. Comparison with experimental data shows that multiple low amplitude modes can account for significant modification of high energy beam particle distributions. It is found that there is a stochastic threshold for beam profile modification, and that the experimental amplitudes are only slightly above this threshold

Replication protein A safeguards genome integrity by controlling NER incision events

Continued association of RPA with sites of incomplete nucleotide excision repair averts further incision events until repair is completed

Overview of equilibrium reconstruction on DIII-D using new measurements from an expanded motional Stark effect diagnostic

Motional Stark effect (MSE) measurements constrain equilibrium reconstruction of DIII-D tokamak plasmas using the equilibrium code EFIT. In 2007, two new MSE arrays were brought online, bringing the system to three core arrays, two edge arrays, and 64 total channels. We present the first EFIT reconstructions using this expanded system. Safety factor and E{sub R} profiles produced by fitting to data from the two new arrays and one of the other three agree well with independent measurements. Comparison of the data from the three arrays that view the core shows that one of the older arrays is inconsistent with the other two unless the measured calibration factors for this array are adjusted. The required adjustments depend on toroidal field and plasma current direction, and on still other uncertain factors that change as the plasma evolves. We discuss possible sources of calibration error for this array

Doppler coherence imaging and tomography of flows in tokamak plasmas

This article describes the results of spatial heterodyne Doppler "coherence imaging" of carbon ion flows in the divertor region of the DIII-D tokamak. Spatially encoded interferometric projections of doubly ionized carbon emission at 465 nm have been demodulated and tomographically inverted to obtain the spatial distribution of the carbon ion parallel flow and emissivity. The operating principles of the new instruments are described, and the link between measured properties and line integrals of the flow field are established. An iterative simultaneous arithmetic reconstruction procedure is applied to invert the interferometric phase shift projections, and the reconstructed parallel flow field amplitudes are found to be in reasonable agreement with UEDGE modeling