Laboratory study of the temporal evolution of the current-voltage characteristic of a probe in the wake of an object immersed in a pulsed flowing plasma

Measurements of the current-voltage characteristics of a Langmuir probe in the near wake of a disk immersed in a pulsed flowing plasma were made. A 1 cm diameter biasable sphere was placed in the ion-free near wake region of a 10 cm diameter disk immersed in a Mach 8 pulsed flowing plasma. The current-voltage characteristic of the sphere was observed as a function of time as the sphere bias was scanned from -5000 V to +1000 V. The collected current is found to be monotonically increasing with increasing positive bias voltage but exhibits a threshold voltage for current collection as the bias voltage becomes more negative. Potential measurements in the wake region were made for a sphere bias voltages below, at, and above the current collection threshold for a number of times during the wake formation period. The time evolution of the potential profile is shown to change as the sheath around the biased sphere is established. Predictions from the particle trajectory code SIMION are compared with data, showing excellent agreement in the prediction of the current collection threshold

Key Issues in Rural Development: A University Graduate Course

A graduate course on rural development issues is presented that focuses primarily on the processes involved in development both at a personal and abstract leve. A theoretical foundation for the course is outlined based on David Kolb\u27s theory of experiential learning. This model is transcribed into learning environments necessary to focus participant awareness of issues surrounding their own learning style. The role of the facilitator who demands attention to learning style as well as content in rural development is defined, utilizing Malcolm Knowles\u27 andragogical concepts. Finally the course curriculum is presented, followed by lesson plans and readings supplemental to the text books

Preparation for propagation and absorption experiments in MTX

Preparatory calculations of microwave transmission through the MTX access duct, propagation of the waves through the plasma and the resulting power deposition profile on a calorimeter located on the tokamak inside wall have been performed. The microwave transmission calculations include the relative phase slippage of waveguide modes in the duct to determine the spatial structure of the wavefront at the duct exist. Ray-tracing calculations show substantial spreading of the beam in the poloidal direction at densities above 1.5 /times/ 10/sup 20/ m/sup /minus/3/, well within the range of the experiments. Initial experiments with low or high toroidal field (cyclotron resonance outside the plasma) will investigate both diffraction and refraction effects, without absorption. Estimates of the fractional absorption of the beam in the initial experiments with the cyclotron resonance at the plasma axis have also been made. 4 refs., 3 figs

Measurement of Plasma Presheath

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Floating data acquisition system for microwave calorimeter measurements on MTX

A microwave calorimeter has been designed for making 140-GHz absorption measurements on the MTX. Measurement of the intensity and spatial distribution of the FEL-generated microwave beam on the inner wall will indicate the absorption characteristics of the plasma when heated with a 140 GHz FEL pulse. The calorimeter works by monitoring changes of temperature in silicon carbide tiles located on the inner wall of the tokamak. Thermistors are used to measure the temperature of each tile. The tiles are located inside the tokamak about 1 cm outside of the limiter radius at machine potential. The success of this measurement depends on our ability to float the data acquisition system near machine potential and isolate it from the rest of the vault ground system. Our data acquisition system has 48 channels of thermistor signal conditioning, a multiplexer and digitizer section, a serial data formatter, and a fiber-optic transmitter to send the data out. Additionally, we bring timing signals to the interface through optical fibers to tell it when to begin measurement, while maintaining isolation. The receiver is an HP 200 series computer with a serial data interface; the computer provides storage and local display for the shot temperature profile. Additionally, the computer provides temporary storage of the data until it can be passed to a shared resource management system for archiving. 2 refs., 6 figs