Short sample tests of full-scale superconducting conductors for Large Helical Device

Superconducting conductors are being developed for the helical coils of the Large Helical Device (LHD). From the test results on scale-down R&D conductors, one conductor, KISO-4B, was selected for its simple structure and good stability. Another conductor, Design-M, has been manufactured in its actual scale from the first. These two types of conductors were subjected to full-scale tests. A new method of measuring the current distribution inside the conductor was introduced. A pickup coil wound on the conductor detects the magnetic flux change in the conductor longitudinal direction and becomes a sensor to measure the current distribution. Using the test facility for full-scale conductors, the Design-M conductor has been tested with regard to the critical current and stability, and the uneven current distribution from the outer layer strands to the inner layer strands inside the conductor was observed. However, no degradation of the critical current was measure

Stability tests of module coil (TOKI-MC) wound with an aluminum stabilized superconductor

The module coil TOKI-MC is a twisted solenoid coil wound with an aluminum stabilized superconductor developed as an R&D program for the Large Helical Device (LHD). The TOKI-MC can simulate the conductor and winding structure cooled by pool boiling helium, the twisted winding and the large electromagnetic force of the helical coils for LHD. The TOKI-MC was designed as a cryostable coil at an operating current of 20 kA, but the coil quenched around 17 kA in excitation tests. The cause of quenches was thought to be the result of wire movement. Stability tests were also carried out and the measured recovery current was less than the designed value. The degradation of recovery current was due to the excess magnetoresistivity of the copper clad aluminum stabilizer. The stability of TOKI-MC was evaluated and compared with the data of short sample test

Stability of cable-in-conduit superconductors for Large Helical Device

The stability of cable-in-conduit superconductors has been experimentally investigated as part of a poloidal field coil program for the Large Helical Device (LHD) project. A new conductor was designed and fabricated, focusing on the stability. As a result of a zero-dimensional stability analysis, it was found that the conductor had a high stability, 5×10^5 J/m^3, at the design condition of 20.8 kA and 6.5 T. Current transfer performance after partial quenching has been investigated by using a short sample of the conductor for the poloidal field coil. The effects of the current transfer among the strands on the conductor stability are discusse

Testing the External Shock Model of Gamma-Ray Bursts using the Late-Time Simultaneous Optical and X-ray Afterglows

We study the ``normal'' decay phase of the X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which follows the shallow decay phase, using the events simultaneously observed in the R-band. The classical external shock model -- in which neither the delayed energy injection nor time-dependency of shock micro-physics is considered -- shows that the decay indices of the X-ray and R-band light curves, $\alpha_{\rm X}$ and $\alpha_{\rm O}$, obey a certain relation, and that in particular, $\alpha_{\rm O}-\alpha_{\rm X}$ should be larger than -1/4 unless the ambient density increases with the distance from the central engine. For our selected 14 samples, we have found that 4 events violate the limit at more than the 3$\sigma$ level, so that a fraction of events are outliers of the classical external shock model at the ``normal'' decay phase.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJL. 12 page, 2 figures, 2 table

ヨウリョクタイガタ フェレドキシン ノ コウゾウ カイセキ 2.8Å ブンカイノウ

Remarkable progress in the physical parameters of net-current free plasmas has been made in the Large Helical Device (LHD) since the last Fusion Energy Conference in Chengdu, 2006 (O.Motojima et al., Nucl. Fusion 47 (2007) S668). The beta value reached 5 % and a high beta state beyond 4.5% from the diamagnetic measurement has been maintained for longer than 100 times the energy confinement time. The density and temperature regimes also have been extended. The central density has exceeded 1.0 x 10^21 m^-3 due to the formation of an Internal Diffusion Barrier (IDB). The ion temperature has reached 6.8 keV at the density of 2 x 10^19m^-3, which is associated with the suppression of ion heat conduction loss. Although these parameters have been obtained in separated discharges, each fusion-reactor relevant parameter has elucidated the potential of net-current free heliotron plasmas. Diversified studies in recent LHD experiments are reviewed in this paper