4,944 research outputs found
Dynamic interactions between hypersonic vehicle aerodynamics and propulsion system performance
Described here is the development of a flexible simulation model for scramjet hypersonic propulsion systems. The primary goal is determination of sensitivity of the thrust vector and other system parameters to angle of attack changes of the vehicle. Such information is crucial in design and analysis of control system performance for hypersonic vehicles. The code is also intended to be a key element in carrying out dynamic interaction studies involving the influence of vehicle vibrations on propulsion system/control system coupling and flight stability. Simple models are employed to represent the various processes comprising the propulsion system. A method of characteristics (MOC) approach is used to solve the forebody and external nozzle flow fields. This results in a very fast computational algorithm capable of carrying out the vast number of simulation computations needed in guidance, stability, and control studies. The three-dimensional fore- and aft body (nozzle) geometry is characterized by the centerline profiles as represented by a series of coordinate points and body cross-section curvature. The engine module geometry is represented by an adjustable vertical grid to accommodate variations of the field parameters throughout the inlet and combustor. The scramjet inlet is modeled as a two-dimensional supersonic flow containing adjustable sidewall wedges and multiple fuel injection struts. The inlet geometry including the sidewall wedge angles, the number of injection struts, their sweepback relative to the vehicle reference line, and strut cross-section are user selectable. Combustion is currently represented by a Rayleigh line calculation including corrections for variable gas properties; improved models are being developed for this important element of the propulsion flow field. The program generates (1) variation of thrust magnitude and direction with angle of attack, (2) pitching moment and line of action of the thrust vector, (3) pressure and temperature distributions throughout the system, and (4) performance parameters such as thrust coefficient, specific impulse, mass flow rates, and equivalence ratio. Preliminary results are in good agreement with available performance data for systems resembling the NASP vehicle configuration
Using the local gyrokinetic code, GS2, to investigate global ITG modes in tokamaks. (I) s- model with profile and flow shear effects
This paper combines results from a local gyrokinetic code with analytical
theory to reconstruct the global eigenmode structure of the linearly unstable
ion-temperature-gradient (ITG) mode with adiabatic electrons. The simulations
presented here employ the s- tokamak equilibrium model. Local
gyrokinetic calculations, using GS2 have been performed over a range of radial
surfaces, x, and for ballooning phase angle, p, in the range -, to map out the complex local mode frequency, . Assuming a quadratic radial profile for the
drive, namely , (holding constant all other equilibrium
profiles such as safety factor, magnetic shear etc.), has a
stationary point. The reconstructed global mode then sits on the outboard mid
plane of the tokamak plasma, and is known as a conventional or isolated mode,
with global growth rate, ~ Max[], where
is the local growth rate. Taking the radial variation in
other equilibrium profiles (e.g safety factor q(x)) into account, removes the
stationary point in and results in a mode that peaks
slightly away from the outboard mid-plane with a reduced global growth rate.
Finally, the influence of flow shear has also been investigated through a
Doppler shift, , where n
is the toroidal mode number and incorporates the effect of
flow shear. The equilibrium profile variation introduces an asymmetry to the
growth rate spectrum with respect to the sign of ,
consistent with recent global gyrokinetic calculations.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures and 1 tabl
Kinetic instabilities that limit {\beta} in the edge of a tokamak plasma: a picture of an H-mode pedestal
Plasma equilibria reconstructed from the Mega-Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST)
have sufficient resolution to capture plasma evolution during the short period
between edge-localized modes (ELMs). Immediately after the ELM steep gradients
in pressure, P, and density, ne, form pedestals close to the separatrix, and
they then expand into the core. Local gyrokinetic analysis over the ELM cycle
reveals the dominant microinstabilities at perpendicular wavelengths of the
order of the ion Larmor radius. These are kinetic ballooning modes (KBMs) in
the pedestal and microtearing modes (MTMs) in the core close to the pedestal
top. The evolving growth rate spectra, supported by gyrokinetic analysis using
artificial local equilibrium scans, suggest a new physical picture for the
formation and arrest of this pedestal.Comment: Final version as it appeared in PRL (March 2012). Minor improvements
include: shortened abstract, and better colour table for figures. 4 pages, 6
figure
Transition to subcritical turbulence in a tokamak plasma
Tokamak turbulence, driven by the ion-temperature gradient and occurring in
the presence of flow shear, is investigated by means of local, ion-scale,
electrostatic gyrokinetic simulations (with both kinetic ions and electrons) of
the conditions in the outer core of the Mega-Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST). A
parameter scan in the local values of the ion-temperature gradient and flow
shear is performed. It is demonstrated that the experimentally observed state
is near the stability threshold and that this stability threshold is nonlinear:
sheared turbulence is subcritical, i.e. the system is formally stable to small
perturbations, but, given a large enough initial perturbation, it transitions
to a turbulent state. A scenario for such a transition is proposed and
supported by numerical results: close to threshold, the nonlinear saturated
state and the associated anomalous heat transport are dominated by long-lived
coherent structures, which drift across the domain, have finite amplitudes, but
are not volume filling; as the system is taken away from the threshold into the
more unstable regime, the number of these structures increases until they
overlap and a more conventional chaotic state emerges. Whereas this appears to
represent a new scenario for transition to turbulence in tokamak plasmas, it is
reminiscent of the behaviour of other subcritically turbulent systems, e.g.
pipe flows and Keplerian magnetorotational accretion flows.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, accepted to Journal of Plasma Physic
Ion-scale turbulence in MAST: anomalous transport, subcritical transitions, and comparison to BES measurements
We investigate the effect of varying the ion temperature gradient (ITG) and
toroidal equilibrium scale sheared flow on ion-scale turbulence in the outer
core of MAST by means of local gyrokinetic simulations. We show that nonlinear
simulations reproduce the experimental ion heat flux and that the
experimentally measured values of the ITG and the flow shear lie close to the
turbulence threshold. We demonstrate that the system is subcritical in the
presence of flow shear, i.e., the system is formally stable to small
perturbations, but transitions to a turbulent state given a large enough
initial perturbation. We propose that the transition to subcritical turbulence
occurs via an intermediate state dominated by low number of coherent long-lived
structures, close to threshold, which increase in number as the system is taken
away from the threshold into the more strongly turbulent regime, until they
fill the domain and a more conventional turbulence emerges. We show that the
properties of turbulence are effectively functions of the distance to
threshold, as quantified by the ion heat flux. We make quantitative comparisons
of correlation lengths, times, and amplitudes between our simulations and
experimental measurements using the MAST BES diagnostic. We find reasonable
agreement of the correlation properties, most notably of the correlation time,
for which significant discrepancies were found in previous numerical studies of
MAST turbulence.Comment: 67 pages, 37 figures. Submitted to PPC
Comparison of BES measurements of ion-scale turbulence with direct, gyrokinetic simulations of MAST L-mode plasmas
Observations of ion-scale (k_y*rho_i <= 1) density turbulence of relative
amplitude dn_e/n_e <= 0.2% are available on the Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak
(MAST) using a 2D (8 radial x 4 poloidal channel) imaging Beam Emission
Spectroscopy (BES) diagnostic. Spatial and temporal characteristics of this
turbulence, i.e., amplitudes, correlation times, radial and perpendicular
correlation lengths and apparent phase velocities of the density contours, are
determined by means of correlation analysis. For a low-density, L-mode
discharge with strong equilibrium flow shear exhibiting an internal transport
barrier (ITB) in the ion channel, the observed turbulence characteristics are
compared with synthetic density turbulence data generated from global,
non-linear, gyro-kinetic simulations using the particle-in-cell (PIC) code
NEMORB. This validation exercise highlights the need to include increasingly
sophisticated physics, e.g., kinetic treatment of trapped electrons,
equilibrium flow shear and collisions, to reproduce most of the characteristics
of the observed turbulence. Even so, significant discrepancies remain: an
underprediction by the simulations of the turbulence amplituide and heat flux
at plasma periphery and the finding that the correlation times of the
numerically simulated turbulence are typically two orders of magnitude longer
than those measured in MAST. Comparison of these correlation times with various
linear timescales suggests that, while the measured turbulence is strong and
may be `critically balanced', the simulated turbulence is weak.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figure
Development of a theory of the spectral reflectance of minerals, part 2
Theory of diffuse reflectance of particulate media including garnet, glass, corundum powders, and mixture
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