132 research outputs found
Streamline integration as a method for structured grid generation in X-point geometry
We investigate structured grids aligned to the contours of a two-dimensional
flux-function with an X-point (saddle point). Our theoretical analysis finds
that orthogonal grids exist if and only if the Laplacian of the flux-function
vanishes at the X-point. In general, this condition is sufficient for the
existence of a structured aligned grid with an X-point. With the help of
streamline integration we then propose a numerical grid construction algorithm.
In a suitably chosen monitor metric the Laplacian of the flux-function vanishes
at the X-point such that a grid construction is possible.
We study the convergence of the solution to elliptic equations on the
proposed grid. The diverging volume element and cell sizes at the X-point
reduce the convergence rate. As a consequence, the proposed grid should be used
with grid refinement around the X-point in practical applications. We show that
grid refinement in the cells neighboring the X-point restores the expected
convergence rate
Radial convection of finite ion temperature, high amplitude plasma blobs
We present results from simulations of seeded blob convection in the
scrape-off-layer of magnetically confined fusion plasmas. We consistently
incorporate high fluctuation amplitude levels and finite Larmor radius (FLR)
effects using a fully nonlinear global gyrofluid model. This is in line with
conditions found in tokamak scrape-off-layers (SOL) regions.
Varying the ion temperature, the initial blob width, and the initial
amplitude, we found an FLR dominated regime where the blob behavior is
significantly different from what is predicted by cold-ion models. The
transition to this regime is very well described by the ratio of the ion
gyroradius to the characteristic gradient scale length of the blob.
We compare the global gyrofluid model with a partly linearized local model.
For low ion temperatures we find that simulations of the global model show more
coherent blobs with an increased cross-field transport compared to blobs
simulated with the local model. The maximal blob amplitude is significantly
higher in the global simulations than in the local ones. When the ion
temperature is comparable to the electron temperature, global blob simulations
show a reduced blob coherence and a decreased cross-field transport in
comparison with local blob simulations
The influence of temperature dynamics and dynamic finite ion Larmor radius effects on seeded high amplitude plasma blobs
Thermal effects on the perpendicular convection of seeded pressure blobs in
the scrape-off layer of magnetised fusion plasmas are investigated. Our
numerical study is based on a four field full-F gyrofluid model, which entails
the consistent description of high fluctuation amplitudes and dynamic finite
Larmor radius effects. We find that the maximal radial blob velocity increases
with the square root of the initial pressure perturbation and that a finite
Larmor radius contributes to highly compact blob structures that propagate in
the poloidal direction. An extensive parameter study reveals that a smooth
transition to this compact blob regime occurs when the finite Larmor radius
effect strength, defined by the ratio of the magnetic field aligned component
of the ion diamagnetic to the vorticity, exceeds unity.
The maximal radial blob velocities agree excellently with the inertial velocity
scaling law over more than an order of magnitude. We show that the finite
Larmor radius effect strength affects the poloidal and total particle transport
and present an empirical scaling law for the poloidal and total blob
velocities. Distinctions to the blob behaviour in the isothermal limit with
constant finite Larmor radius effects are highlighted
Beyond the Oberbeck-Boussinesq and long wavelength approximation
We present the first simulations of a reduced magnetized plasma model that incorporates both arbitrary wavelength polarization and non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq effects. Significant influence of these two effects on the density, electric potential and E x B vorticity and non-linear dynamics of interchange blobs are reported. Arbitrary wavelength polarization implicates so-called gyro-amplification that compared to a long wavelength approximation leads to highly amplified small-scale E x B vorticity fluctuations. These strongly increase the coherence and lifetime of blobs and alter the motion of the blobs through a slower blob-disintegration. Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq effects incorporate plasma inertia, which substantially decreases the growth rate and linear acceleration of high amplitude blobs, while the maximum blob velocity is not affected. Finally, we generalize and numerically verify unified scaling laws for blob velocity, acceleration and growth rate that include both ion temperature and arbitrary blob amplitude dependence
Angular momentum and rotational energy of mean flows in toroidal magnetic fields
We derive the balance equation for the Favre averaged angular momentum in toroidal not necessarily axisymmetric magnetic field equilibria. We find that the components of angular momentum are given by the covariant poloidal and toroidal components of E x B and parallel flow velocities and we separately identify all relevant stress tensors, torques and source terms for each of these components. Our results feature the Favre stress generalisations of previously found Reynolds stresses like the diamagnetic or parallel E x B stress, as well as the density gradient drive term. Further, we identify the magnetic shear as a source of poloidal E x B angular momentum and discuss the mirror and the Lorentz force. Here, we find that the geodesic transfer term, the Stringer-Winsor spin-up term and the ion-orbit loss term are all part of the Lorentz force and are in fact one and the same term. Discussing the relation to angular velocity we build the inertia tensor with the help of the first fundamental form of a flux-surface. In turn, the inertia tensor is used to construct a flux-surface averaged rotational energy for E x B surface flows of the plasma. The evolution of this rotational energy features a correction of previous results due to the inertia tensor. In particular, this correction suggests that density sources on the high-field side contribute much more to zonal flow energy generation than on the low field side. Our derivation is based on a full-F, electromagnetic, gyro-kinetic model in a long-wavelength limit. The results can be applied to gyro-kinetic as well as gyro-fluid theories and can also be compared to drift-kinetic and drift-fluid models. Simplified cases for the magnetic field geometry including the axisymmetric purely toroidal and purely poloidal magnetic fields are discussed, as are the angular momentum balance of the electromagnetic fields, the ion-orbit loss mechanism and the parallel acceleration
Non-trace full-F gyro-fluid interchange impurity advection
A full-F isothermal gyro-fluid model and code (which is based on the full distribution
function F compared to only small fluctuations) is extended to handle self-consistent
coupling of multiple quasi-neutral ion species via the polarisation equation in the long
wavelength approximation. The numerical model is used to determine two-dimensional
interchange driven âblobâ transport in a plasma with intrinsic impurity content for a range
of impurity parameters. With the same model, the self-consistent advective interaction of
a main plasma species blob with a non-trace impurity cloud is studied. For homogeneous
impurity distributions an increased effective mass reduces blob transport, whereas it is
found that localised impurity clouds can lead either to acceleration or slowing down of
blob propagation depending on the alignment of the impurity density gradient during the
acceleration phase of the main ion species blob
A Mutation in the Gene Encoding Mitochondrial Mg2+ Channel MRS2 Results in Demyelination in the Rat
The rat demyelination (dmy) mutation serves as a unique model system to investigate the maintenance of myelin, because it provokes severe myelin breakdown in the central nervous system (CNS) after normal postnatal completion of myelination. Here, we report the molecular characterization of this mutation and discuss the possible pathomechanisms underlying demyelination. By positional cloning, we found that a G-to-A transition, 177 bp downstream of exon 3 of the Mrs2 (MRS2 magnesium homeostasis factor (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)) gene, generated a novel splice acceptor site which resulted in functional inactivation of the mutant allele. Transgenic rescue with wild-type Mrs2-cDNA validated our findings. Mrs2 encodes an essential component of the major Mg2+ influx system in mitochondria of yeast as well as human cells. We showed that the dmy/dmy rats have major mitochondrial deficits with a markedly elevated lactic acid concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid, a 60% reduction in ATP, and increased numbers of mitochondria in the swollen cytoplasm of oligodendrocytes. MRS2-GFP recombinant BAC transgenic rats showed that MRS2 was dominantly expressed in neurons rather than oligodendrocytes and was ultrastructurally observed in the inner membrane of mitochondria. Our observations led to the conclusion that dmy/dmy rats suffer from a mitochondrial disease and that the maintenance of myelin has a different mechanism from its initial production. They also established that Mg2+ homeostasis in CNS mitochondria is essential for the maintenance of myelin
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