Engineering topics

Melnikov, A. V.

Publications and source records attributed to Melnikov, A. V..

3 records

DOE OSTI2024

Modeling of frequency-sweeping Alfvén modes in the TJ-II stellarator

Alfvénic activity has been observed in the TJ-II stellarator which resembles the frequency sweeping demonstrated by Alfvén cascade modes in tokamaks. A numerical validation study was conducted using a reduced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to show that such modes could only have been observed in discharges where the rotational transform profile was non-monotonic. During experiments, coil current was varied which resulted in shifting of the minimum value of the rotational transform profile. To mimic this effect, we study the Alfvénic activity predicted by the reduced MHD model for a set of input rotational transform profiles with varying minima. A mode is found whose toroidal and poloidal mode numbers match those predicted in experiments which sweeps downward/upward in frequency as the minimum value of the rotational transform profile is increased/decreased. The results serve as a demonstration of the validity and utility of MHD spectroscopy.

Alfvén cascades↗

DOE OSTI2021

Experimental observation of the geodesic acoustic frequency limit for the NBI-driven Alfvén eigenmodes in TJ-II

We study Alfvén Eigenmodes (AEs) in the TJ-II heliac in hydrogen plasmas heated by hydrogen cofield NBI. Taking advantage of the unique TJ-II flexibility in varying plasma current, we have observed strong variation of the AE frequency from f AE ~ 30 to ~ 220 kHz for selected modes. An advanced heavy ion beam probe diagnostic determines the spatial location and internal amplitudes of the modes. The modes satisfy a local AE dispersion relation including the geodesic acoustic frequency that represents the lowest frequency of the mode. Linear MHD-modeling with STELLGAP and FAR3D codes shows that the calculated temporal evolution of the mode frequency reproduces the observed maxima and minima at the same time intervals with a similar frequency range and the radial profile peaks near the outer edge of the observed one.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Modelling of beam-driven Alfvén modes in TJ-II plasmas

Here, the properties of hydrogen neutral beam injection driven Alfvén eigenmodes (AEs) in the TJ-II flexible heliac are investigated using a reduced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model coupled to a realistic MHD equilibrium. The simulation results of AE frequency and radial localization are found to be broadly consistent with experimental observations. The simulation results show that an AE with the same poloidal and toroidal harmonics persists under small variations in on-axis iota values, which is consistent with the experimental observations. The corresponding wave-particle resonance maps suggest, for low bounce harmonics, the possibility of describing nonlinear evolution of the AEs in TJ-II by a sum of two ion populations with different weighting factors, one of which is dominated by drag and the other by diffusion. As the bounce harmonic increases, the resonance region starts to expand and can cover a significant area of the particle phase space until this resonance region vanishes at high bounce harmonics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗