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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Discrete Calderon's projections on parallelepipeds and their application to computing exterior magnetic fields for FRC plasmas

Confining dense plasma in a field reversed configuration (FRC) is considered a promising approach to fusion. Numerical simulation of this process requires setting artificial boundary conditions (ABCs) for the magnetic field because whereas the plasma itself occupies a bounded region (within the FRC coils), the field extends from this region all the way to infinity. If the plasma is modeled using single fluid magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), then the exterior magnetic field can be considered quasi-static. This field has a scalar potential governed by the Laplace equation. The quasi-static ABC for the magnetic field is obtained using the method of difference potentials, in the form of a discrete Calderon boundary equation with projection on the artificial boundary shaped as a parallelepiped. The Calderon projection itself is computed by convolution with the discrete fundamental solution on the three-dimensional Cartesian grid.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Numerical modeling of transient phenomena in the distant solar wind and in the heliosheath

In this paper we summarize our group's efforts to develop a self-consistent, data-driven model of the solar wind interaction with the local interstellar medium. In this model, we describe the motion of plasma with the MHD approach, while the transport of neutral atoms is described by either kinetic or multi-fluid equations. The model and its implementation in the Multi-Scale Fluid-Kinetic Simulation Suite (MS-FLUKSS) is thoroughly tested and validated by comparing our results with other models and spacecraft measurements. The model appears to be rather accurate in reproducing the Interstellar Boundary Explorer ribbon and the general features of the plasma flow available from the Voyager 1 and 2 in-situ data. In particular, the timing of the Voyager crossing of the termination shock is reasonably accurately reproduced without involving exotically strong interstellar magnetic field values. We added a turbulence model to our governing equations and started treating pickup ions as a separate fluid, which made it possible to greatly improve our ability to reproduce the proton temperature. We discuss the results of our modeling of corotating interaction regions, global merged interaction regions, and solar cycle effects. A possible explanation is provided for the low radial velocity measurements from Voyager 1.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1977

Discontinuous transitions in a current-carrying plasma

The properties of 'discontinuous' transitions in a current-carrying plasma are investigated by adopting an approach based on the two-fluid equations for a plasma. Braginskii's (1965) transport equations for a two-fluid plasma carrying a current are presented, and allowance is made for collisions with a background neutral gas as well as for effects of reflected particles. The speed of sound in a current-carrying plasma is derived so that the Mach number can be defined correctly as the ratio of the flow speed to the wave phase velocity in such a plasma. The various types of discontinuities permitted by the relevant jump relations in the absence of reflected particles are classified, the effect of reflected particles on such discontinuities is examined, and it is shown that the degree of indeterminacy of a discontinuity can be changed by the presence of reflected particles. Consideration of shocks containing a population of reflected particles and adiabatic transitions indicates that the pressure of reflected particles alone can give rise to both weak and strong transitions. The construction of discontinuous periodic flow solutions is also discussed.

Lee, H.-J.↗
DOE OSTI2013

On the existence and stability of electrostatic structures in non-Maxwellian electron-positron-ion plasmas

Electrostatic solitary waves in plasmas are the focus of many current studies of localized electrostatic disturbances in both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. Here, an investigation of the nonlinear dynamics of plasma evolving in two dimensions, in the presence of excess superthermal background electrons and positrons, is undertaken. We investigate the effect of a magnetic field on weakly nonlinear ion acoustic waves. Deviation from the Maxwellian distribution is effectively modelled by the kappa model. A linear dispersion relation is derived, and a decrease in frequency and phase speed in both parallel and perpendicular modes can be seen, when the proportion of positrons to electrons increases. We show that ion acoustic solitary waves can be generated during the nonlinear evolution of a plasma fluid, and their nonlinear propagation is governed by a Zakharov-Kuznetsov (ZK) type equation. A multiple scales perturbation technique is used to derive the ZK equation. The solitary wave structures are dependent on the relation between the system parameters, specifically the superthermality of the system, the proportion of positron content, magnetic field strength, and the difference between electron and positron temperature. The parametric effect of these on electrostatic shock structures is investigated. In particular, we find that stronger superthermality leads to narrower excitations with smaller potential amplitudes. Increased positron concentration also suppresses both the amplitude and the width of solitary wave structures. However, the structures are only weakly affected by temperature differentials between electrons and positrons in our model.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Features of Calculation of the Equation of State, Composition, and Conductivity for a Plasma of Dense, Supercritical Metal Vapors—a Plasma Fluid

The caloric and thermal equations of state, composition, and conductivity have been calculated for a supercritical aluminum plasma fluid. A previously proposed chemical plasma model called the “3+”-component one was used for the calculations. The model includes atoms, electrons, ions, and an electron jellium. The thermodynamic functions have been calculated for the first time within the “3+” model for a plasma fluid. The magnification and compensation of intercharge and interatomic interactions when calculating the equation of state and composition are analyzed. The introduction of the jellium leads to an increase in conductivity under compression, while the compensation of interactions when calculating the composition leads to a virtually ideal-gas behavior of the equation of state. Comparison with the data from physical and numerical experiments has confirmed our conclusions and demonstrated that the hypothesis about jellium, a new gas–plasma component, is constructive.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Effect of driving voltages in dual capacitively coupled radio frequency plasma: A study by nonlinear global model

On the basis of nonlinear global model, a dual frequency capacitively coupled radio frequency plasma driven by 13.56 MHz and 27.12 MHz has been studied to investigate the influences of driving voltages on the generation of dc self-bias and plasma heating. Fluid equations for the ions inside the plasma sheath have been considered to determine the voltage-charge relations of the plasma sheath. Geometrically symmetric as well as asymmetric cases with finite geometrical asymmetry of 1.2 (ratio of electrodes area) have been considered to make the study more reasonable to experiment. The electrical asymmetry effect (EAE) and finite geometrical asymmetry is found to work differently in controlling the dc self-bias. The amount of EAE has been primarily controlled by the phase angle between the two consecutive harmonics waveforms. The incorporation of the finite geometrical asymmetry in the calculations shift the dc self-bias towards negative polarity direction while increasing the amount of EAE is found to increase the dc self-bias in either direction. For phase angle between the two waveforms ϕ = 0 and ϕ = π/2, the amount of EAE increases significantly with increasing the low frequency voltage, whereas no such increase in the amount of EAE is found with increasing high frequency voltage. In contrast to the geometrically symmetric case, where the variation of the dc self-bias with driving voltages for phase angle ϕ = 0 and π/2 are just opposite in polarity, the variation for the geometrically asymmetric case is different for ϕ = 0 and π/2. In asymmetric case, for ϕ = 0, the dc self-bias increases towards the negative direction with increasing both the low and high frequency voltages, but for the ϕ = π/2, the dc-self bias is increased towards positive direction with increasing low frequency voltage while dc self-bias increases towards negative direction with increasing high frequency voltage.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Kadomtsev−Petviashvili equation for a flow of highly nonisothermal collisionless plasma

It is shown that the equations of two-fluid electrodynamics for a cold ions flow and Boltzmann electrons in the vicinity of the ion-sound point can be reduced to the Kadomtsev−Petviashvili equation. Examples of two-dimensional equilibria with pole singularities obtained by exactly solving the equations are presented. An exact self-similar solution describing a two-dimensional transonic flow and having no pole singularities is found.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

A field theory approach to the evolution of canonical helicity and energy

A redefinition of the Lagrangian of a multi-particle system in fields reformulates the single-particle, kinetic, and fluid equations governing fluid and plasma dynamics as a single set of generalized Maxwell's equations and Ohm's law for canonical force-fields. The Lagrangian includes new terms representing the coupling between the motion of particle distributions, between distributions and electromagnetic fields, with relativistic contributions. The formulation shows that the concepts of self-organization and canonical helicity transport are applicable across single-particle, kinetic, and fluid regimes, at classical and relativistic scales. The theory gives the basis for comparing canonical helicity change to energy change in general systems. For example, in a fixed, isolated system subject to non-conservative forces, a species' canonical helicity changes less than total energy only if gradients in density or distribution function are shallow.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

TOWARD A THEORY OF ASTROPHYSICAL PLASMA TURBULENCE AT SUBPROTON SCALES

We present an analytical study of subproton electromagnetic fluctuations in a collisionless plasma with a plasma beta of the order of unity. In the linear limit, a rigorous derivation from the kinetic equation is conducted focusing on the role and physical properties of kinetic-Alfvén and whistler waves. Then, nonlinear fluid-like equations for kinetic-Alfvén waves and whistler modes are derived, with special emphasis on the similarities and differences in the corresponding plasma dynamics. The kinetic-Alfvén modes exist in the lower-frequency region of phase space, ω << k v{sub Ti} , where they are described by the kinetic-Alfvén system. These modes exist both below and above the ion-cyclotron frequency. The whistler modes, which are qualitatively different from the kinetic-Alfvén modes, occupy a different region of phase space, k v{sub Ti} << ω << k{sub z}v{sub Te} , and they are described by the electron magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) system or the reduced electron MHD system if the propagation is oblique. Here, k{sub z} and k are the wavenumbers along and transverse to the background magnetic field, respectively, and v{sub Ti} and v{sub Te} are the ion and electron thermal velocities, respectively. The models of subproton plasma turbulence are discussed and the results of numerical simulations are presented. We also point out possible implications for solar-wind observations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fluid vs. kinetic magnetic reconnection with strong guide fields

The fast rates of magnetic reconnection found in both nature and experiments are important to understand theoretically. Recently, it was demonstrated that two-fluid magnetic reconnection remains fast in the strong guide field regime, regardless of the presence of fast-dispersive waves. This conclusion is in agreement with recent results from kinetic simulations, and is in contradiction to the findings in an earlier two-fluid study, where it was suggested that fast-dispersive waves are necessary for fast reconnection. In this paper, we give a more detailed derivation of the analytic model presented in a recent letter and present additional simulation results to support the conclusions that the magnetic reconnection rate in this regime is independent of both collisional dissipation and system-size. In particular, we present a detailed comparison between fluid and kinetic simulations, finding good agreement in both the reconnection rate and overall length of the current layer. Finally, we revisit the earlier two-fluid study, which arrived at different conclusions, and suggest an alternative interpretation for the numerical results presented therein.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Supervised machine learning-based multivariate regression of parallel closures for a high-collisionality deuterium-carbon plasma

Many plasmas of interest in laboratory experiments and space consist of multiple ion species. In tokamak edge plasmas, for instance, ionized impurities expelled from the vessel wall influence plasma transport. When describing multi-species plasmas using fluid equations, we need accurate closure relations to close the set of fluid equations. In this study, we introduce the development of fitting formulas for parallel closures using supervised machine learning, in conjunction with the recent closure theory, considering multi-ion collisions and arbitrary ion temperatures. We apply this approach to a high-collisionality deuterium-carbon plasma and demonstrate its effectiveness. As a result, the machine learning-based method for developing practical and accurate closures can be extended to a wider range of plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Closures for Two-fluid Five-moment Equations for Magnetized Plasmas (Final Scientific Report)

In the proposed work, we will develop a complete set of closures for two-fluid five-moment equations for magnetized plasmas. Specifically, we propose to obtain explicit formulas for electrons and ions to express heat flow, viscosity, frictional force, and collisional heating in terms of density, and temperature, flow velocity. For this purpose, we solve a set of general moment equations for the relevant closure moments. An infinite hierarchy of general moment equations is completely equivalent to the original Landau-Fokker-Planck kinetic equation. In the small gyro-period expansion, the parallel components of the general moment equations agree with the moments of the drift-kinetic equation (DKE). The advantages of solving the moment equations include (i) an exact treatment of the collision operator, (ii) closure and transport relations with no flux-surface average, and (iii) a unified form of closures for general collisionality. Practically we solve a truncated set of moment equations and hence must verify the convergence of the solutions by increasing number of moments. The parallel integral (nonlocal) closures obtained by solving a set of linearized parallel moment equations are useful only when the nonlinear coupling of moments to the temperature and magnetic field gradient terms is negligible. When the nonlinear coupling terms are substantial, we propose a Fourier transform method to solve the parallel moment equations. By Fourier-expanding the magnetic field, we can convert the differential equations of parallel moments to linear algebraic equations for Fourier components of the moments. The convergence of the solutions can be confirmed by increasing the number of Fourier modes. Our preliminary study in axisymmetric circular magnetic geometry with a large aspect ratio shows that (i) the solutions for Fourier modes n=0 and n=1 converge when modes up to n=2 are included in the expansion, and (ii) lower collisionality requires more moments for convergent closures, as in the case of the integral closures. The proposed work will start from this simple magnetic geometry to find general parallel closures and then be generalized to explore a non-circular magnetic field with finite aspect-ratio. With parallel moments known, the perpendicular component of moment closures can be obtained by inverting the generalized cross product operator in the general moment equations. These efforts will be performed in conjunction with several multi-institutional projects, NIMROD, the Center for Extended MHD Modeling (CEMM), and the Plasma Science and Innovation (PSI) Center.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Toroidally symmetric plasma vortex at tokamak divertor null point

Reduced MHD equations are used for studying toroidally symmetric plasma dynamics near the divertor null point. Numerical solution of these equations exhibits a plasma vortex localized at the null point with the time-evolution defined by interplay of the curvature drive, magnetic restoring force, and dissipation. Convective motion is easier to achieve for a second-order null (snowflake) divertor than for a regular x-point configuration, and the size of the convection zone in a snowflake configuration grows with plasma pressure at the null point. In conclusion, the trends in simulations are consistent with tokamak experiments which indicate the presence of enhanced transport at the null point.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1986

Statistical foundation of the fluid analogue of the soliton formalism

A fully nonlinear analysis is used to develop a general soliton formalism for the description of the nonlinear evolution of soliton fluctuations in both plasmas and classical fluids. From the Navier-Stokes equations for plasmas and compressible fluids of two scales, two equations for the propagation of density waves are derived. A fast soliton field is spontaneously created by rarefaction, and a slow density wave modulates the field intensity as a ponderomotive force. Constitutive properties are demonstrated using a Lagrangian-kinetic formalism of the fluctuation-dissipation theory.

Tchen, C. M.↗
DOE OSTI2013

Thrust and efficiency model for electron-driven magnetic nozzles

A performance model is presented for magnetic nozzle plasmas driven by electron thermal expansion to investigate how the thrust coefficient and beam divergence efficiency scale with the incoming plasma flow and magnetic field geometry. Using a transformation from cylindrical to magnetic coordinates, an approximate analytical solution is derived to the axisymmetric two-fluid equations for a collisionless plasma flow along an applied magnetic field. This solution yields an expression for the half-width at half-maximum of the plasma density profile in the far-downstream region, from which simple scaling relations for the thrust coefficient and beam divergence efficiency are derived. It is found that the beam divergence efficiency is most sensitive to the density profile of the flow into the nozzle throat, with the highest efficiencies occurring for plasmas concentrated along the nozzle axis. Increasing the expansion ratio of the magnetic field leads to efficiency improvements that are more pronounced for incoming plasmas that are not concentrated along the axis. This implies that the additional magnet required to increase the expansion ratio may be worth the added complexity for plasma sources that exhibit poor confinement.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

A general nonlinear fluid model for reacting plasma-neutral mixtures

A generalized, computationally tractable fluid model for capturing the effects of neutral particles in plasmas is derived. The model derivation begins with Boltzmann equations for singly charged ions, electrons, and a single neutral species. Electron-impact ionization, radiative recombination, and resonant charge exchange reactions are included. Moments of the reaction collision terms are detailed. Moments of the Boltzmann equations for electron, ion, and neutral species are combined to yield a two-component plasma-neutral fluid model. Separate density, momentum, and energy equations, each including reaction transfer terms, are produced for the plasma and neutral equations. The required closures for the plasma-neutral model are discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

CGL description revisited

Solar wind observational studies have emphasized that the solar wind plasma data is bounded by the mirror and firehose instabilities, and it is often believed that these instabilities are of a purely kinetic nature. The simplest fluid model that generalizes magnetohydrodynamics with anisotropic temperatures is the Chew-Goldberger-Low model (CGL). Here we briefly revisit the CGL description and discuss its (otherwise well-documented) linear firehose and mirror instability thresholds; namely that the firehose instability threshold is identical to the one found from linear kinetic theory and that the mirror threshold contains a factor of 6 error. We consider a simple higher-order fluid model with time dependent heat flux equations and show that the mirror instability threshold is correctly reproduced. We also present fully nonlinear three-dimensional simulations of freely decaying turbulence for the Hall-CGL model with isothermal electrons. The spatial resolution of these simulations is 512{sup 3} and the formation of a spectral break in magnetic and velocity field spectra around the proton inertial length is found.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗