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Results for “tokamak stability”

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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Infrared heterodyne receivers with IF responses approaching 5 GHz

Specialized coherent 10.6 micrometer infrared receivers were developed with infrared frequency responses approaching 5 GHz. Carbon dioxide lasers were employed for these applications because of their availability, stability, and high average power levels. Heterodyne receivers which employ extrinsic photoconductive Ge:Cu(Sb) mixers were developed for measurements of carbon dioxide laser scattering to determine: (1) the drive lower hybrid wave density fluctuations; and (2) the plasma ion temperature of the dense Tokamak plasmas.

Wolczok, J. M.↗

Radiative instabilities in sheared magnetic field

The structure and growth rate of the radiative instability in a sheared magnetic field B have been calculated analytically using the Braginskii fluid equations. In a shear layer, temperature and density perturbations are linked by the propagation of sound waves parallel to the local magnetic field. As a consequence, density clumping or condensation plays an important role in driving the instability. Parallel thermal conduction localizes the mode to a narrow layer where K(parallel) is small and stabilizes short wavelengths k larger-than(c) where k(c) depends on the local radiation and conduction rates. Thermal coupling to ions also limits the width of the unstable spectrum. It is shown that a broad spectrum of modes is typically unstable in tokamak edge plasmas and it is argued that this instability is sufficiently robust to drive the large-amplitude density fluctuations often measured there.

Drake, J. F.↗

Nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic stability

The computer code developed by Bauer et al. (1978) for the study of the magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and stability of a plasma in toroidal geometry is extended so that the growth rates of instabilities may be estimated more accurately. The original code, which is based on the variational principle of ideal magnetohydrodynamics, is upgraded by the introduction of a nonlinear formula for the growth rate of an unstable mode which acts as a quantitative measure of instability that is important in estimating numerical errors. The revised code has been applied to the determination of the nonlinear saturation, ballooning modes and beta limits for tokamaks, stellarators and torsatrons.

Bauer, F.↗