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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Limit cycle oscillations in the zonal-flow-catalyzed interactions of ion-temperature-gradient turbulence

Limit-cycle oscillations are studied for ion temperature gradient turbulence, which, in the absence of large diamagnetic (mean) shear flows, saturates through energy transfer from unstable modes to large-scale stable modes via zonal-flow intermediary modes. Oscillations of zonal flow and turbulence levels are strongly constrained by the reactive, largely non-dissipative character of the zonal flows. Since existing predator–prey models for observed oscillations in experiments do not include energy transfer through zonal flows to stable modes, low-order fluid models with this physics are constructed and investigated. A simple three-wave truncation produces low-amplitude zonal flows that slowly oscillate around a zero mean, with turbulence oscillations between coupled wavenumbers that exceed linear frequencies by orders of magnitude. This inconsistency with experimental observations is caused by the weak non-linear drive of zonal flows in three-wave systems and the lack of multiple-wavenumber turbulent interactions. A more comprehensive model that preserves multiple wavenumber interactions within the context of conservative zonal-flow-mediated energy transfer to stable modes accurately reflects observed dynamics when the phase between stable and unstable modes is occasionally randomized.

Li, P. -Y. (ORCID:0000000295254171)↗
DOE OSTI2021

Comparison of local and global gyrokinetic calculations of collisionless zonal flow damping in quasi-symmetric stellarators

The linear collisionless damping of zonal flows is calculated for quasi-symmetric stellarator equilibria in flux-tube, flux-surface, and full-volume geometry. Equilibria are studied from the quasi-helical symmetry configuration of the Helically Symmetric eXperiment (HSX), a broken symmetry configuration of HSX, and the quasi-axial symmetry geometry of the National Compact Stellarator eXperiment (NCSX). Zonal flow oscillations and long-time damping affect the zonal flow evolution, and the zonal flow residual goes to zero for small radial wavenumber. The oscillation frequency and damping rate depend on the bounce-averaged radial particle drift in accordance with theory. While each flux tube on a flux surface is unique, several different flux tubes in HSX or NCSX can reproduce the zonal flow damping from a flux-surface calculation given an adequate parallel extent. The flux-surface or flux-tube calculations can accurately reproduce the full-volume long-time residual for moderate kx, but the oscillation and damping time scales are longer in local representations, particularly for small kx approaching the system size.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Global gyrokinetic simulation with kinetic electron for collisionless damping of zonal flow in stellarators

Global gyrokinetic simulations with kinetic electrons for collisionless damping of zonal flows in LHD and W7-X stellarators show that the helical components of the equilibrium magnetic field responsible for helically trapped particles have significant impacts on zonal flow. Kinetic electrons reduce zonal flow residue and increase the frequency of low frequency oscillation (LFO). Here, the LFO is induced by dominant helical harmonics of magnetic field strength. Furthermore, linear toroidal coupling of multiple toroidal n-harmonics barely affects the zonal flows, but can generate long wavelength toroidal harmonics with the same toroidal number as the helical magnetic field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Saturation of fishbone instability through zonal flows driven by energetic particle transport in tokamak plasmas

Gyrokinetic and kinetic-MHD simulations are performed for the fishbone instability in the DIII-D discharge #178631, chosen for validation of first-principles simulations to predict the energetic particle (EP) transport in an ITER prefusion baseline scenario. Fishbone modes are found to generate zonal flows, which dominate the fishbone saturation. The underlying mechanisms of the two-way fishbone-zonal flows nonlinear interplay are discussed in details. Numerical and analytical analyses identify the fishbone-induced EP redistribution as the dominant generation mechanism for zonal flows. The zonal flows modify the nonlinear dynamics of phase space zonal structures, which reduces the amount of EPs able to resonate with the mode, leading to an early fishbone saturation. Simulation results including zonal flows agree quantitatively with DIII-D experimental measurements of the fishbone saturation amplitude and EP transport, supporting this novel saturation mechanism by self- generated zonal flows. Moreover, the wave-particle mode-locking mechanism is shown to determine quantitatively the fishbone frequency down-chirping, as evident in GTC simulation results in agreement with predictions from analytical theory. Finally, the
fishbone-induced zonal flows are possibly responsible for the formation of an ion-ITB in the DIII-D discharge. Based on the low EP transport and the large zonal flow shearing rates associated with the fishbone instability in gyrokinetic simulations of the ITER scenario, it is conjectured that high performance scenarios could be designed in ITER burning plasmas through fishbone-induced ITBs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A unified theory of zonal flow shears and density corrugations in drift wave turbulence

A unified theory of zonal flow shears and density corrugations in drift wave turbulence is presented. Polarization and density advection beat excitation are studied in combination with modulational response. Noise is driven by two-time flux correlation. While the effective zonal flow eddy viscosity can go negative, the zonal diffusivity is positive definite. There is no inverse cascade of density corrugation. The connection between avalanches and corrugations is discussed. Here, the zonal cross-correlation is identified and calculated. Conditions for alignment of zonal shears and corrugation gradients are determined, and the implications for staircase structure are discussed. We show that the synergy of beat noise and modulational effects is stronger than either alone. Strong zonal flows can be excited well below the modulational instability threshold. In the context of L–H transition, zonal noise quenches turbulence overshoot by eliminating the threshold for zonal flow excitation. The power threshold for L–H transition is lowered.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Wave-kinetic approach to zonal-flow dynamics: recent advances

Basic physics of drift-wave turbulence and zonal flows has long been studied within the framework of wave-kinetic theory. Recently, this framework has been re-examined from first principles, which has led to more accurate yet still tractable "improved" wave-kinetic equations. In particular, these equations reveal an important effect of the zonal-flow "curvature" (the second radial derivative of the flow velocity) on dynamics and stability of drift waves and zonal flows. We overview these recent findings and present a consolidated high-level picture of (mostly quasilinear) zonal-flow physics within reduced models of drift-wave turbulence.

fusion plasmas↗
DOE OSTI2021

Wave-kinetic approach to zonal-flow dynamics: Recent advances

The basic physics of drift-wave turbulence and zonal flows has long been studied within the framework of the wave-kinetic theory. Recently, this framework has been reexamined from first principles, which has led to more accurate yet still tractable “improved” wave-kinetic equations. In particular, these equations reveal an important effect of the zonal-flow “curvature” (the second radial derivative of the flow velocity) on the dynamics and stability of drift waves and zonal flows. Here, we overview these recent findings and present a consolidated high-level picture of (mostly quasilinear) zonal-flow physics within reduced models of drift-wave turbulence.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantitative analysis of zonal flow influence on turbulent plasmas driven by trapped electrons

The role of zonal flow (ZF) in the turbulence saturation of trapped electron modes (TEM) in magnetically confined plasmas is revisited. Here, in this study, we examine ZF excitation and saturation mechanisms in TEM turbulence using detailed free-energy transfer diagnostics from nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. When the ion channel becomes subdominant, electrons shift to transferring energy to the zonal component, which results in zonal flows always playing a significant though subdominant role, in the case of the temperature gradient driven TEM. The velocity-space structure of energy transfer reveals that trapped electrons directly couple to ZF. Regarding the saturation physics, the zonal flow advection, drift-wave–drift-wave interactions, and stable modes at the pump waves are compared. When ZF saturation is weak, drift-wave–drift-wave interactions play a larger role in maintaining turbulence saturation. The findings elucidate the roles of nonzonal to zonal flow coupling, stable modes, and nonzonal wave-wave interactions, and provide a basis for improving reduced models of turbulent transport.

Song, Jiheon [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Re↗
DOE OSTI2022

Zonal flow screening in negative triangularity tokamaks

Here, this paper presents a comparative study of zonal flow screening in positive and negative triangularity tokamaks. Neoclassical screening sets the strength of zonal flow shear for fixed drive and damping. Orbit calculations show that the radial excursions of trapped particles are reduced in negative triangularity tokamaks, as compared to positive triangularity. Yet surprisingly, the neoclassical dielectric susceptibility actually increases with decreasing triangularity, such that the susceptibility is higher for negative triangularity than for positive triangularity. This is because the reduction in neoclassical polarization by shrinking the banana width is offset by the increase in neoclassical polarization by the enhancement of trapped fraction for negative triangularity. As a result, the zonal flow screening length is actually enhanced for negative triangularity, as compared to positive triangularity. Hence, the zonal flow residual is smaller for negative triangularity than for positive triangularity. Results from gyrokinetic simulations support the analytic calculations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Zonal Flow and Self-regulating Mechanism in a Hydrodynamic Disk

This study addresses key aspects of momentum transport in hydrodynamic disks, which is critical for understanding zonal flow generation and turbulence in compressible hydrodynamic disks. We find that nonlinear momentum/density transport leads to the formation of zonal flows from the Rossby wave instability in disks. We analytically derive the generation and location of zonal flows and describe a modified Taylor identity applicable to compressible disk flows. We further present a self-regulation model, revealing a dynamic interplay between zonal flow and fluctuations driven by Rossby wave instability that regulates the nonlinear saturation state. This theoretical framework contributes insights into the dynamics of disks such as protoplanetary disks, shedding light on the intricate processes governing momentum/density transport and the emergence of zonal flows in the saturation of protoplanetary disks.

Astrophysical fluid dynamics↗
DOE OSTI2023

On how fast ions enhance the regulation of drift wave turbulence by zonal flows

Abstract This paper presents a mechanism for enhanced regulation of drift wave turbulence by zonal flows in the presence of a fast ion population. It demonstrates that dilution effects due to the energetic particles (EPs) have a far-reaching impact on all aspects of the nonlinear dynamics. The modulational growth of zonal flow shear and the corresponding evolution of drift wave energy are calculated with dilution effects. The coupled zonal flow growth and drift wave energy equations are reduced to a predator–prey model. This is solved for the fixed points, which represents the various states of the system. Results display a strong dependence on dilution, which leads to greatly reduced levels of saturated turbulence and transport. Implications for the FIRE mode plasma of KSTAR are discussed in detail. This model is perhaps the simplest dynamical one which captures the beneficial effects of EPs on confinement.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

How eigenmode self-interaction affects zonal flows and convergence of tokamak core turbulence with toroidal system size

Self-interaction is the process by which a microinstability eigenmode that is extended along the direction parallel to the magnetic field interacts non-linearly with itself. This effect is particularly significant in gyrokinetic simulations accounting for kinetic passing electron dynamics and is known to generate stationary $E\times B$ zonal flow shear layers at radial locations near low-order mode rational surfaces (Weikl et al. Phys. Plasmas, vol. 25, 2018, 072305). Here, we find that self-interaction, in fact, plays a very significant role in also generating fluctuating zonal flows, which is critical to regulating turbulent transport throughout the radial extent. Unlike the usual picture of zonal flow drive in which microinstability eigenmodes coherently amplify the flow via modulational instabilities, the self-interaction drive of zonal flows from these eigenmodes are uncorrelated with each other. It is shown that the associated shearing rate of the fluctuating zonal flows therefore reduces as more toroidal modes are resolved in the simulation. In simulations accounting for the full toroidal domain, such an increase in the density of toroidal modes corresponds to an increase in the toroidal system size, leading to a finite system size effect that is distinct from the well-known profile shearing effect.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Saturation of magnetized plasma turbulence by propagating zonal flows

Strongly driven ion-scale turbulence in tokamak plasmas is shown to be regulated by a new propagating zonal flow mode, the toroidal secondary mode, which is nonlinearly supported by the turbulence. The mode grows and propagates due to the combined effects of zonal flow shearing and advection by the magnetic drift. Above a threshold in the turbulence level, small-scale toroidal secondary modes become unstable and shear apart turbulent eddies, forcing the turbulence level to remain near the threshold. This threshold condition is used to derive scaling laws for the turbulent heat flux, fluctuation spectra, and zonal flow amplitude, which are validated in nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations and explain previous experimental observations.

Nies, Richard [Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Saturation of Fishbone Instability by Self-Generated Zonal Flows in Tokamak Plasmas

Gyrokinetic simulations of the fishbone instability in DIII-D tokamak plasmas find that self-generated zonal flows can dominate the nonlinear saturation by preventing coherent structures from persisting or drifting in the energetic particle phase space when the mode frequency down-chirps. Results from the simulation with zonal flows agree quantitatively, for the first time, with experimental measurements of the fishbone saturation amplitude and energetic particle transport. Moreover, the fishbone-induced zonal flows are likely responsible for the formation of an internal transport barrier that was observed after fishbone bursts in this DIII-D experiment. Finally, gyrokinetic simulations of a related ITER baseline scenario show that the fishbone induces insignificant energetic particle redistribution and may enable high performance scenarios in ITER burning plasma experiments. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effects of zonal flows on ion temperature gradient instability in the scrape-off layer of a field-reversed configuration

Gyrokinetic simulations of long wavelength ion temperature gradient (ITG) turbulence in the scrape-off layer (SOL) of a field-reversed configuration (FRC) find that zonal flows are nonlinearly generated and are the dominant mechanism for the nonlinear saturation of the ITG instability. After the ITG saturation, zonal flows remain undamped and gradually suppress the turbulent transport to a very low level. In the simulations with collisions, collisional damping gradually reduces zonal flow amplitude to a lower level, which allows finite ITG turbulence intensity and ion heat transport in the SOL. The steady state turbulence intensity and ion heat transport are found to be proportional to the collision frequency. Furthermore, this favorable scaling suggests that minimizing collisions (e.g. increasing temperature, reducing impurity content, etc) and preserving toroidal symmetry could improve plasma confinement in the FRC.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

On the role of mode resonances in regulating zonal-flow-moderated plasma microturbulence

Abstract The onset of turbulent heat transport at a higher temperature gradient than the critical gradient of linear instability, known as the Dimits shift, is a recurring feature of nonlinear simulations for magnetically confined fusion plasmas. Resonance in the nonlinear coupling between the modes that dominate energy transfer can lead to suppression of turbulence and transport above the linear critical gradient. As an expression of this resonance, gyrokinetic simulations show a quasi-coherent interaction between streamers and sidebands coupled through the zonal flow within the Dimits regime. This mechanism is further confirmed by use of artificial complex frequencies which break the resonance. By incorporating corresponding saturation physics, the standard quasilinear model for rapid head flux prediction is improved, which can now predict reduced heat flux in the Dimits regime. In particular, the triplet correlation time, the lifetime of the nonlinear interaction, is shown to be well-approximated by combinations of linear eigenvalues, and yields good representations of the heat flux variation both in and above the Dimits regime. Thus, a reduced but predictive model for transport near the critical gradient of zonal-flow saturated turbulence now exists.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Influence of zonal flow and density on resistive drift wave turbulent transport

The generations of zonal flow (ZF) and density (ZD) and their feedback on the resistive drift wave turbulent transport are investigated within the modified Hasegawa-Wakatani model. With proper normalization, the system is only controlled by an effective adiabatic parameter, a, where the ZF dominates the collisional drift wave (DW) turbulence in the adiabatic limit a > 1. By conducting direct numerical simulations, we found that the ZF can significantly reduce the transport by trapping the DWs in the vicinities of its extrema for a > 1, whereas the ZD itself has little impact on the turbulence but can only assist ZF to further decrease the transport by flattening the local plasma density gradient.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗