No Arabic abstract
The aim of the present study is to analyze the stability of the pressure gradient driven modes (PM) and Alfven eigenmodes (AE) in the Large Helical Device (LHD) plasma if the rotational transform profile is modified by the current drive of the tangential neutral beam injectors (NBI). This study forms a basic search for optimized operation scenarios with reduced mode activity. The analysis is performed using the code FAR3d which solves the reduced MHD equations describing the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations for density and parallel velocity moments of the energetic particle (EP) species, including the effect of the acoustic modes. The Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects are added via the closure relation. On-axis and off-axis NBI current drive modifies the rotational transform which becomes strongly distorted as the intensity of the neutral beam current drive (NBCD) increases, leading to wider continuum gaps and modifying the magnetic shear. The simulations with on-axis NBI injection show that a counter (ctr-) NBCD in inward shifted and default configurations leads to a lower growth rate of the PM, although strong n=1 and 2 AEs can be destabilized. For the outward shifted configurations, a co-NBCD improves the AEs stability but the PM are further destabilized if the co-NBCD intensity is 30 kA/T. If the NBI injection is off-axis, the plasma stability is not significantly improved due to the further destabilization of the AE and energetic particle modes (EPM) in the middle and outer plasma region.
The aim of this study is to analyze the destabilization of Alfven Eigenmodes (AE) by multiple energetic particles (EP) species in DIII-D and LHD discharges. We use the reduced MHD equations to describe the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles species, including the effect of the acoustic modes, diamagnetic currents and helical couplings. We add the Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects using a closure relation. The simulations with multiple NBI lines show three different regimes: the non damped regime where the multi beam AEs growth rate is larger compared to the growth rate of the AEs destabilized by the individual NBI lines, the interaction regime where the multi beam AEs growth rate is smaller than the single NBI AEs and the damped regime where the AEs are suppressed. Operations in the damped regime requires EP species with different density profile flatness or gradient locations. In addition, the AEs growth rate in the interaction regime is further reduced if the combined NBI lines have similar beam temperatures and the beta of the NBI line with flatter EP density profile increases. Then, optimization trends are identified in DIII-D high poloidal beta and LHD low density / magnetic field discharges with multiple NBI lines as well as the configuration requirements to operate in the damped and interaction regimes. DIII-D simulations show a decrease of the n=2 to 6 AEs growth rate and n=1 AE are stabilized in the LHD case. The helical coupling effects in LHD simulations lead to a transition from the interaction to the damped regime of the n=2,-8,12 helical family.
The aim of this study is to perform a theoretical analysis of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability and energetic particle effects on a LHD equilibria, calculated during a discharge where energetic-ion-driven resistive interchange mode (EIC) events were triggered. We use the reduced MHD equations to describe the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particles species. We add the Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects using a closure relation. The simulations suggest that the helically trapped EP driven by the perpendicular neutral beam injector (NBI) further destabilizes the 1/1 MHD-like mode located at the plasma periphery (r/a = 0.88). If the beta of the EP driven by the perpendicular NBI is larger than 0.0025 a 1/1 EIC with a frequency around 3 kHz is destabilized. If the effect of the passing EP driven by the tangential NBI is included on the model, any enhancement of the injection intensity of the tangential NBI below beta=0.025 leads to a decrease of the instability growth rate. The simulations indicate that the perpendicular NBI EP is the main driver of the EIC events, as it was observed in the experiment. If the effect of the helical couplings are added in the model, an 11/13 EIC is destabilized with a frequency around 9 kHz, inward shifted (r/a = 0.81) compared to the 1/1 EIC. Thus, one possible explanation for the EIC frequency chirping down from 9 to 3 kHz is a transition between the 11/13 to the 1/1 EIC due to a weakening of the destabilizing effect of the high n modes, caused by a decrease of the EP drive due to a loss of helically trapped EP or a change in the EP distribution function after the EIC burst.
The aim of the study is to analyze the stability of the Energetic Particle Modes (EPM) and Alfven Eigenmodes (AE) in Helitron J and LHD plasma if the electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) is applied. The analysis is performed using the code FAR3d that solves the reduced MHD equations describing the linear evolution of the poloidal flux and the toroidal component of the vorticity in a full 3D system, coupled with equations of density and parallel velocity moments for the energetic particle (EP) species, including the effect of the acoustic modes. The Landau damping and resonant destabilization effects are added via the closure relation. The simulation results show that the n=1 EPM and n=2 Global AE (GAE) in Heliotron J plasma can be stabilized if the magnetic shear is enhanced at the plasma periphery by an increase (co-ECCD injection) or decrease (ctr-ECCD injection) of the rotational transform at the magnetic axis iota0. In the ctr-ECCD simulations, the EPM/AE growth rate decreases only below a given iota0, similar to the ECCD intensity threshold observed in the experiments. In addition, ctr-ECCD simulations show an enhancement of the continuum damping. The simulations of the LHD discharges with ctr-ECCD injection indicate the stabilization of the n=1 EPM, n=2 Toroidal AE (TAE) and n=3 TAE, caused by an enhancement of the continuum damping in the inner plasma leading to a higher EP beta threshold with respect to the co- and no-ECCD simulations.
In recent years, a strong reduction of plasma turbulence in the presence of energetic particles has been reported in a number of magnetic confinement experiments and corresponding gyrokinetic simulations. While highly relevant to performance predictions for burning plasmas, an explanation for this primarily nonlinear effect has remained elusive so far. A thorough analysis finds that linearly marginally stable energetic particle driven modes are excited nonlinearly, depleting the energy content of the turbulence and acting as an additional catalyst for energy transfer to zonal modes (the dominant turbulence saturation channel). Respective signatures are found in a number of simulations for different JET and ASDEX Upgrade discharges with reduced transport levels attributed to energetic ion effects.
The nonlinear dynamics of energetic particle (EP) driven geodesic acoustic modes (EGAM) in tokamaks is investigated, and compared with the beam-plasma system (BPS). The EGAM is studied with the global gyrokinetic (GK) particle-in-cell code ORB5, treating the thermal ions and EP (in this case, fast ions) as GK and neglecting the kinetic effects of the electrons. The wave-particle nonlinearity only is considered in the EGAM nonlinear dynamics. The BPS is studied with a 1D code where the thermal plasma is treated as a linear dielectric, and the EP (in this case, fast electrons) with an n-body hamiltonian formulation. A one-to-one mapping between the EGAM and the BPS is described. The focus is on understanding and predicting the EP redistribution in phase space. We identify here two distint regimes for the mapping: in the low-drive regime, the BPS mapping with the EGAM is found to be complete, and in the high-drive regime, the EGAM dynamics and the BPS dynamics are found to differ. The transition is described with the presence of a non-negligible frequency chirping, which affects the EGAM but not the BPS, above the identified drive threshold. The difference can be resolved by adding an ad-hoc frequency modification to the BPS model. As a main result, the formula for the prediction of the nonlinear width of the velocity redistribution around the resonance velocity is provided.