Nonlinear gyrofluid computation of edge localized ideal ballooning modes

Journal Article · Thu Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3449807· OSTI ID:21389101

Kendl, Alexander ^[1]; Scott, Bruce D ^[2]; Ribeiro, Tiago T ^[2]

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1. Institut fuer Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Association Euratom-OeAW, Universitaet Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria)
2. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Plasmaphysik, Euratom Association, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

Three-dimensional electromagnetic gyrofluid simulations of the ideal ballooning mode blowout scenario for tokamak edge localized modes are presented. Special emphasis is placed on diagnosis of the linear, overshoot, and decay phases. The saturation process is energy transfer to self-generated edge turbulence, which exhibits an ion temperature gradient mode structure. Convergence in the decay phase is found only if the spectrum reaches the ion gyroradius. The equilibrium is a self-consistent background whose evolution is taken into account. Approximately two-thirds of the total energy in the edge layer is liberated in the blowout. Parameter dependence with respect to plasma pressure and the ion gyroradius is studied. Despite the violent nature of the short-lived process, the transition to nonlinearity is very similar to that found in generic tokamak edge turbulence.

• OSTI ID: 21389101
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 7; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3449807; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
BALLOONING INSTABILITY
BLOWOUTS
BOUNDARY LAYERS
CONVERGENCE
EDGE LOCALIZED MODES
ENERGY TRANSFER
ION TEMPERATURE
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PLASMA PRESSURE
PLASMA SIMULATION
TEMPERATURE GRADIENTS
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TOKAMAK DEVICES
TURBULENCE
ACCIDENTS
CLOSED PLASMA DEVICES
INSTABILITY
LAYERS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
SIMULATION
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES