Comparisons Between Experimental Measurments and Numerical Simulations of Spheromak Formation in SSPX
Data from a recently installed insertable magnetic probe array in the Sustained Spheromak Physics Experiment (SSPX) [E. B. Hooper et al., Nucl. Fusion 39, 863 (1999)] is compared against NIMROD [C. R. Sovinec et al., J. Comp. Phys. 195, 355 (2004)], a full 3D resistive magnetohydrodynamic code that is used to simulate SSPX plasmas. The experiment probe consists of a linear array of chip inductors arranged in clusters that are spaced every 2 cm, and spans the entire machine radius at the flux conserver midplane. Both the experiment and the numerical simulations show the appearance, shortly after breakdown, of a column with a hollow current profile that precedes magnetic reconnection, a process essential to the formation of closed magnetic flux surfaces. However, there are differences between the experiment and the simulation in how the column evolves after it is formed. These differences are studied to help identify the mechanisms that eventually lead to closed-flux surfaces (azimuthally averaged) and flux amplification, which occur in both the experiment and the simulation.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 936484
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JRNL-219888; JFENDS; TRN: US0805531
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Fusion Energy, Vol. 26, Issue 1/2; ISSN 0164-0313
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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