Experimental investigation of the dynamics of pellet ablation on the Texas Experimental Tokamak
Rapid fluctuations in the ablation of hydrogen pellets in the Texas Experimental Tokamak were studied using fast photographic techniques. It is proposed that the fluctuations are a type of relaxation oscillation driven by the motion of the particle across the magnetic field. This is shown to be consistent with a time-dependent model of plasma shielding due to Kaufmann et al. A technique to include this effect in calculations of pellet ablation is discussed. Spatially resolved measurements of the temperature and density in the pellet-ablation cloud were obtained by line-to-continuum ratios and Stark broadening, respectively. Typical parameters in the pellet-ablation cloud are 5-6 eV and 1.0-1.5 {times} 10{sup 17} cm{sup {minus}3}. The flow along the magnetic field is found to be isobaric. The heating of the expanding ablatant is strongly asymmetric, being stronger on the side facing the electron-drift direction. This may be due to suprathermal electrons.
- Research Organization:
- Texas Univ., Austin, TX (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5591586
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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