A computational model for z-pinch plasma channels

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6055820

Yasar, O

An adaptive grid finite difference scheme was derived for simulating non-linear and unsteady one dimensional (planar, cylindrical and spherical) fluid flow by adapting to steep gradients in different physical quantities. The scheme is applied to z-pinch plasma channels that are used for ion beam transport in Light Ion Beam Fusion Reactor designs. The radiation emitted by the plasma seems to be vitally important for analyzing the formation of channels, requiring accurate methods that treat radiative transfer coupled to magnetohydrodynamics. The channel formation and ion beam injection is studied by simulations with a 1-D Adaptive Radiation Magnetohydrodynamics (ARMHD) computer code developed for the purpose of this thesis research. ARMHD models the plasma with single-fluid MHD equations, and solves for the radiation field intensity through the radiative transfer equation using a multi-group discrete ordinate S(sub N) method. The governing equations are hyperbolic conservation laws transformed to an adaptive grid reference frame that moves in time to follow the high gradients in the solutions. An explicit procedure based on the equidistribution principle is used to move the grid system to avoid the implicit coupling between the physical equations and the grid system. Adaptive gridding seems to be most effective in flows with high gradient regions. For z-pinch plasma channel simulations, the adaption on temperature-momentum proves to be good in terms of the high mesh concentration it provides throughout the channel, where other quantities besides the temperature and momentum are also varying. Applications of ARMHD indicate the feasibility of using argon and nitrogen for plasma channels.

• Research Organization: Wisconsin Univ., Madison, WI (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6055820
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700107* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Instabilities
BEAM INJECTION
BEAMS
CHANNELING
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DATA
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD
FLOW MODELS
FLUID MECHANICS
HEATING
HYDRODYNAMICS
INFORMATION
ION BEAMS
ITERATIVE METHODS
LINEAR PINCH DEVICES
LINEAR Z PINCH DEVICES
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICS
NUMERICAL DATA
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
PINCH DEVICES
PLASMA HEATING
SIMULATION
THEORETICAL DATA
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES