Tilting mode in field-reversed configurations

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:6934020

Schwarzmeier, J L; Barnes, D C; Lewis, H R; Seyler, C E; Shestakov, A I

Field Reversed Configurations (FRCs) experimentally have exhibited remarkable stability on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) timescale, despite numerous MHD calculations showing FRCs to be unstable. It is easy to believe that local modes are stabilized by finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects, but more puzzling is the apparent stability of FRCs against global modes, where one would expect FLR effects to be less important. In this paper we study the tilting mode, which MHD has shown to be a rapidly growing global mode. The tilting mode in FRCs is driven by the pressure gradient, and magnetic compression and field line bending are the stabilizing forces. A schematic of the evolution of the tilting mode is shown. The tilting mode is considered dangerous, because it would lead to rapid tearing across the separatrix. Unlike spheromaks, the tilting mode in FRCs has a separatrix that is fixed in space, so that the mode is strictly internal.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6934020
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-82-2892; CONF-821059-1; ON: DE83002067
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700107* -- Fusion Energy-- Plasma Research-- Instabilities
EIGENVALUES
INSTABILITY
LARMOR RADIUS
MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS
MAGNETIC SURFACES
PINCH EFFECT
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
REVERSE-FIELD PINCH
STABILIZATION