Structural transition of vortices to nonlinear regimes in a dusty plasma

Journal Article · 07 October 2018 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5045772 · OSTI ID:1543879

Laishram, Modhuchandra ^[1]; Zhu, Ping  ^[2]

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1. Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China). CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, and Dept. of Engineering and Applied Physics
2. Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China). CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, and Dept. of Engineering and Applied Physics; Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China). KTX Laboratory and Dept. of Engineering and Applied Physics; Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Engineering Physics

The structural transition of a steady state dust flow from linear to nonlinear regimes is analyzed using a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model for the dust fluid confined in an axisymmetric toroidal system along with an unbounded streaming plasma. Numerical solutions of the employed hydrodynamical model not only confirms the analytical structure of the driven dust vortex flow in the linear limit as reported in the previous analysis but also shows how the dust vortices are strongly affected by the nonlinear convective transport of the flow at the higher Reynolds number (Re) regime. Effects of various system parameters including external driving field and the Reynolds number are investigated within the linear to nonlinear transition regime 0.001 ≤ Re < 50. In agreement with relevant experimental observations, the steady flow structure which is symmetric around the center in the linear regime begins to turn asymmetric in the nonlinear regime. The structure of the steady dust flow is found to be influenced mainly by the dissipation scales due to kinematic viscosity, ion drag, and neutral collision in the nonlinear regime, whereas, in the linear regime, it is mainly controlled by the external driving field and the confining boundaries.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: FC02-08ER54975; FG02-86ER53218
• OSTI ID: 1543879
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 25; ISSN 1070-664X
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English