Control of ideal and resistive magnetohydrodynamic modes in reversed field pinches with a resistive wall

Journal Article · Mon Nov 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3506819· OSTI ID:21531987

Richardson, A S; Finn, J M; Delzanno, G L ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

Numerical studies of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities with feedback control in reversed field pinches (RFPs) are presented. Specifically, investigations are performed of the stability of m=1 modes in RFPs with control based on sensing the normal and tangential magnetic fields at the resistive wall and applying two-parameter feedback proportional to these fields. The control scheme is based on that of [J. M. Finn, Phys. Plasmas 13, 082504 (2006)], which is here modified to use a more realistic plasma model. The plasma model now uses full resistive MHD rather than reduced MHD, and it uses three realistic classes of equilibrium parallel current density profiles appropriate to RFPs. Results with these modifications are in qualitative agreement with [J. M. Finn, Phys. Plasmas 13, 082504 (2006)]: the feedback can stabilize tearing modes (with resistive or ideal-wall) and resistive wall ideal modes. The limit for stabilization is again found to be near the threshold for ideal modes with an ideal-wall. In addition to confirming these predictions, the nature of the instabilities limiting the range of feedback stabilization near the ideal-wall ideal-plasma threshold are studied, and the effects of viscosity, resistive wall time, and plasma resistivity are reported.

• OSTI ID: 21531987
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3506819; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CURRENT DENSITY
FEEDBACK
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
PARAMETRIC INSTABILITIES
PLASMA SIMULATION
REVERSE-FIELD PINCH
STABILIZATION
TEARING INSTABILITY
VISCOSITY
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INSTABILITY
MATHEMATICS
MECHANICS
PINCH EFFECT
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
SIMULATION