Ben Dudson

Non-local approach to kinetic effects on parallel transport in fluid models of the scrape-off layer

Using a non-local model, fluid simulations can capture kinetic effects in the parallel electron heat-flux better than is possible using flux limiters in the usual diffusive models. Non-local and diffusive models are compared using a test case representative of an edge-localized mode crash in the JET scrape-off layer (SOL), simulated in one dimension. The non-local model shows substantially enhanced electron temperature gradients, which cannot be achieved using a flux limiter. The performance of the implementation, in the BOUT++ framework, is also analysed to demonstrate its suitability for application in three-dimensional simulations of turbulent transport in the SOL.

Testing nonlocal models of electron thermal conduction for magnetic and inertial confinement fusion applications

Three models for nonlocal electron thermal transport are here compared against Vlasov-Fokker-Planck (VFP) codes to assess their accuracy in situations relevant to both inertial fusion hohlraums and tokamak scrape-off layers. The models tested are (i) a moment-based approach using an eigenvector integral closure (EIC) originally developed by Ji, Held, and Sovinec [Phys. Plasmas 16, 022312 (2009)]; (ii) the non-Fourier Landau-fluid (NFLF) model of Dimits, Joseph, and Umansky [Phys. Plasmas 21, 055907 (2014)]; and (iii) Schurtz, Nicolai, and Busquets [Phys. Plasmas 7, 4238 (2000)] multigroup diffusion model (SNB). We find that while the EIC and NFLF models accurately predict the damping rate of a small-amplitude temperature perturbation (within 10% at moderate collisionalities), they overestimate the peak heat flow by as much as 35% and do not predict preheat in the more relevant case where there is a large temperature difference. The SNB model, however, agrees better with VFP results for the latter problem if care is taken with the definition of the mean free path. Additionally, we present for the first time a comparison of the SNB model against a VFP code for a hohlraum-relevant problem with inhomogeneous ionisation and show that the model overestimates the heat flow in the helium gas-fill by a factor of ?2 despite predicting the peak heat flux to within 16%.

On the validity of drift-reduced fluid models for tokamak plasma simulation

Drift-reduced plasma fluid models are commonly used in plasma physics for analytic studies and simulations, so the validity of such models must be verified for the regions of parameter space in which tokamak plasmas exist. By deriving and comparing the linear dispersion relations for the drift-wave instability for both a drift-reduced model and a full-velocity model, the importance of the physics lost with the drift-reduction is examined. This analysis is generalised for typical tokamak parameter spaces and is then applied directly to JET data. It is found that drift-reduced models are generally more applicable to the edge plasma ( 30% error) particularly at mid-radius. The effect of drift-wave mode number and wavelength also play a key role in determining the accuracy of drift-reduced models.

Influence of plasma background on 3D scrape-off layer filaments

This paper presents the effect of self-consistent plasma backgrounds including plasma-neutral interactions, on the dynamics of filament propagation. The principle focus is on the influence of the neutrals on the filament through both direct interactions and through their influence on the plasma background. Both direct and indirect interactions influence the motion of filaments. A monotonic increase of filament peak velocity with upstream electron temperature is observed, while a decrease with increasing electron density is observed. If ordered by the target temperature, the density dependence disappears and the filament velocity is only a function of the target temperature. Smaller filaments keep a density dependence, as a result of the density dependence of the plasma viscosity. The critical size

Fluid simulations of plasma filaments in stellarator geometries with BSTING.

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The effects of non-uniform drive on plasma filaments.

, where filaments are fastest, is shifted to larger sizes for higher densities, due to the plasma viscosity. If the density dependence of the plasma viscosity is removed,

Generation of synthetic magnetized plasma turbulence by representation as a stochastic process

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Improving the accuracy of hohlraum simulations by calibrating the `SNB' multigroup diffusion model for nonlocal heat transport against a VFP code

has no temperature dependence, but rather a density dependence.