Dong Jia-Qi

HL-2A tokamak disruption forecasting based on an artificial neural network

Artificial neural networks are trained to forecast the plasma disruption in HL-2A tokamak. Optimized network architecture is obtained. Saliency analysis is made to assess the relative importance of different diagnostic signals as network input. The trained networks can successfully detect the disruptive pulses of HL-2A tokamak. The results obtained show the possibility of developing a neural network predictor that intervenes well in advance for avoiding plasma disruption or mitigating its effects.

A Simulation Study of Hall Effect on Double Tearing Modes

A Hall magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation is carried out to study the dynamic process of double tearing mode. The results indicated that the growth rates in the earlier nonlinear and transition phases agree with the previous results. With further development of reconnection, the current sheet thickness is much smaller than the ion inertia length, which leads to a strong influence of the Hall effects. As a result, the reconnection in the late nonlinear phase exhibits an explosive nature with a time scale nearly independent of resistivity. A localized and severely intensified current density is observed and the maximum kinetic energy is over one order of magnitude higher in Hall MHD than that in resistive MHD.

Fishbone Instability Excited by Barely Trapped Electrons

Fishbone instability excited by barely trapped suprathermal electrons (BTSEs) in tokamaks is investigated theoretically. The frequency of the mode is found to close to procession frequency of BTSEs. The growth rate of the mode is much smaller than that of the ideal magnetohytrodynamic (MHD) internal kink mode that is in contrast to the case of trapped ion driven fishbone instability. The analyses also show that spatial density gradient reversal is necessary for the instability. The correlation of the results with experiments is discussed.

Geodesic Acoustic Mode in Toroidally Axisymmetric Plasmas with Non-Circular Cross Sections

The geodesic acoustic mode in general toroidally axisymmetric plasmas such as Tokamak and spherical torus is studied in detail. The mode structure is found and the dispersion equation is derived and solved for arbitrary toroidally axi-symmetric plasmas. Besides the finite aspect ratio, effects of elongation and triangularity on this mode are clarified.

Preliminary Study of Ideal Operational MHD Beta Limit in HL-2A Tokamak Plasmas

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) n = 1 kink mode with n the toroidal mode number is studied and the operational beta limit, constrained by the mode, is calculated for the equilibrium of HL-2A by using the GATO code. Approximately the same beta limit is obtained for configurations with a value of the axial safety factor q0 both larger and less than 1. Without the stabilization of the conducting wall, the beta limit is found to be 0.821% corresponding to a normalized beta value of ?cN = 2.56 for a typical HL-2A discharge with a plasma current Ip = 0.245 MA, and the scaling of ?cN ~constant is confirmed.

Observation of E ? B Flow Velocity Profile Change Using Doppler Reflectometry in HL-2A

A broadband, O-mode sweeping Doppler reflectometry designed for measuring plasma E × B flow velocity profiles is operated in HL-2A. The main feature of the Doppler reflectometry is its capability to be tuned to any selected frequency in total waveband from 26–40 GHz. This property enables us to probe several plasma layers within a short time interval during a discharge, permitting the characterization of the radial distribution of plasma fluctuations. The system allows us to extract important information about the velocity change layer, namely its spatial localization. In purely Ohmic discharge a change of the E × B flow velocity profiles has been observed in the region for 28 < r < 30 cm if only the line average density exceeds 2.2 × 1019 m−3. The density gradient change is measured in the same region, too.

Fokker-planck study of tokamak electron cyclotron resonance heating

A Fokker-Planck study is carried out for tokamak electron cyclotron resonance heating by writing the quasi-linear diffusion operator into a form adaptive to the collision operator and considering the wave absorption characteristics of both the O-mode and the X-mode in different magnetic surfaces. Though the Fokker-Planck code is non-relativistic in nature, however, if the relativistic resonance condition for the nearly perpendicularly propagating waves is treated suitably, we can obtain correct results. The energy loss mechanism through anomalous transport is also modelled using a suitable loss term. In the heating phase, the electron distribution deviates from the Maxwellian distribution substantially, which leads to non-linear absorption characteristics. The wave damping rate is non-linear and changes with time. The electron pressure is usually anisotropic under different conditions: pe⊥/pe∥>2 for different D0 and τe.

Effects of m=0 Harmonics on Quasi-Linear Stage of m=1 Double Tearing Mode

Effects of the m = 0 harmonics on the early quasi-linear stage of m = 1 double tearing modes are investigated. The numerical calculation with the harmonics m = 0 included shows that the effect of the m = 0 harmonics on the mode is negligible in the linear stage. As the mode begins to grow nonlinearly, both the current and flow profiles are pinched due to the m = 0 harmonics. To make a comparison we also carry out the calculation with m = 0 harmonics turned off. The profiles of the total current, poloidal magnetic field, and poloidal shear velocity in the cases with or without the m = 0 harmonics are compared and discussed. In addition, the formation of a poloidal velocity shear is found and its mechanism is investigated.

Hybrid Method for Tokamak MHD Equilibrium Configuration Reconstruction

A hybrid method for tokamak MHD equilibrium configuration reconstruction is proposed and employed in the modified EFIT code. This method uses the free boundary tokamak equilibrium configuration reconstruction algorithm with one boundary point fixed. The results show that the position of the fixed point has explicit effects on the reconstructed divertor configurations. In particular, the separatrix of the reconstructed divertor configuration precisely passes the required position when the hybrid method is used in the reconstruction. The profiles of plasma parameters such as pressure and safety factor for reconstructed HL-2A tokamak configurations with the hybrid and the free boundary methods are compared. The possibility for applications of the method to swing the separatrix strike point on the divertor target plate is discussed.

Effects of trapped electrons on off-axis lower hybrid current drive in tokamaks

The effects of trapped electrons on off-axis lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) in tokamaks are studied, A computer code for solving the Fokker–Planck equation in a toroidal geometry is developed and employed. The code is suitable for various auxiliary heating and current drive schemes in tokamak plasmas. The influence of the resonance regime on the current drive efficiency as well as the influence of trapped particle fraction on the current drive efficiency are emphasized. It is shown that, as an electrostatic force, the lower hybrid wave causes some of the trapped electrons to be untrapped and lose their energy, which can cut the LHCD efficiency by about 30%. The ITER scaling law is also used to estimate the trapped electron effects.