Thèse de doctorat : Physique des plasmas : Nancy 1 : 2008. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre.

A Charge-Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy (CXRS) diagnostic has been installed on Alcator C-Mod to study the transport of light impurities in plasma. The system provides spatially (1 cm) and temporally (12.5 msec) resolved measurements of the impurity density, temperature and flow velocities of the particular impurity. Two optical arrays: poloidal (19 channels) and toroidal (10 channels), collect the light emitted from excited impurity ion populated by charge exchange process from the Diagnostic Neutral Beam (DNB) particle. The attention of this dissertation is focused on the B⁴⁺ (n = 7 [-->] 6) spectral line emitted by B⁴⁺ ion formed in the following charge exchange reaction (H⁰ + B⁵⁺ [-->] H+ + B⁴⁺*). A complex spectral model was developed to simulate emission. The high magnetic fields of C-Mod result in broad Zeeman patterns which must be taken into account for the interpretation of the line shift and broadening in terms of impurity ion velocity and temperature. After the spectral line fitting and careful identification of the charge exchange component, the calculated Doppler broadening and shifts of the spectral line profile yield information on the ion temperature and rotation. Together with the calculation of the beam density, the absolute calibration of the CXRS optical system provides us with B⁵⁺ density measurement capabilities. One of the main objectives of this work was to use the acquired impurity density, temperature and flow velocity profiles to investigate plasma transport behavior and infer the radial electric field E[subscript R] from plasma force balance equation. The focus here was placed on the region of the Internal Transport Barrier (ITB) formation 0.35 < p < 0.8. Radial electric field E[subscript R] is readily calculated in the region of the ITB foot using measured B⁵⁺ profiles. ExB velocity shearing turbulence stabilization are believed to play an important role in the physics of the ITB formation. The computed E[subscript R] profiles demonstrated the large difference between the H-mode and ITB discharges. Linear gyrokinetic stability analysis (GS2) demonstrated that shearing rate w[subscript ExB] prevails over the linear Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG) growth rates [gamma subscript max] in the region where ITB forms. / text

The steady-state structure of a tokamak scrape-off plasma within a divertor chamber is numerically modeled. The simulation code OAKLEAF approximates the relevant atomic and molecular hydrogenic physics within the plasma as well as examining the effects of several wall impact events including charged particle reflection, absorption, and re-emission, secondary electron emission, and the sputtering of wall material by incident particles. Results indicate the presence of a two parameter solution space. With appropriate choices for these parameters the simulation code produces the electrostatic potential and density profiles within the divertor system as well as snapshots of the particle distribution functions at several points in the chamber. Using the distribution function information the model determines the detailed particle fluxes incident to the divertor plate and calculates the resulting sputtering rates. A study of sputtering rates as a function of initial plasma temperature is then presented. The work concludes by reviewing the scope of the thesis and by making recommendations for future work in the area.

A self-contained gas injection system for the Divertor Material Evaluation System (DiMES) on DIII-D, the Porous Plug Injector (PPI), has been employed by A. McLean for in-situ study of chemical erosion in the tokamak divertor environment by injection of CH4. The principal contribution of the present thesis is a new interpretive code, 3D-DIVIMP(HC), which has been developed and successfully applied to the interpretation of the CH, C I, and C II emissions measured during the PPI experiments. The two principal types of experimental data which are compared here with 3D-DIVIMP(HC) code modeling are (a) absolute emissivities measured with a high resolution spectrometer, and (b) 2D filtered camera (TV) pictures taken from a view essentially straight down on the PPI. Incorporating the Janev-Reiter database for the breakup reactions of methane molecules in a plasma, 3D-DIVIMP(HC) is able to replicate these measurements to within the combined experimental and database uncertainties. It is therefore concluded that the basic elements of the physics and chemistry controlling the breakup of methane entering an attached divertor plasma have been identified and are incorporated in 3D-DIVIMP(HC).

A self-contained gas injection system for the Divertor Material Evaluation System (DiMES) on DIII-D, the Porous Plug Injector (PPI), has been employed by A. McLean for in-situ study of chemical erosion in the tokamak divertor environment by injection of CH4. The principal contribution of the present thesis is a new interpretive code, 3D-DIVIMP(HC), which has been developed and successfully applied to the interpretation of the CH, C I, and C II emissions measured during the PPI experiments. The two principal types of experimental data which are compared here with 3D-DIVIMP(HC) code modeling are (a) absolute emissivities measured with a high resolution spectrometer, and (b) 2D filtered camera (TV) pictures taken from a view essentially straight down on the PPI. Incorporating the Janev-Reiter database for the breakup reactions of methane molecules in a plasma, 3D-DIVIMP(HC) is able to replicate these measurements to within the combined experimental and database uncertainties. It is therefore concluded that the basic elements of the physics and chemistry controlling the breakup of methane entering an attached divertor plasma have been identified and are incorporated in 3D-DIVIMP(HC).

A dynamical technique for the study of tokamak energy and particle transport has been developed. The plasma in the medium-sized DITE tokamak was perturbed by the application of modulated electron cyclotron resonance heating, with wave-launching from the high-field side. These experiments were carried out with absorption at various distances from the plasma centre, over a range of densities. Energy transport through the electron channel was dominant, and the variations in electron temperature and density were measured using the soft X-ray, electron cyclotron emission and microwave interferometer diagnostics. Analysis in the frequency domain enabled the propagation of the thermal wave to be followed. The observed behaviour was generally indicative of diffusive propagation of the thermal perturbation. Further observations indicated a modulation of the horizontal plasma shifts, diffusive propagation to the edge and a low modulation level of line-averaged density. In some atypical cases, the observed behaviour was qualitatively different; this type of behaviour was accompanied by a pronounced sawtooth oscillation locked with the modulation. Two models have been employed for the interpretation of these results. The first model, based on the diffusive thermal transport of the perturbation, has led to results in good agreement with the experimental data. Values of the electron thermal diffusivity were deduced, in good agreement with those obtained from the alternative techniques of power balance analysis and sawtooth heat pulse propagation analysis; such agreement has not been universally obtained in similar experiments. The width of the absorption region has emerged as an important consideration in this analysis. A more complex model, including non-linear, coupled equations of particle and energy balance, has produced results in partial agreement with the experimental data, supporting, to some extent, the presence of coupled transport. It has been demonstrated how perturbation techniques can afford a useful means of testing transport models.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 126-128).

Thesis (M. S.)--Nuclear and Radiological Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Dr. Cassiano de Oliveira, Committee Member ; Dr. John Mandrekas, Committee Member ; Dr. Weston M. Stacey, Committee Chair. Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-07-21Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:14:01Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 martins_cgl_me_rcla.pdf: 5684050 bytes, checksum: 3934e04161c8cf598ab0e9e151d9f8fe (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Investigamos nesta dissertação a introdução de uma barreira dinâmica em diferentes sistemas físicos caóticos, a fim de analisar a influência que esta barreira causa na dinâmica e topologia destes sistemas. A barreira principal deste estudo é a barreira denominada Toro Robusto, que nada mais é do que uma curva invariante no espaço de fases em meio a estruturas de ressonância, mares de caos, etc. A barreira Toro Robusto bloqueia a difusão caótica no espaço de fases associado ao sistema físico, e causa também uma estabilização em sua vizinhança linear. Introduziremos Toros Robustos em vários tipos de sistemas dinâmicos, como por exemplo, em uma Hamiltoniana “Toy Model” a fim de entender o seu efeito no processo de reconexão ou “overlap” de ressonâncias isócronas. Toros Robustos quebrando a dimerização de cadeias de ressonância também foram estudados no mapa padrão “não-twist”. O bloqueio da difusão de Arnold no mapa padrão acoplado também foi mostrado, assim como, a introdução de Toros Robustos em sistemas utilizados em física de plasmas, como meio de controle de caos em plasma confinado em Tokamak. Outra barreira apresentada aqui é a barreira do tipo “meander” que surge através do processo de reconexão de ressonâncias no espaço de fases. Introduziremos um novo mapa discreto que chamamos de Mapa padrão “não-twist” labiríntico, que apresenta múltiplas regiões de barreiras “meanders” por todo o espaço de fases / We investigated in this work the introduction of a dynamical barrier in different chaotic physical systems in order to analyze the influence that it causes in the topology and in the dynamics of them. The main barrier studied here is called Robust Tori which is an invariant curve in the phase space permeated by resonance structures and chaotic seas. The Robust Torus barrier blocks the chaotic diffusion in the phase space of the associated physical system, and it also causes a linear stabilization in its neighborhood. Robust Tori will be introduced in several types of dynamic systems, such as in a Toy Model Hamiltonian in order to understand their effect on the reconnection process or overlap of isochronous resonances. The breakdown of resonance dimerization by Robust Tori was also studied using the nontwist standard map. The blocking of Arnold diffusion in the coupled standard map was also shown, as well as the introduction of Robust Tori in relevant models for plasma physics as a tool for controlling chaos in confined plasmas in Tokamaks. Another barrier, which is presented here, is the meander barrier that emerges through the reconnection process of resonances in phase space. We will also introduce a new discrete map, which we call labyrinthic standard non-twist map that shows multiple regions of meanders barriers around the phase space