The future fusion power plants that are based on magnetic confinement will deal with plasmas that inevitably contain energetic (non-thermal) particles. These particles come, for instance, from fusion reactions or from external heating of the plasma. Ensembles of energetic ions can excite eigenmodes in the Alfvén frequency range to such an extent that the resulting wave fields redistribute the energetic ions, and potentially eject them from the plasma. The redistribution of ions may cause a substantial reduction of heating efficiency. Understanding the dynamics of such instabilities is necessary to optimise the operation of fusion experiments and of future fusion power plants. Two models have been developed to simulate the interaction between energetic ions and Alfvén eigenmodes. One is a bump-on-tail model, of which two versions have been developed: one fully nonlinear and one quasilinear. The quasilinear version has a lower dimensionality of particle phase space than the nonlinear one. Unlike previous similar studies, the bump-on-tail model contains a decorrelation of the wave-particle phase in order to model stochasticity of the system. When the characteristic time scale for macroscopic phase decorrelation is similar to or shorter than the time scale of nonlinear wave-particle dynamics, the nonlinear and the quasilinear descriptions quantitatively agree. A finite phase decorrelation changes the growth rate and the saturation amplitude of the wave mode in systems with an inverted energy distribution around the wave-particle resonance. Analytical expressions for the correction of the growth rate and the saturation amplitude have been derived, which agree well with numerical simulations. A relatively weak phase decorrelation also diminishes frequency chirping events of the eigenmode. The second model is called FOXTAIL, and it has a wider regime of validity than the bump-on-tail model. FOXTAIL is able to simulate systems with multiple eigenmodes, and it includes effects of different individual particle orbits relative to the wave fields. Simulations with FOXTAIL and the nonlinear bump-on-tail model have been compared in order to determine the regimes of validity of the bump-on-tail model quantitatively. Studies of two-mode scenarios confirmed the expected consequences of a fulfillment of the Chirikov criterion for resonance overlap. The influence of ICRH on the eigenmode-energetic ion system has also been studied, showing qualitatively similar effects as seen by the presence of phase decorrelation. Another model, describing the efficiency of fast wave current drive, has been developed in order to study the influence of passive components close to the antenna, in which currents can be induced by the antenna generated wave field. It was found that the directivity of the launched wave, averaged over model parameters, was lowered by the presence of passive components in general, except for low values of the single pass damping of the wave, where the directivity was slightly increased, but reversed in the toroidal direction. / De framtida fusionskraftverken baserade på magnetisk inneslutning kommer att hantera plasmor som oundvikligen innehåller energetiska (icke-termiska) partiklar. Dessa partiklar kommer exempelvis från fusionsreaktioner eller från externa uppvärmningsmekanismer av plasmat. Ensembler av energetiska joner kan excitera egenmoder i Alfvén-frekvensområdet i en sådan utsträckning att de resulterande vågfälten omfördelar de energetiska jonerna i rummet, och potentiellt slungar ut jonerna ur plasmat. Omfördelningen av joner kan orsaka en väsentligen minskad uppvärmningseffekt. Det är nödvändigt att förstå dynamiken hos denna typ av instabilitet för att kunna optimera verkningsgraden hos experiment och hos framtida fusionskraftverk. Två modeller har utvecklats för att simulera interaktionen mellan energetiska joner och Alfvén-egenmoder. Den första är en bump-on-tail-modell, av vilken två versioner har utvecklats: en fullt icke-linjär och en kvasi-linjär. I den kvasi-linjära versionen har partiklarnas fasrum en lägre dimensionalitet än i den icke-linjära versionen. Till skillnad från tidigare liknande studier innehåller denna bump-on-tail-modell en dekorrelation av våg-partikelfasen för att modellera stokasticitet hos systemet. När den karakteristiska tidsskalan för makroskopisk fasdekorrelation är ungefär samma som eller kortare än tidsskalan för icke-linjär våg-partikeldynamik så stämmer den icke-linjära och den kvasi-linjära beskrivningen överens kvantitativt. En ändlig fasdekorrelation förändrar vågmodens tillväxthastighet och satureringsamplitud i system med en inverterad energifördelning omkring våg-partikelresonansen. Analytiska uttryck för korrektionen av tillväxthastigheten och satureringsamplituden har härletts, vilka stämmer väl överens med numeriska simuleringar. En relativt svag fasdekorrelation försvagar även "frequency chirping events" (snabba frekvensskiftningar i korttids-Fourier-transformen av egenmodens amplitudutveckling) hos egenmoden. Den andra modellen, kallad FOXTAIL, har ett mycket bredare giltighetsområde än bump-on-tail-modellen. FOXTAIL kan simulera system med flera egenmoder, och den inkluderar effekter av olika enskilda partikelbanor relativt vågfälten. Simuleringar med FOXTAIL och med bump-on-tail-modellen har jämförts för att kvantitativt bestämma bump-on-tail-modellens giltighetsområde. Studier av scenarier med två egenmoder bekräftar de förväntade effekterna av när Chirikov-kriteriet för resonansöverlapp uppfylls. Även inflytandet av ICRH på dynamiken mellan egenmoder och energetiska joner har studerats, vilket har visat kvalitativt liknande effekter som har observerats i närvaron av fasdekorrelation. En annan modell, vilken beskriver effektiviteten hos "fast wave current drive" (strömdrivning med snabba magnetosoniska vågor), har utvecklats för att studera inflytandet av passiva komponenter nära antennen, i vilka strömmar kan induceras av vågfälten som genereras av antennen. Det visades att den utskickade vågens direktivitet, medelvärdesbildat över modellparametrar, generellt sett minskade vid närvaron av passiva komponenter, förutom vid låg "sinlge pass damping" (dämpning av vågen vid propagering genom hela plasmat), då direktiviteten istället ökade något, men bytte tecken i toroidal riktning. / <p>QC 20160927</p>

La reconnexion magnétique est un processus omniprésent et fondamental dans la physique des plasmas spatiaux. La "Magnetospheric multiscale mission" (MMS) de la NASA, lancée le 12 mars 2015, a été conçue pour fournir des mesures in-situ permettant d'analyser le processus de reconnexion dans la magnétosphère terrestre. Dans ce but, quatre satellites identiquement instrumentés mesurent les champs électromagnétiques et les particules chargées dans les régions de reconnexion, avec une résolution temporelle cent fois meilleure que celle des missions précédentes. MMS permet, pour la première fois, d'étudier les structures microscopiques associées à la reconnexion magnétique et, en particulier, la région de diffusion électronique. Au niveau de la magnétopause terrestre, la reconnexion magnétique a un rôle chef dans le transport de l'énergie du vent solaire vers la magnétosphère terrestre, en convertissant l'énergie magnétique en énergie cinétique et thermique. Les événements à transfert de flux (FTEs) sont considérés comme l'un des produits principaux et les plus typiques de la reconnexion magnétique à la magnétopause terrestre. Cependant, des structures magnétiques 3D plus complexes, avec des signatures similaires à celles des FTEs, peuvent également exister à la magnétopause. On retrouve, par exemple, des tubes de flux entrelacés qui résultent de reconnexions magnétiques ayant eues lieu à des sites différents. La première partie de cette thèse étudie l'un de ces événements, qui a été observé dans des conditions de vent solaire inhabituelles, au voisinage de la magnétopause terrestre par MMS. Malgré des signatures qui, à première vue, semblaient cohérentes avec un FTE classique, cet événement a été interprété comme étant le résultat de l'interaction de deux tubes de flux avec des connectivités magnétiques différentes. La haute résolution temporelle des données MMS a permis d'étudier en détail une fine couche de courant observée à l'interface entre les deux tubes de flux. La couche de courant était associée à un jet d'ions, suggérant ainsi que la couche de courant était soumise à une compression qui a entraîné une reconnexion magnétique à l'origine du jet d'ions. La direction, la vitesse de propagation et la taille de différentes structures ont été déduites en utilisant des techniques d'analyse de données de plusieurs satellites. La deuxième partie de la thèse fournit une étude complémentaire à la précédente et s'intéresse aux ondes observées autour de la couche de courant. / Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous and fundamental process in space plasma physics. The NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) launched on 12 March 2015 was designed to provide in-situ measurements for analyzing the reconnection process at the Earth's magnetosphere. In this aim, four identically instrumented spacecraft measure fields and particles in the reconnection regions with a time resolution which is one hundred times faster than previous missions. MMS allows for the first time to study the microscopic structures associated with magnetic reconnection and, in particular, the thin electron diffusion region. At the Earth's magnetopause, magnetic reconnection governs the transport of energy and momentum from the solar wind plasma into the Earth's magnetosphere through conversion of magnetic energy into kinetic and thermal energies after a rearrangement of magnetic field lines. Flux Transfer Events (FTEs) are considered to be one of the main and most typical products of magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause. However, more complex 3D magnetic structures with signatures akin to those of FTEs might also occur at the magnetopause like interlaced flux tubes resulting from magnetic reconnection at multiple sites. The first part of the work presented in this thesis consisted of the investigation of one of these events that was observed, under unusual and extreme solar wind conditions, in the vicinity of the Earth's magnetopause by MMS. Despite signatures that, at first glance, appeared consistent with a classic FTE, this event was interpreted to be the result of the interaction of two separate sets of magnetic field lines with different connectivities. The high time resolution of MMS data allowed to resolve a thin current sheet that was observed at the interface between the two sets of field lines. The current sheet was associated with a large ion jet suggesting that the current sheet was submitted to a compression which drove magnetic reconnection and led to the formation of the ion jet. The direction, velocity and scale of different structures were inferred using multi-spacecraft data analysis techniques. This study was completed with a plasma wave analysis that focused on the reconnecting current sheet.

No description available.

Experiments for the development of fusion power that are based on magnetic confinement deal with plasmas that inevitably contain energetic (non-thermal) particles. These particles come e.g. from fusion reactions or from external heating of the plasma. Ensembles of energetic ions can excite plasma waves in the Alfvén frequency range to such an extent that the resulting wave fields redistribute the energetic ions, and potentially eject them from the plasma. The redistribution of ions may cause a substantial reduction heating efficiency, and it may damage the inner walls and other components of the vessel. Understanding the dynamics of such instabilities is necessary to optimise the operation of fusion experiments and of future fusion power plants. A Monte Carlo model that describes the nonlinear wave-particle dynamics in a toroidal plasma has been developed to study the excitation of the abovementioned instabilities. A decorrelation of the wave-particle phase is added in order to model stochasticity of the system (e.g. due to collisions between particles). Based on the nonlinear description with added phase decorrelation, a quasilinear version of the model has been developed, where the phase decorrelation has been replaced by a quasilinear diffusion coefficient in particle energy. When the characteristic time scale for macroscopic phase decorrelation becomes similar to or shorter than the time scales of nonlinear wave-particle dynamics, the two descriptions quantitatively agree on a macroscopic level. The quasilinear model is typically less computationally demanding than the nonlinear model, since it has a lower dimensionality of phase space. In the presented studies, several effects on the macroscopic wave-particle dynamics by the presence of phase decorrelation have been theoretically and numerically analysed, e.g. effects on the growth and saturation of the wave amplitude, and on the so called frequency chirping events with associated hole-clump pair formation in particle phase space. Several effects coming from structures of the energy distribution of particles around the wave-particle resonance has also been studied. / <p>QC 20150330</p>

This work focuses on understanding the impact-initiated combustion of aluminum powder compacts. Aluminum is typically one of the components of intermetallic-forming structural energetic materials (SEMs), which have the desirable combination of rapid release of thermal energy and high yield strength. Aluminum powders of various sizes and different levels of mechanical pre-activation are investigated to determine their reactivity under uniaxial stress rod-on-anvil impact conditions, using a 7.62 mm gas gun. The compacts reveal light emission due to combustion upon impact at velocities greater than 170 m/s. Particle size and mechanical pre-activation influence the initiation of aluminum combustion reaction through particle-level processes such as localized friction, strain, and heating, as well as continuum-scale effects controlling the amount of energy required for compaction and deformation of the powder compact during uniaxial stress loading. Compacts composed of larger diameter aluminum particles (~70µm) are more sensitive to impact initiated combustion than those composed of smaller diameter particles. Additionally, mechanical pre-activation by high energy ball milling (HEBM) increases the propensity for reaction initiation. Direct imaging using high-speed framing and IR cameras reveals light emission and temperature rise during the compaction and deformation processes. Correlations of these images to meso-scale CTH simulations reveal that initiation of combustion reactions in aluminum powder compacts is closely tied to mesoscale processes, such as particle-particle interactions, pore collapse, and particle-level deformation. These particle level processes cannot be measured directly because traditional pressure and velocity sensors provide spatially averaged responses. In order to address this issue, quantum dots (QDs) are investigated as possible meso-scale pressure sensors for probing the shock response of heterogeneous materials directly. Impact experiments were conducted on a QD-polymer film using a laser driven flyer setup at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Time-resolved spectroscopy was used to monitor the energy shift and intensity loss as a function of pressure over nanosecond time scales. Shock compression of a QD-PVA film results in an upward shift in energy (or a blueshift in the emission spectra) and a decrease in emission intensity. The magnitude of the shift in energy and the drop in intensity are a function of the shock pressure and can be used to track the particle scale differences in the shock pressure. The encouraging results illustrate the possible use of quantum dots as mesoscale diagnostics to probe the mechanisms involved in the impact initiation of combustion or intermetallic reactions.