Studies of Flows, Turbulence and Transport in the Large Plasma Device

大型等离子体装置中的流动、湍流和输运研究

• 批准号: 1202007
• 负责人: Troy Carter
• 金额: $ 52.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-01 至 2015-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1202007&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Studies; Flows; Turbulence; Transport; Large

Most of the visible (light-emitting) matter in the universe is composed of plasma (ionized gas), e.g. stars like our sun. Most of these plasmas are permeated by magnetic fields; the forces associated with these magnetic fields tend to confine plasmas. Although gravity is the dominant force in stars, evidence of magnetic confinement can be found in the arcades and coronal loops that are visible in ultraviolet and soft x-ray images of the surface of our sun. Magnetic confinement of plasmas is used in the laboratory, in particular in fusion energy research: magnetic fields in a tokamak confine hot plasma so that nuclear fusion can occur and be harnessed as a power source. In the lab or in space, magnetic confinement is not perfect: plasma (and associated heat) leak across the magnetic field, primarily due to turbulence that arises spontaneously in confined plasmas. Understanding this leakage, or transport, of plasma and heat across a confining magnetic field is important both for basic understanding of astrophysical plasmas such as stars as well as for enabling the efficient production of fusion energy. This project will investigate the role of flow in controlling transport due to turbulence, making use of a laboratory experiment at UCLA (the Large Plasma Device or LAPD). The intellectual merit of this project stems from the fundamental importance of turbulence, transport, and flows in a wide range of plasmas. A detailed study of the interplay between transport, turbulence and flows will have an impact on a wide range of subfields of plasma physics, including magnetic confinement fusion, and space and astrophysical plasma physics. The broader impacts of this project are realized through both the research and educational activities. A major focus of the proposal is the training of two graduate students, both working toward a PhD. The proposed work will leverage and extend an existing effort in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to compare experimental measurements to predictions of massively-parallel computer simulations. This comparative effort will help build a predictive capability in turbulence and transport in magnetized plasmas. This is important in advancing our understanding of fundamental plasma processes in a variety of settings, but is especially critical to progress in magnetic fusion energy research.

宇宙中的大部分可见（发光）物质都是由等离子体（电离气体）组成的，例如像我们的太阳这样的恒星。 这些等离子体中的大多数都被磁场渗透;与这些磁场相关的力往往会限制等离子体。 虽然引力是恒星的主导力量，但在太阳表面的紫外线和软x射线图像中可见的拱圈和日冕环中可以找到磁约束的证据。 等离子体的磁约束在实验室中使用，特别是在聚变能量研究中：托卡马克中的磁场限制热等离子体，以便核聚变可以发生并被用作电源。 在实验室或太空中，磁约束并不完美：等离子体（和相关的热量）穿过磁场泄漏，主要是由于在受限等离子体中自发产生的湍流。了解等离子体和热量在封闭磁场中的泄漏或传输对于基本了解恒星等天体物理等离子体以及有效生产聚变能都很重要。 本项目将利用加州大学洛杉矶分校的实验室实验（大型等离子体装置或LAPD），研究流动在控制湍流传输中的作用。 这个项目的智力价值源于湍流的基本重要性，运输，并在广泛的等离子体流动。 详细研究传输、湍流和流动之间的相互作用将对等离子体物理学的广泛子领域产生影响，包括磁约束聚变以及空间和天体物理等离子体物理学。通过研究和教育活动实现了该项目的更广泛影响。该提案的一个主要重点是培养两名研究生，他们都在攻读博士学位。 拟议的工作将利用和扩展与劳伦斯利弗莫尔国家实验室合作的现有努力，将实验测量与并行计算机模拟的预测进行比较。 这种比较的努力将有助于建立在磁化等离子体中的湍流和传输的预测能力。这对于推进我们对各种环境中基本等离子体过程的理解非常重要，但对于磁聚变能量研究的进展尤其重要。