The Sheared Flow Stabilized Z-Pinch
نویسندگان
چکیده
The stabilizing effect of a sheared axial flow is investigated in the ZaP Flow Z-pinch experiment at the University of Washington. Long-lived, Z-pinch plasmas are generated that are 100 cm long with a 1 cm radius and exhibit gross stability for many Alfvén transit times. Experimental measurements show a sheared flow profile that is coincident with the quiescent period during which magnetic fluctuations are diminished. The flow shear is generated with flow speeds less than the Alfvén speed. While the electrodes contact the ends of the Z-pinch, the surrounding wall is far enough from the plasma that the wall does not affect stability, as is investigated experimentally and computationally. Relations are derived for scaling the plasma to high energy density and to a fusion reactor. The sheared flow stabilized Z-pinch concept provides a compact linear system.
منابع مشابه
Equilibrium Evolution in the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch
The ZaP Flow Z-pinch experiment at the University of Washington investigates the innovative plasma confinement concept of using sheared flows to stabilize an otherwise unstable configuration. The stabilizing effect of a sheared axial flow on the m = 1 kink instability in Z-pinches has been studied using linearized, ideal MHD theory to reveal that a sheared axial flow stabilizes the kink mode wh...
متن کاملEvidence of Flow Stabilization in the ZaP Z Pinch Experiment
The stabilizing effect of an axial flow on the m = 1 kink instability in Z pinches has been studied numerically with a linearized ideal MHD model to reveal that a sheared axial flow stabilizes the kink mode when the shear exceeds a threshold. The sheared flow stabilizing effect is investigated with the flow-through Z pinch experiment, ZaP. An azimuthal array of surface mounted magnetic probes l...
متن کاملPropagating Thermonuclear Burn by Laser Ignition of a Dense Z-Pinch
A linear pinch discharge above the Pease-Braginskii current and stabilized by axial shear flow can radiatively collapse to high densities. A thermonuclear detonation wave can then be launched from one end of the discharge channel by ignition with a powerful laser pulse. Axial shear flow stabilization may be realized by injecting a fast moving jet along the pinch discharge channel, possibly in c...
متن کاملGeneration of shear flow in conical wire arrays with a center wire
At the Nevada Terawatt Facility we investigated the generation of a sheared plasma flow using conical wire arrays with an additional wire located on the axis of the pinch. The additional center wire generates axial current carrying plasma that serves as a target for the plasma accelerated from the outer wires, generating a sheared plasma flow which leads to the growth of the Kelvin-Helmholtz in...
متن کاملMomentum transport from current-driven reconnection in the reversed field pinch.
We calculate momentum transport from tearing fluctuations in a reversed field pinch with sheared flow, considering both the effect of a single tearing mode (through quasilinear theory and MHD computation) and multiple tearing modes (through nonlinear MHD computation). A single tearing mode transports momentum, via Maxwell and Reynolds stresses, more rapidly than classical viscous forces. Moreov...
متن کامل