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Gyrokinetic study of turbulence suppression in a JET-ILW power scan
For exploring tokamak operation regimes that deliver both high beta and good energy confinement, power scans at JET with ITER-like wall have been performed. Relatively weak degradation of the confinement time coincides with increased core temperature of the ions at high power. The changes in core turbulence characteristics during a power scan with an optimized (broad) q profile are analyzed by means of nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations. The increase in beta is crucial for stabilizing ion temperature gradient driven turbulence, accompanied by increased ion to electron temperature ratio, the presence of a dynamic fast ion species, as well as the geometric stabilization by increased thermal and suprathermal pressure. A sensitivity study with respect to the q profile reveals that electromagnetic effects are more pronounced at larger values of q. Further, it is confirmed that turbulence suppression due to rotation becomes less effective in such strongly electromagnetic systems. Electrostatic simplified models may thus perform well in present-day devices, in which high beta is often correlated with high rotation, but provide poor extrapolation towards low rotation devices. Implications for ITER and reactor plasmas are discussed.</p
Non-Maxwellian background effects in gyrokinetic simulations with GENE
The interaction between fast particles and core turbulence has been established as a central issue for a tokamak reactor. Recent results predict significant enhancement of electromagnetic stabilisation of ITG turbulence in the presence of fast ions. However, most of these simulations were performed with the assumption of equivalent Maxwellian distributed particles, whereas to rigorously model fast ions, a non-Maxwellian background distribution function is needed. To this aim, the underlying equations in the gyrokinetic code GENE have been re-derived and implemented for a completely general background distribution function. After verification studies, a previous investigation on a particular JET plasma has been revised with linear simulations. The plasma is composed by Deuterium, electron, Carbon impurities, NBI fast Deuterium and ICRH 3 He. Fast particle distributions have been modelled with a number of different analytic choices in order to study the impact of non-Maxwellian distributions on the plasma turbulence: slowing down and anisotropic Maxwellian. Linear growth rates are studied as a function of the wave number and compared with those obtained using an equivalent Maxwellian. Generally, the choice of the 3 He distribution seems to have a stronger impact on the microinstabilities than that of the fast Deuterium
The Effect of Trial-by-trial Adaptation on Conflicts in Haptic Shared Control for Free-Air Teleoperation Tasks
Haptic shared control can improve execution of teleoperation and driving tasks. However, shared control designs may suffer from conflicts between individual human operators and constant haptic assistance when their desired trajectories differ, leading to momentarily increased forces, discomfort or even deteriorated performance. This study investigates ways to reduce conflicts between individual human operators and a haptic shared controller by modifying supported trajectories. Subjects (n=12) performed a repetitive movement task in an abstract environment with varying spatio-temporal constraints, both during manual control and while supported by haptic shared control. Four types of haptic shared control were compared, combining two design properties: the initial supported trajectory (either the centerline of the environment or an individualized trajectory based on manual control trials), and trial-by-trial adaptation of guidance towards previously performed trajectories (either present or absent). Trial-by-trial adaptation of guidance reduced conflicts compared to non-adaptive guidance, whether the initial trajectory was individualized or not. Without trial-by-trial adaptation, individualized trajectories also reduced conflicts, but not completely: when guided, operators adapt their preferred trajectories. In conclusion, trial-by-trial adaptation is the most promising approach to mitigate conflicts during repetitive motion tasks
Inconsistencies in modelling interstitials in FeCr with empirical potentials
We present empirical potential and Density Functional Theory results of interstitials in FeCr and pure Cr. Results show that potentials for the original and revised two-band model, a recently introduced third two-band model, and for the revised concentration-dependent model produce errors of up to multiple eV in formation and binding energies for Fe-containing interstitials in pure Cr. Fe-interstitial binding in Cr is much stronger than Cr-interstitial binding in Fe according to Density Functional Theory, but all four potentials still strongly overestimate the binding strength. At the Fe-rich end errors in empirical potentials are smaller and most of the errors are not a linear extrapolation in concentration of the larger errors in pure Cr. Interstitial formation energies in Fe-rich FeCr are underestimated by all four empirical potentials, but much less so than in pure Cr. In Fe-rich FeCr the revised concentration-dependent model produces Cr-interstitial binding energies quite similar to Density Functional Theory values, while all three two-band models show almost no binding or repulsion.</p
Special Issue of Papers by Plenary and Topical Invited Lecturers at the 22nd International Symposium on Plasma Chemistry (ISPC 22), 5-10 July 2015, Antwerp, Belgium: Introduction
Numerical analysis of TDS spectra under high and low flux plasma exposure conditions
A recently developed numerical model, based on the dislocation-driven nucleation of gas bubbles, is used to analyse experimental results on deuterium retention in tungsten under ITER relevant plasma exposure conditions. Focus is placed on understanding the relation between exposure temperature and flux on primary features of thermal desorption spectra: peak positions and intensities of the desorption flux. The model allows one to relate the peak positions with the size of plasma induced deuterium bubbles and envisage exposure conditions (temperature and flux) for their formation. Based on the performed analysis, dedicated experimental conditions to validate the model are proposed
Synergy Between Plasma-Assisted ALD and Roll-to-Roll Atmospheric Pressure PE-CVD Processing of Moisture Barrier Films on Polymers
The synergy between fast (1600 nm · min−1), roll-to-roll plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited (PE-CVD) SiO2 layers and plasma-assisted atomic layer deposited (PA-ALD) ultra-thin Al2O3 films has been investigated in terms of moisture permeation barrier properties. The effective and intrinsic water vapor transmission rates (WVTR) were studied as a function of the number of ALD cycles. It was demonstrated that a synergistic combination of a silica buffer layer deposited on polymer with an ultra-thin (≤ 2 nm) alumina barrier film can provide excellent intrinsic (10−5–10−6 g · m−2 · day−1) and good effective (∼10−3 g · m−2 · day−1) WVTR values, whereas both single layers individually exhibit poor barrier performances with effective WVTR values of ≥ 1.0 g · m−2 · day−1.</p
Modified emission of extended light emitting layers by selective coupling to collective lattice resonances
We demonstrate that the coupling between light emitters in extended polymer layers and modes supported by arrays of plasmonic particles can be selectively enhanced by accurate positioning of the emitters in regions where the electric field intensity of a given mode is maximized. The enhancement, which we measure to reach up to 70%, is due to the improved spatial overlap and coupling between the optical mode and emitters. This improvement of the coupling leads to a modification of the emission spectrum and the luminous efficacy of the sample