Abstract
A reflectometric system will be installed in the RFX-mod2 experiment, consisting of 4 couples of transmitting/receiving antennas working in the range 16–26.5 GHz in X-mode wave propagation ...for tokamak discharges. They will be placed within dedicated plasma accesses in the same poloidal section at 4 equispaced poloidal positions, two on the equatorial plane, High Field Side (HFS)/Low Field Side (LFS), and two at the vertical top/bottom ports. This configuration was conceived to perform plasma position control experiments without using the magnetic measurement signals. While the accesses in LFS, top and bottom positions will accommodate pyramidal antennas, the strict room constraints in the HFS position required a special routing of the feeding waveguide and the design of a different type of antenna, described in the paper. The horn reflector (also named hoghorn) type was preferred which allows radiating (and receiving) a beam at a 90° direction with respect to the horn axis, which will be perpendicular to the equatorial plane. After fixing a reference working frequency
f
= 21 GHz (wavelength λ = 14.3 mm), an antenna fitting the available room was designed by means of the COMSOL Multiphysics Radio Frequency module. Four different versions were developed by introducing some modifications of the aperture shape to study their effect on the antenna performance. FEM analyses were run for frequencies in the 17–26 GHz interval to characterize the frequency response in terms of radiative patterns of the total and far electric field. The directivity of the antennae was also evaluated. The 4 versions exhibited comparable responses and the observed beam directional properties at the expected plasma distance were considered acceptable for the development of this application. A prototype of the antenna has been realized by additive manufacturing process.
Transport phenomena affect the performance of fusion devices, reducing heat and particle confinement and consequently leading to a lower fusion triple product and higher fluxes on the plasma facing ...material. Special attention is devoted in the fusion community to the study of transport mitigation phenomena which lead to the onset of transport barriers in tokamaks, stellarators and reverse field pinch plasmas. The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms driving transport in the presence of electron internal transport barriers in the RFX-mod single helical axis (SHAx) state (Lorenzini et al 2009 Nature Phys. 5 570). We discuss whether transport in the core can be described within the theory of chaotic transport. Light is also shed on the mechanisms acting at the plasma edge. The particle source is calculated using the 2D Monte-Carlo code NENE, considering the pattern of plasma-wall interaction. In the core region of the SHAx we found that the diffusivity along 90% of the radius is reduced with respect to the standard case: D ∼ 1 m2 s−1 fits well with the density profile, compared with the ∼50 m2 s−1 of a standard plasma. This result confirms a strong mitigation of magnetic chaos, although comparison with the neoclassical diffusivity Dneo ∼ 0.01-0.4 m2 s−1 indicates that transport in the SHAx is still anomalous. The same picture describes well both the particle and energy transport in the plasma core: comparison with the effective thermal diffusivity χeff indicates that the ratio χeff/D ∼ (mi/me)0.5 is consistent with the theory of chaos-dominated transport. The plasma edge is affected by a different mechanism. In the external region (the final 10% of the radius) magnetic chaos is suppressed and the edge diffusivity is likely to be ruled by electrostatic turbulence, in particular a direct link with the presence of pressure coherent structures is found.
Microwave reflectometry, having its origins in ionosphere probing techniques to evaluate electronic density, has become one of the most important diagnostics for the same quantity in fusion plasmas. ...Reflectometry will play a major role in next-generation machines, in particular in DEMO, where it is expected to provide plasma positioning, shaping, and tracking data. The ability to have an ever-increasing comprehensive description of reflectometry is particularly important since it allows us to assess the measuring capabilities of existing experimental systems and to predict the performance of new diagnostic concepts based on probing waves. Furthermore, wave propagation in a thermonuclear plasma with fluctuating electronic densities is far from straightforward and the need for a numerical full-wave treatment becomes fundamental. We will present the reader with the fundamentals of this technique and introduce the usage and evolution of FDTD in reflectometry, using as an example, the synthetic diagnostics setup that uses the family of REFMUL* codes, which is employed in the assessment of the performance of several reflectometry systems in different fusion machines.
Abstract
RFX-mod2 (
R
= 2.0 m,
a
= 0.49 m), the upgraded version of the previous RFXmod fusion device, will be equipped with a new reflectometry system specifically designed for plasma position ...control purposes. Featuring a high temporal and spatial resolution and being suitable for harsh fusion reactor experimental conditions (long pulses, high neutron fluxes), reflectometry has been proposed as a good candidate for this task. On RFX-mod2 the diagnostic system will consist of four bistatic ultrafast independent reflectometric units working in the frequency range (16–26.5 GHz) and installed in four different poloidal locations at the same toroidal angle: two on the equatorial plane (high field side/low field side) and two at the vertical top/bottom ports. Standard pyramidal horns will be installed in the external midplane and in the vertical ports, while parabolic hoghorn reflectors have been designed for the internal midplane. Different technical solutions for the integration in the machine, as the additive manufacturing for the antenna production, are presented. Despite the differences with respect to the application on large Tokamaks like DEMO, the RFX-mod2 plasma position reflectometer can contribute to test on a simple machine some of the issues related to the development of a reflectometry based plasma position and shape control.
Bank–firms topology in Italy De Masi, G.; Gallegati, M.
Empirical economics,
10/2012, Letnik:
43, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
An empirical analysis of the Italian system of banks and firms is carried out using the network theory. The emerging architecture of this economic network shows peculiar behaviors: (i) Multiple ...lending is very widespread; (ii) Small firms are preferentially financed by small banks; (iii) Large firms are financed by many banks; (iv) the ratio between loans and deposits is much higher for large banks than for small banks, while (v) strong size heterogeneity appears among co-financing banks, and (vi) the spanning-tree is very hierarchical.
The Italian Divertor Test Tokamak (IDTT) facility will study advanced exhaust solutions applicable to DEMO. This new machine also opens the possibility to test and validate relevant non-magnetic ...control diagnostics in support of a DEMO design implementation. Reflectometry, compatible with a full grade reactor implementation, has been proposed as a source of real-time (RT) plasma position and shape measurements for control purposes, in replacement or complement of standard magnetic measurements, to ensure reliability and safety on the machine. Additionally, such a system can be useful to obtain the characteristics of edge turbulence, useful for Neoclassical Tearing Mode (NTM) control or to improve the efficiency of other diagnostics as Collective Thomson Scattering (CTS). This new control technique based on multiple, poloidally distributed, non-magnetic measurements, must be tested, in all of its aspects, before it can be fully implemented in future fusion reactors. IDTT will be one of the best candidates to implement and build a knowledge database of nonstandard reflectometry (away from the equatorial plane) that will be needed on DEMO and is currently unavailable. The performance of three Ordinary mode (O-mode) Plasma Position Reflectometers (PPR) at the Lower Field Side (LFS) on IDTT is assessed using the two-dimensional (2D) full-wave Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) code, REFMULF, in two of the foreseen IDTT plasma scenarios: 5MA Single Null (SN) and Double Null (DN) configurations.
The RFX-mod experiment is currently undergoing a challenging upgrade of the machine assembly. One of the main purposes of RFX-mod2, the upgraded device, is the achievement of better performances by ...decreasing the tearing modes amplitude in Reversed-Field Pinch (RFP) configuration thanks to a higher plasma-shell proximity. Moreover, most of the innovations characterizing the device and its diagnostics are conceived with the aim of operating as both RFP and tokamak. These different configurations are taken into account in the electrostatic sensors design and layout. RFX-mod2 will be equipped with poloidal and toroidal arrays of electrostatic probes, measuring plasma density and temperature, plasma potential, particle and energy fluxes and floating potential fluctuations. Two toroidal arrays of 72 probes each (one on the high field side and one on the low field side), along with four poloidal arrays of 28 elements, are foreseen. Such a large amount of sensors is due to the requirement of a better characterization of the numerous instabilities observed in the RFP plasma edge, with the possibility to study the plasma shape in different tokamak configurations (circular, single null, double null). Three different kinds of Langmuir probe configurations will be installed: single probes, 5-pin balanced triple probes and ball-pen probes. The conceptual design of the sensors takes inspiration from the model successfully installed on RFX-mod, that allows the removal of tiles in case of damage, by means of a remote handling manipulator.
Heterogeneous Underwater Swarm of Robotic Fish Iacoponi, S.; Hanbaly, M.; Infanti, A. ...
IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering,
10/2023, Letnik:
1292, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Abstract
Underwater robotics is prevalent today in the field of undersea surveys. The current single-agent approach struggles to cover surveys of large areas, especially when visual analyses are ...required. Applications of underwater multi-robots fleets need to manage the coordination of the agents, which in turn stresses the already limited capabilities of underwater localization and communication. We propose a concept for a multilayered control architecture, which leverages visual recognition and swarm behavior to negotiate the coordination requirements of the single agent while retaining a significant level of control over the fleet of vehicles as a whole. This is obtained by including multiple control layers, paired with a heterogeneous composition of vehicles.
Abstract
O-mode reflectometry, a technique to diagnose fusion plasmas, is foreseen as a source of real-time (RT) plasma position and shape measurements for control purposes in the coming generation ...of machines such as DEMO. It is, thus, of paramount importance to predict the behavior and capabilities of these new reflectometry systems using synthetic diagnostics. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) time-dependent codes allow for a comprehensive description of reflectometry but are computationally demanding, especially when it comes to three-dimensional (3D) simulations, which requires access to High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities, making the use of two-dimensional (2D) codes much more common. It is important to understand the compromises made when using a 2D model in order to decide if it is applicable or if a 3D approach is required. This work attempts to answer this question by comparing simulations of a potential plasma position reflectometer (PPR) at the Low Field-Side (LFS) on the Italian Divertor Tokamak Test facility (IDTT) carried out using two full-wave FDTD codes, REFMULF (2D) and REFMUL3 (3D). In particular, the simulations consider one of IDTT’s foreseen plasma scenarios, namely, a Single Null (SN) configuration, at the Start Of Flat-top (SOF) of the plasma current.
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