Publications
Showing 42 results for Author: Mark R. Cianciosa
Mar, 2026
Conference Paper
Improving Predictions Under Uncertainty of Material Plasma Device Operations
Understanding the properties of materials when exposed to various plasma temperatures and fluxes is essential to the building and operating of fusion reactors. The Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (MPEX) is an instrument currently being developed by the Department of Energy (DOE) for this purpose. MPEX is expected to come online in stages over the next five years. Proto…
May, 2025
Journal
Verification of the Shafranov shift in free-boundary VMEC, DESC, and SPEC calculations with elliptical geometry
Given a set of current-carrying filaments that create a magnetic field with rotating elliptical flux surfaces, we present verification calculations using the VMEC, DESC, and SPEC free-boundary magnetohydrostatic equilibrium codes for both the “vacuum” equilibrium, for which there is no plasma pressure and no plasma currents, and for a non-zero pressure, zero toroidal curre…
May, 2025
Journal
Observation of magnetic islands in tokamak plasmas during the suppression of edge-localized modes
In tokamaks, a leading platform for fusion energy, periodic filamentary plasma eruptions known as edge-localized modes occur in plasmas with high-energy confinement and steep pressure profiles at the plasma edge. These edge-localized modes could damage the tokamak wall but can be suppressed using small three-dimensional magnetic perturbations. Here we demonstrate that thes…
Jun, 2024
Journal
Exploring the effect of ELM and code-coupling frequencies on plasma and material modeling of dynamic recycling in divertors
Integrated modeling of plasma-surface interactions provides a comprehensive and self-consistent description of the system, moving the field closer to developing predictive and design capabilities for plasma facing components. One such workflow, including descriptions for the scrape-off-layer plasma, ion-surface interactions and the sub-surface evolution, was previously use…
Dec, 2023
Journal
DIII-D research towards establishing the scientific basis for future fusion reactors
DIII-D research is addressing critical challenges in preparation for ITER and the next generation of fusion devices through focusing on plasma physics fundamentals that underpin key fusion goals, understanding the interaction of disparate core and boundary plasma physics, and developing integrated scenarios for achieving high performance fusion regimes. Fundamental investi…
Dec, 2023
Journal
DIII-D research advancing the physics basis for optimizing the tokamak approach to fusion energy
DIII-D physics research addresses critical challenges for the operation of ITER and the next generation of fusion energy devices. This is done through a focus on innovations to provide solutions for high performance long pulse operation, coupled with fundamental plasma physics understanding and model validation, to drive scenario development by integrating high performance…
Nov, 2023
Journal
Core-Pedestal Plasma Configurations in Advanced Tokamaks
Several configurations for the core and pedestal plasma are examined for a predefined tokamak design by implementing multiple heating/current drive (H/CD) sources to achieve an optimum configuration of high fusion power in a noninductive operation while maintaining an ideally magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stable core plasma using the IPS-FASTRAN framework. IPS-FASTRAN is a com…
Nov, 2023
Conference Paper
Nested Workflows for Loosely Coupled HPC Simulations
The increasing complexity of modern scientific simulations has given rise to the notion of re-usability as a means to reduce development time and effort. One form of re-usability involves hierarchical modelling, where the code and artifacts that model a physical phenomenon are used as the building blocks for more complex coupled physical systems. This reusability mode allo…
Nov, 2023
Journal
Machine learning for analysis of atomic spectral data
Physics based forward models are the basis on which many experimental diagnostics are interpreted. For some diagnostics, models can be computationally expensive which precludes their use in real time analysis. Reduced models have the potential to capture sufficient physics thereby enabling the desired real time analysis. Using statistical inference and machine learning tec…
Nov, 2023
Journal
Helical core formation and evolution during current ramp-up in the high-field tokamak Alcator C-Mod
Large, spontaneous m/n = 1/1 helical cores are predicted in tokamaks with extended regions of low- or reversed-magnetic shear profiles in a region within the q = 1 surface and an onset condition determined by constant (dp/dρ)/B2t along the threshold. These 3D modes occurred frequently in Alcator C-Mod during ramp-up when slow current penetration results in a reversed shear…