November 2023

Journal

Material Impacts and Heat Flux Characterization of an Electrothermal Plasma Source with an Applied Magnetic Field

By:
Gebhart III, Gerald E; Martinez-Rodriguez, Rafael A; Baylor, Larry R; Rapp, J.; Winfrey, A
Journal Name:
Journal of Applied Physics
Page Number:
63302-63302
Volume:
122
Issue Number:
6
Publication Date:
November 9, 2023
View DOI Listing:
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4998683

Abstract

To produce a realistic tokamak-like plasma environment, a transient source is needed to deliver edge localized mode (ELM) magnitude heat and particle fluxes. ELMs in future large tokamaks will deliver heat fluxes of ~1 GW/m2 to the divertor plasma facing components (PFC) at a few Hz. Linear plasma devices use a solenoidal magnetic field to focus the plasma downstream to a target. An electrothermal plasma source can deliver heat fluxes of this magnitude. These sources operate in an ablative arc regime which is driven by a DC capacitive discharge. An ET source was configured with two pulse lengths and tested under a solenoidal magnetic field to determine the resulting impact on liner ablation, plasma parameters, and delivered heat flux. The arc travels through and ablates a boron nitride liner and strikes a tungsten plate. The tungsten target plate is analyzed for surface damage using a scanning electron microscope (SEM).


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