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X. Q. Xu

Publications and source records attributed to X. Q. Xu.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

ELMO: An Uncertainty-Aware Simulation-to-Surrogate Workflow for Fast Pedestal Linear-Stability Prediction

Rapid prediction of pedestal linear stability is important for exploring tokamak operating space, uncertainty quantification, and future model-informed control, but mode-resolved magnetohydrodynamic stability calculations using BOUT++ are computationally expensive. We present a focused implementation of ELMO--the Edge Learning and Modeling Orchestrator--as an uncertainty-aware simulation-to-surrogate workflow integrating equilibrium generation, field-aligned mesh construction, large-scale BOUT++ calculations, automated campaign execution and data reduction, and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR). For a single DIII-D plasma shape, 3,869 of 7,992 requested configurations completed equilibrium reconstruction, mesh generation, stability calculation, and quality control. Each retained equilibrium was evaluated at sixteen toroidal mode numbers, $n=5$--80 with $Δn=5$, using ideal-MHD and ideal-plus-diamagnetic models, producing 123,808 mode-resolved calculations. Using eight pedestal features, the GPR surrogate predicts two sixteen-mode growth-rate spectra with latent posterior uncertainty estimates. Across five independent test realizations, the maximum-growth-rate prediction achieved $R^2=0.978\pm0.013$ for ideal MHD and $R^2=0.966\pm0.009$ for ideal-plus-diamagnetic physics. The surrogate reproduces the spectral shape and dominant unstable mode. Calibration diagnostics indicate that posterior uncertainties are useful for relative acquisition but are underdispersed and should not be interpreted as calibrated prediction intervals. Prediction of all 32 outputs requires about 20 ms on one CPU core, compared with about 21 min using 128 CPU cores for the corresponding BOUT++ scan, giving a $6.3\times10^4$-fold wall-clock speedup and an $8.1\times10^6$-fold reduction in computational cost.

physics.plasm-ph

Impact of pedestal density gradient and collisionality on ELM dynamics

BOUT++ turbulence simulations are conducted to capture the underlying physics of the small ELM characteristics achieved by increasing separatrix density via controlling strike points from vertical to horizontal divertor plates for three EAST discharges. BOUT ++ linear simulations show that the most unstable modes change from high-n ideal ballooning modes to the intermediate-n peeling-ballooning modes and eventually to peeling-ballooning stable plasmas in the pedestal. Nonlinear simulations show that the fluctuation is saturated at a high level for the lowest separatrix density. The elm size decreases with increasing the separatrix density, until the fraction of this energy lost during the ELM crash becomes less than 1% of the pedestal stored energy, leading to small ELMs. Simulations indicate that small ELMs can be triggered either by the marginally peeling-ballooning instability near the peak pressure gradient position inside pedestal or by a local instability in the pedestal foot with a larger separatrix density gradient. The pedestal collisionality scan for type-I ELMs with steep pedestal density gradient shows that both linear growth rate and elm size decrease with collisionality increasing. While the pedestal collisionality and pedestal density width scan with a weak pedestal density gradient indicate small ELMs can either be triggered by high-n ballooning mode or by low-n peeling mode in low collisionality region 0.04~0.1. The simulations indicate the weaker the linear unstable modes near marginal stability with small linear growth rate, the lower nonlinearly saturated fluctuation intensity and the smaller turbulence spreading from the linear unstable zone to stable zone in the nonlinear saturation phase, leading to small ELMs.

physics.plasm-ph

Nonlinear study of local ballooning mode near the separatrix

Small edge-localized-mode (ELM), similar to the quasi-continuous exhaust (QCE), has been achieved by increasing the density at the separatrix. Starting from the Type-I ELM experimental data in EAST, we have performed a numerical separatrix density scan to study the formation of the small ELM using BOUT++ 6-field 2-fluid module. In the high separatrix density case, localized collapse near the separatrix has been found. The corresponding ELM size, dominant mode number, and filament transport match the experimental observations of the QCE. Local ballooning mode near separatrix has been identified in the nonlinear simulation. The mode is driven by the local pressure gradient and the mode structure is constrained by the ExB shear.

physics.plasm-ph

Characteristics of grassy ELMs and its impact on the divertor heat flux width

BOUT++ turbulence simulations are conducted for a 60s steady-state long pulse high \{beta}p EAST grassy ELM discharge. BOUT++ linear simulations show that the unstable mode spectrum covers a range of toroidal mode numbers from low-n (n=10~15) peeling-ballooning modes (P-B) to high-n (n=40~80) drift-Alfvén instabilities. Nonlinear simulations show that the ELM crash is trigged by low-n peeling modes and fluctuation is generated at the peak pressure gradient position and radially spread outward into the Scrape-Off-Layer (SOL), even though the drift-Alfvén instabilities dominate the linear growth phase. However, drift-Alfvén turbulence delays the onset of the grassy ELM and enhances the energy loss with the fluctuation extending to pedestal top region. Simulations further show that if the peeling drive is removed, the fluctuation amplitude drops by an order of magnitude and the ELM crashes disappear. The divertor heat flux width is ~2 times larger than the estimates based on the HD model and the ITPA multi-tokamak scaling (or empirical Eich scaling) due to the strong radial turbulence transport.

physics.plasm-ph

Hollow pellet injection for magnetic fusion

Precise delivery of mass to burning plasmas is a problem of growing interest in magnetic fusion. The answers to how much mass is necessary and sufficient can vary depending on parameters such as the type of atoms involved, the type of applications, plasma conditions, mass injector, and injection timing. Motivated by edge localized mode (ELM) control in H-mode plasmas, disruption mitigation and other applications in magnetic fusion, we report progress and new possibilities in mass delivery based on hollow pellets. Here, a hollow pellet refers to a spherical shell mass structure with a hollow core. Based on an empirical model of pellet ablation, coupled with BOUT++ simulations of ELM triggering threshold, hollow pellets are found to be attractive in comparison with solid spheres for ELM control. By using hollow pellets, it is possible to tailor mass delivery to certain regions of edge plasmas while minimizing core contamination and reducing the total amount of mass needed. We also include experimental progress in mass delivery experiments, in-situ diagnostics and hollow pellet fabrication, and emphasize new experimental possibilities for ELM control based on hollow pellets. A related application is the disruption mitigation scheme using powder encapsulated inside hollow shells. Further experiments will also help to resolve known discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experiments in using mass injection for ELM control and lead to better predictive models for ELM stability and triggering.

physics.plasm-ph

BOUT++: Recent and current developments

BOUT++ is a 3D nonlinear finite-difference plasma simulation code, capable of solving quite general systems of PDEs, but targeted particularly on studies of the edge region of tokamak plasmas. BOUT++ is publicly available, and has been adopted by a growing number of researchers worldwide. Here we present improvements which have been made to the code since its original release, both in terms of structure and its capabilities. Some recent applications of these methods are reviewed, and areas of active development are discussed. We also present algorithms and tools which have been developed to enable creation of inputs from analytic expressions and experimental data, and for processing and visualisation of output results. This includes a new tool Hypnotoad for the creation of meshes from experimental equilibria. Algorithms have been implemented in BOUT++ to solve a range of linear algebraic problems encountered in the simulation of reduced MHD and gyro-fluid models: A preconditioning scheme is presented which enables the plasma potential to be calculated efficiently using iterative methods supplied by the PETSc library, without invoking the Boussinesq approximation. Scaling studies are also performed of a linear solver used as part of physics-based preconditioning to accelerate the convergence of implicit time-integration schemes.

physics.plasm-ph

Simulation of Edge Localised Modes using BOUT++

The BOUT++ code is used to simulate ELMs in a shifted circle equilibrium. Reduced ideal MHD simulations are first benchmarked against the linear ideal MHD code ELITE, showing good agreement. Diamagnetic drift effects are included finding the expected suppression of high toroidal mode number modes. Nonlinear simulations are performed, making the assumption that the anomalous kinematic electron viscosity is comparable to the anomalous electron thermal diffusivity. This allows simulations with realistically high Lundquist numbers S = 1e8, finding ELM sizes of 5-10% of the pedestal stored thermal energy. Scans show a strong dependence of the ELM size resistivity at low Lundquist numbers, with higher resistivity leading to more violent eruptions. At high Lundquist numbers relevant to high-performance discharges, ELM size is independent of resistivity as hyper-resistivity becomes the dominant dissipative effect.

physics.plasm-ph

BOUT++: a framework for parallel plasma fluid simulations

A new modular code called BOUT++ is presented, which simulates 3D fluid equations in curvilinear coordinates. Although aimed at simulating Edge Localised Modes (ELMs) in tokamak X-point geometry, the code is able to simulate a wide range of fluid models (magnetised and unmagnetised) involving an arbitrary number of scalar and vector fields, in a wide range of geometries. Time evolution is fully implicit, and 3rd-order WENO schemes are implemented. Benchmarks are presented for linear and non-linear problems (the Orszag-Tang vortex) showing good agreement. Performance of the code is tested by scaling with problem size and processor number, showing efficient scaling to thousands of processors. Linear initial-value simulations of ELMs using reduced ideal MHD are presented, and the results compared to the ELITE linear MHD eigenvalue code. The resulting mode-structures and growth-rate are found to be in good agreement (BOUT++ = 0.245, ELITE = 0.239). To our knowledge, this is the first time dissipationless, initial-value simulations of ELMs have been successfully demonstrated.

physics.plasm-ph

Magnetoresistance of metallic perovskite oxide LaNiO$_{3-δ}$

We report a study of the magnetoresistance (MR) of the metallic perovskite oxide LaNiO$_{3-δ}$ as a function of the oxygen stoichiometry $δ$ ($δ\leq$ 0.14), magnetic field (H $\leq 6T$) and temperature (1.5K $\leq $ T $\leq $ 25K). We find a strong dependence of the nature of MR on the oxygen stoichiometry. The MR at low temperatures change from positive to negative as the sample becomes more oxygen deficient (i.e, $δ$ increases). Some of the samples which are more resistive, show a resistivity minima at $T_{min}$ $\approx$ 20K. We find that in these samples the MR is positive at T > $T_{min}$ and negative for T < $T_{min}$. We conclude that in the absence of strong magnetic interaction, the negative MR in these oxides can arise from weak localisation effects.

cond-mat.str-el