Gyro-fluid and two-fluid theory and simulations of edge-localized-modes

Abstract

This paper reports on the theoretical and simulation results of a gyro-Landau-fluid extension of the BOUT++ code, which contributes to increasing the physics understanding of edge-localized-modes (ELMs). Large ELMs with low-to-intermediate-n peeling-ballooning (P-B) modes are significantly suppressed due to finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects when the ion temperature increases. For type-I ELMs, it is found from linear simulations that retaining complete first order FLR corrections as resulting from the incomplete “gyroviscous cancellation” in Braginskii's two-fluid model is necessary to obtain good agreement with gyro-fluid results for high ion temperature cases (Ti≽3 keV) when the ion density has a strong radial variation, which goes beyond the simple local model of ion diamagnetic stabilization of ideal ballooning modes. The maximum growth rate is inversely proportional to Ti because the FLR effect is proportional to Ti. The FLR effect is also proportional to toroidal mode number n, so for high n cases, the P-B mode is stabilized by FLR effects. Nonlinear gyro-fluid simulations show results that are similar to those from the two-fluid model, namely that the P-B modes trigger magnetic reconnection, which drives the collapse of the pedestal pressure. Due to the additional FLR-corrected nonlinear E × B convection of the ion gyro-center density, for a ballooning-dominated equilibrium the gyro-fluid model further limits the radial spreading of ELMs. In six-field two fluid simulations, the parallel thermal diffusivity is found to prevent the ELM encroachment further into core plasmas and therefore leads to steady state L-mode profiles. The simulation results show that most energy is lost via ion channel during an ELM event, followed by particle loss and electron energy loss. Because edge plasmas have significant spatial inhomogeneities and complicated boundary conditions, we have developed a fast non-Fourier method for the computation of Landau-fluid closure terms based on an accurate and tunable approximation. The accuracy and the fast computational scaling of the method have been demonstrated.