Study of three dimensional zonal flows characteristic and novel probe design in HL-2A

Abstract

Three dimensional(3-D) features of geodesic acoustic mode zonal flows (GAMZF) were first determined with novel three-step zonal flow probes (TSZFP) at the edge of the HL-2A Tokamak plasmas. Three arrays of TSZFP were located 65mm and 800mm apart. The poloidal mode (m～0) and toroidal mode (n～0) of electric potential and field perturbations were simultaneously determined for the first time. Corresponding frequencies were estimated as 7kHz，which are in good agreement with theoretical prediction. The radial scale lengths of ZF were 24—42cm. The formation mechanism of the flows is identified to be nonlinear three wave coupling between high frequency turbulent fluctuations and the flows. The regulating effect of the flows on the ambient turbulent fluctuations was also demonstrated. The Reynolds stress driven by edge fluctuation is one of the main reasons driving the poloidal flow. It is also verified that the radial gradient of Reynolds stress can drive zonal flows.