Fusion Regime Research Articles

Two-Staged Technology for CoCr Stent Production by SLM

Additive manufacturing of porous materials with a specific macrostructure and tunable mechanical properties is a state-of-the-art area of material science. Additive technologies are widely used in industry due to numerous advantages, including automation, reproducibility, and freedom of design. Selective laser melting (SLM) is one of the advanced techniques among 3D fabrication methods. It is widely used to produce various medical implants and devices including stents. It should be noticed that there is a lack of information on its application in stent production. The paper presents the technological aspects of CoCr stent SLM fabrication, including design of stents and development of regimes for their manufacturing. Physical, chemical, and technological properties of CoCr powder were initially determined. Parametric design of mesh stent models was adopted. A two-stage approach was developed to ensure dimensional accuracy and quality of stents. The first stage involves a development of the single-track fusion process. The second stage includes the stent manufacturing according to determined technological regimes. The single-track fusion process was simulated to assign laser synthesis parameters for stent fabrication. Melting bath temperature and laser regimes providing such conditions were determined. Twenty-seven SLM manufacturing regimes were realized. Dependence of single-tracks width and height on the laser power, exposition time, and point distance was revealed. The qualitative characteristics of tracks imitating the geometry of the stent struts as well as favorable and unfavorable fusion regimes were determined. The results of surface roughness regulating of the stents’ structural elements by various methods were analyzed. Thus, this two-staged approach can be considered as a fundamental approach for CoCr stent SLM fabrication.

A sustained high-temperature fusion plasma regime facilitated by fast ions.

Nuclear fusion is one of the most attractive alternatives to carbon-dependent energy sources1. Harnessing energy from nuclear fusion in a large reactor scale, however, still presents many scientific challenges despite the many years of research and steady advances in magnetic confinement approaches. State-of-the-art magnetic fusion devices cannot yet achieve a sustainable fusion performance, which requires a high temperature above 100 million kelvin and sufficient control of instabilities to ensure steady-state operation on the order of tens of seconds2,3. Here we report experiments at the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research4 device producing a plasma fusion regime that satisfies most of the above requirements: thanks to abundant fast ions stabilizing the core plasma turbulence, we generate plasmas at a temperature of 100 million kelvin lasting up to 20 seconds without plasma edge instabilities or impurity accumulation. A low plasma density combinedwith a moderate input powerfor operation is key to establishing this regime by preserving a high fraction of fast ions. This regime is rarely subject to disruption and can be sustained reliably even without a sophisticated control, and thus represents a promising path towards commercial fusion reactors.

Processing parameters and martensitic phase transformation relationships in near defect-free additively manufactured NiTiHf high temperature shape memory alloys

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has quickly emerged as a promising technology to manufacture Shape Memory Alloy (SMA)-based components of complex geometries. 3D-printed High Temperature SMAs (HT-SMAs) components can enable applications that demand operating temperatures well beyond conventional NiTi SMAs. Here, a detailed printability assessment of NiTiHf HT-SMAs fabricated using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) AM is conducted for the first time. Specifically, the regions associated with lack of fusion, keyholing, and balling regimes are quantitatively classified through an efficient printability assessment framework. Nearly porosity-free specimens are achieved from the predicted good printable region. The effects of key processing parameters (laser power, scanning speed, and hatch spacing) on the microstructure variation and phase transformation characteristics are studied systematically. A positive correlation is observed between the transformation temperatures and volumetric energy density (EV). Beyond a critical EV of 100 J/mm3, the transformation temperatures become insensitive to further increases in EV. At identical or similar energy density levels, the individual change of laser power, scanning speed, or hatch spacing alters the transformation behavior to a certain extent. It is hypothesized that to a large extent, this behavior is due to the effects that processing conditions have on the differential evaporation of Ni from the melt pool. A model connecting thermal histories, scanning strategy and chemistry changes is found to be consistent with this hypothesis. It is shown that the transformation temperatures in AM NiTiHf HT-SMAs can be varied over a range of more than 160 °C by controlling Ni evaporation through altering processing parameters.

Upward Flame Spread over Two Parallel Paper Sheets under Reduced Ambient Pressure and Elevated Oxygen Concentration

ABSTRACT The effects of separation distance and environmental parameters (such as ambient pressure and oxygen concentration) on the upward flame spread over two parallel paper sheets were investigated in this work, which would be conducive to enriching the fire dynamic theories and providing a reference for the risk evaluation in building and space fires. It was found that, with the increase of separation distance, the flame spread regimes can be roughly divided into four classes: the flame quenching regime (without inner flame), where the interaction of two parallel papers is mainly dominated by the solid surface radiation; the complete fusion regime, limited by the oxygen diffusion; the partial fusion regime, dominated by the convection; the separated flames regime, dominated by the gas-phase radiation. The flames inside the narrow space are fused under the flame-induced horizontal flow, and extinguished for the oxygen starvation, which reflects the interaction of two parallel samples. Interestingly, although the flames inside and outside the parallel sheets often have different flame lengths and burning intensities, they spread at almost the same rate, which is ascribed to the overlapping of the pyrolysis region on both sides of the thermal thin paper. A critical separation distance was found, where the flame spread rate is largest due to the stoichiometric mixture fraction. The orange-blue layered flames were analyzed, which is related to the boundary layer of the flow field and the mixture of fuel and fresh air. The oxygen concentration has nearly equivalent impacts on the flame-induced buoyancy and horizontal flows, and thus a constant flame fusion angle is maintained. Nevertheless, the enhanced ambient pressure mainly promotes the buoyancy and reduces the flame fusion angle. The flames inside the narrow space are apt to be extinguished under lower ambient pressure with weak buoyancy similar to the reduced gravity and microgravity environments. The transformation of the dominating regimes were observed at a moderate separation distance: the flame quenching regime at pressures below 18 kPa, the complete fusion regime at pressures between 18 ~ 29 kPa, and the partial fusion regime at pressures over 29 kPa.

Plasma transport simulations of Rayleigh–Taylor instability in near-ICF deceleration regimes

Rayleigh–Taylor (R–T) instability between plasma species is examined in a kinetic test and near-inertial confinement fusion (ICF) regimes. A transport approximation to the plasma species kinetics is used to represent viscosity and species mass transport within a hydrodynamic fluid code (xRage). R–T simulation results are compared in a kinetic test regime with a fully kinetic particle-in-cell approach [vectorized particle-in-cell (VPIC)] and with an analytic model for the growth rate of R–T instability. Single-mode growth rates from both codes and the analytic model are in reasonable agreement over a range of initial wavelengths including the wavenumber of maximum growth rate. Both codes exhibit similar diffusive mixing fronts. Small code-to-code differences arise from the kinetics, while simulation-analytic model differences arise from several sources dominated by the choice of gradients establishing the hydrostatic equilibrium initial conditions. After demonstrating code agreement in the kinetic test regime, which is practically accessible to the VPIC code, then the xRage code, with the fluid plasma transport approximation, is applied to single mode R–T instability under deceleration conditions closer to an ICF implosion, approximated with a carbon (C) shell imploding on a deuterium (D) fuel. The analytic wavelength of maximum instability is limited by the kinetics, primarily in the viscosity, and is found to be ≈10 μm for an ion temperature near 1 keV at this C–D interface, with the most unstable wavelength increasing as temperature increases. The analytic viscous model agrees with simulation results over a range of initial perturbation wavelengths, provided the simulation results are analyzed over a sufficiently short duration (⪅0.2 ns in this case). Details of the fluid structure evolution during this R–T deceleration are compared between the inviscid Euler equations and cases, which include plasma transport over a range in initial wavelengths and initial perturbation amplitudes. The inviscid Euler solutions show a grid-dependent cascade to smaller scale structures often seen in the R–T instability, while simulations with plasma transport in this deceleration regime develop a single vortex roll-up, as the plasma transport smoothes all hydrodynamic fluid structures smaller than several micrometers. This leads to a grid-converged transient solution for the R–T instability when kinetic effects are included in the simulations, and thus represents a direct numerical simulation of the thermal ions during R–T unstable mixing in ICF relevant conditions.

Observation of Vapor Plume Behavior and Process Stability at Single-Track and Multi-Track Levels in Laser Powder Bed Fusion Regime

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a promising additive manufacturing technology for producing metal parts with complex geometric features. However, the issue concerning process stability and repeatability still hinders its future acceptance by the industry. Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and stability of the evaporation process is an important step towards further insights into the complex interaction between laser and material. In this study, we used off-axis high-speed camera to observe vapor plume evolution in single-track formation on bare Ti-6Al-4V plates; the results showed that evaporation has a strong effect on melting quality even if the keyhole is not developed. We then expanded the experiments to multi-track level and found that the melting mode can change as the result of heat accumulation. The results show the possibility that keyhole regime may be reached even if it starts with a combination of parameters below the threshold for keyhole formation in single-track-level observation.

Optimization of Plasma Deposition and Coating Plasma Fusion Parameters and Regimes

Optimization of Plasma Deposition and Coating Plasma Fusion Parameters and Regimes

Erratum: “Transient dynamics and stability of keyhole at threshold in laser powder bed fusion regime investigated by finite element modeling” [J. Laser Appl. 33, 012024 (2021)

First Page

14 MeV NEUTRON IRRADIATION EXPERIMENTS - GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY ANALYSIS AND VALIDATION AUTOMATION

An important area of research required for fusion reactor design is the study of materials under high energy neutron irradiation. Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) reactions release 14.1 MeV neutrons and material studies of such high energy neutrons focusing on transmutation and activation are paramount for fusion tokamak devices such as ITER and DEMO. In order to understand neutron damage and transmutation-induced radioactivity in fusion regime energies, a series of experimental campaigns were performed at the ASP facility based at Aldermaston in the UK, which uses a deuteron accelerator to bombard a tritiumloaded target and generate 14 MeV-neutron emission rates of up to 2.5 × 1011 s−1. In this work, a holistic treatment of the 11,000 gamma spectra (time series data) collected over five experimental campaigns is applied to identify radioisotopes and validate nuclear data and the inventory code, FISPACT-II. Whilst previous analysis has examined single spectra and foil irradiation’s using traditional, human-driven methods, this work applies novel methods using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and classification algorithms to allow a fully automated approach. Using such methods we show good broad agreement with FISPACT-II inventory simulations, and an overview of results are given as C/E values.

Transient dynamics and stability of keyhole at threshold in laser powder bed fusion regime investigated by finite element modeling

A Finite element model is developed with a commercial code to investigate the keyhole dynamics and stability at keyhole threshold, a fusion regime characteristic to laser microwelding or to Laser Powder Bed Fusion. The model includes relevant physics to treat the hydrodynamic problems—surface tension, Marangoni stress, and recoil pressure—as well as a self-consistent ray-tracing algorithm to account for the “beam-trapping” effect. Implemented in both static and scanning laser configurations, the model successfully reproduces some key features that most recent x-ray images have exhibited. The dynamics of the liquid/gas interface is analyzed, in line with the distribution of the absorbed intensity as well as with the increase of the keyhole energy coupling. Based on these results, new elements are provided to discuss our current understanding of the keyhole formation and stability at threshold.

Phase Transformations in High-Temperature Fiber Materials Exposed to Non-Equilibrium Flow of Heat and Light

The changes of the phase composition and structure of modern ceramic materials on exposure to an intense flow of light were investigated. The technological possibilities of a unique facility — Big Solar Furnace — were used to perform the experiment. It was shown that surface treatment of a ceramic material in the system Al2O3–SiO2 by a high-temperature source of energy results in the appearance of two new phase compositions — α-Al2O3 and cristobalite. Treatment of the material in the fusion regime promotes the formation of a eutectic component.

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 investigations into fusion energy science find that anomalous dissipation of runaway electrons (RE) that arise following a disruption is likely due to interactions with RE-driven kinetic instabilities, some of which have been directly observed, opening a new avenue for RE energy dissipation using naturally excited waves. Dimensionless parameter scaling of intrinsic rotation and gyrokinetic simulations give a predicted ITER rotation profile with significant turbulence stabilization. Coherence imaging spectroscopy confirms near sonic flow throughout the divertor towards the target, which may account for the convection-dominated parallel heat flux. Core-boundary integration studies show that the small angle slot divertor achieves detachment at lower density and extends plasma cooling across the divertor target plate, which is essential for controlling heat flux and erosion. The Super H-mode regime has been extended to high plasma current (2.0 MA) and density to achieve very high pedestal pressures (~30 kPa) and stored energy (3.2 MJ) with H98y2 ≈ 1.6–2.4. In scenario work, the ITER baseline Q = 10 scenario with zero injected torque is found to have a fusion gain metric independent of current between q95 = 2.8–3.7, and a lower limit of pedestal rotation for RMP ELM suppression has been found. In the wide pedestal QH-mode regime that exhibits improved performance and no ELMs, the start-up counter torque has been eliminated so that the entire discharge uses ≈0 injected torque and the operating space is more ITER-relevant. Finally, the high- (⩽3.8) hybrid scenario has been extended to the high-density levels necessary for radiating divertor operation, achieving ~40% divertor heat flux reduction using either argon or neon with Ptot up to 15 MW.

Direct observation of ion acceleration from a beam-driven wave in a magnetic fusion experiment

Efficiently heating a magnetically confined plasma to thermonuclear temperatures remains a central issue in fusion energy research. One well-established technique is to inject beams of neutral particles into the plasma, a process known as neutral beam injection. In the classical picture, fast ions generated from neutral beam injection predominantly heat electrons as they are slowed by friction. This electron heat is then collisionally coupled to the plasma ions, which comprise the fusion fuel. Fast ions can also drive plasma waves, which divert energy from the fuel and can degrade confinement. Here we present new observations from a field reversed configuration plasma in which a beam-driven wave in the open field line region couples directly to fuel ions, drawing a high-energy tail on subcollisional timescales that dramatically enhances the fusion rate. This mode therefore allows the beam energy to bypass the electron channel and does so without having a deleterious effect on global plasma confinement. Our results demonstrate a means of directly and non-destructively coupling energy from fast ions to plasma ions, which may pave the way for improved neutral beam injection heating efficiency or the prevention of ash accumulation with alpha channelling. A major challenge for achieving useful thermonuclear fusion regimes is heating plasma to reactive temperature conditions. It is demonstrated experimentally how energetic ions, generated via neutral beam injection, can be exploited for this process.

Selection of the selective laser melting modes – As the method of achieving an item’s complex shape with the specified physical and mechanical properties

Abstract The main idea of the article is the technology of selective laser sintering of metallic powder stainless steel 316L investigation to manufacture of products mainly thin-walled, complex geometric shapes. The relationship between parameters of the technological modes of the sintering process and the wall thickness of the obtained products is determined. Comparison of characteristics according to the mass and dimensions of the finished product to the specified parameters of the 3D-CAD model has been performed. Within the framework of the research, a strict relationship between the mechanical characteristics and the fusion regimes along with the direction of construction (DC) is shown. Dependences of the quality of the manufactured product on the technological regimes and the example two thin walled samples on the physical and mechanical properties and on the finished product are established. General recommendations for the practical use of the technology in the creation of products with a complex geometric shape are given.

Modeling for compression of field-reversed configurations by an imploding liner

This article proposes a one-dimensional physical model to investigate the compression of reversed-field configurations (FRCs) by an imploding cylindrical liner. In this model, axial contraction of FRCs is included and parallel thermal conduction is considered as well as the radial, approximately in the open field line region of FRCs. Comparison with Spencer's analytic model of FRCs adiabatic compression shows similar results. Modeling results also indicate that classical transport model is preferred in the magnetized target fusion regime and axial contraction plays an important role in the dynamics of compression of FRCs using an imploding liner.

Optimising differential data formats for Monte-Carlo radiation transport in the fusion regime

Monte-Carlo based radiation transport codes are widely used to simulate the behaviour of nuclear facilities, to aid their design, operation and inform on safety aspects. The accuracy, and hence reliability, of the output of transport codes is entirely dependent on the underlying nuclear data. The formalism used in the processed data directly impacts on the computational performance for such calculations. For example, low data density results in faster computation possibly made at the expense of accuracy and vice versa. A current standard transport code, MCNP, requires pre-processing and reformatting of raw nuclear data files (ENDF) before their use within the simulation. The incident particles angular distribution is usually processed to an equal probability histogram with 32 channels, or to a set of data points with linear interpolation across the angular and energy range. The former method is fast to sample, yet sacrifices the accuracy of the data representation. The latter method provides a better representation of the original format, but has a tendency to produce larger data files that are correspondingly slower to sample. This study considers the relative accuracies of these processing formalisms and the relationship to computational efficiency via an in-house, simplified Monte-Carlo code. For future code developments within the fusion community, we consider variations upon both methods in an effort to determine the optimal balance between computational efficiency and accurate data representation. We also attempt to quantify the effects of a lesser accuracy versus high computational burden in the simulation of fusion reactor design.

Scaling mechanisms of vapour/plasma shielding from laser-produced plasmas to magnetic fusion regimes

The plasma shielding effect is a well-known mechanism in laser-produced plasmas (LPPs) reducing laser photon transmission to the target and, as a result, significantly reducing target heating and erosion. The shielding effect is less pronounced at low laser intensities, when low evaporation rate together with vapour/plasma expansion processes prevent establishment of a dense plasma layer above the surface. Plasma shielding also loses its effectiveness at high laser intensities when the formed hot dense plasma plume causes extensive target erosion due to radiation fluxes back to the surface. The magnitude of emitted radiation fluxes from such a plasma is similar to or slightly higher than the laser photon flux in the low shielding regime. Thus, shielding efficiency in LPPs has a peak that depends on the laser beam parameters and the target material. A similar tendency is also expected in other plasma-operating devices such as tokamaks of magnetic fusion energy (MFE) reactors during transient plasma operation and disruptions on chamber walls when deposition of the high-energy transient plasma can cause severe erosion and damage to the plasma-facing and nearby components. A detailed analysis of these abnormal events and their consequences in future power reactors is limited in current tokamak reactors. Predictions for high-power future tokamaks are possible only through comprehensive, time-consuming and rigorous modelling. We developed scaling mechanisms, based on modelling of LPP devices with their typical temporal and spatial scales, to simulate tokamak abnormal operating regimes to study wall erosion, plasma shielding and radiation under MFE reactor conditions. We found an analogy in regimes and results of carbon and tungsten erosion of the divertor surface in ITER-like reactors with erosion due to laser irradiation. Such an approach will allow utilizing validated modelling combined with well-designed and well-diagnosed LPP experimental studies for predicting consequences of plasma instabilities in complex fusion environment, which are of serious concern for successful energy production.

Reduced coupled-mode approach to electron-ion energy relaxation

We present a reduced model for the energy transfer via coupled collective modes in two-temperature plasmas based on quantum statistical theory. The model is compared with exact numerical evaluations of the coupled-mode (CM) energy transfer rate and with alternative reduced approaches over a range of conditions in the warm dense matter (WDM) and inertial confinement fusion (ICF) regimes. Our approach shows excellent agreement with an exact treatment of the CM rate and supports the importance of the coupled-mode effect for the temperature and energy relaxation in WDM and ICF plasmas. We find that electronic damping of collective ion density fluctuations is crucial for correctly describing the mode spectrum and, thus, the energy exchange. The reduced CM approach is studied over a wide parameter space, enabling us to establish its limits of applicability.

On the transport coefficients of hydrogen in the inertial confinement fusion regime

Ab initio molecular dynamics is used to compute the thermal and electrical conductivities of hydrogen from 10 to 160 g cm–3 and temperatures up to 800 eV, i.e., thermodynamical conditions relevant to inertial confinement fusion (ICF). The ionic structure is obtained using molecular dynamics simulations based on an orbital-free treatment for the electrons. The transport properties were computed using ab initio simulations in the DFT/LDA approximation. The thermal and electrical conductivities are evaluated using Kubo–Greenwood formulation. Particular attention is paid to the convergence of electronic transport properties with respect to the number of bands and atoms. These calculations are then used to check various analytical models (Hubbard’s, Lee–More’s and Ichimaru’s) widely used in hydrodynamics simulations of ICF capsule implosions. The Lorenz number, which is the ratio between thermal and electrical conductivities, is also computed and compared to the well-known Wiedemann–Franz law in different regimes ranging from the highly degenerate to the kinetic one. This allows us to deduce electrical conductivity from thermal conductivity for analytical model. We find that the coupling of Hubbard and Spitzer models gives a correct description of the behavior of electrical and thermal conductivities in the whole thermodynamic regime.

ACCRETION IN PROTOPLANETARY DISKS BY COLLISIONAL FUSION

The formation of a solar system is believed to have followed a multi-stage process around a protostar. Whipple first noted that planetesimal growth by particle agglomeration is strongly influenced by gas drag; there is a "bottleneck" at the meter scale with such bodies rapidly spiraling into the central star, whereas much smaller or larger particles do not. Thus, successful planetary accretion requires rapid planetesimal growth to km scale. A commonly accepted picture is that for collisional velocities $V_c$ above a certain threshold collisional velocity, ${V_{th}} \sim$ 0.1-10 cm s$^{-1}$, particle agglomeration is not possible; elastic rebound overcomes attractive surface and intermolecular forces. However, if perfect sticking is assumed for all collisions the bottleneck can be overcome by rapid planetesimal growth. While previous work has dealt explicitly with the influences of collisional pressures and the possibility of particle fracture or penetration, the basic role of the phase behavior of matter--phase diagrams, amorphs and polymorphs--has been neglected. Here it is demonstrated that novel aspects of surface phase transitions provide a physical basis for efficient sticking through collisional melting or amphorph-/polymorphization and fusion to extend the collisional velocity range of primary accretion to $\Delta V_c \sim$ 1-100 m s$^{-1}$, which bound both turbulent RMS speeds and the velocity differences between boulder sized and small grains $\sim$ 1-50 m s$^{-1}$. Thus, as inspiraling meter sized bodies collide with smaller particles in this high velocity collisional fusion regime they grow rapidly to km scales and hence settle into stable Keplerian orbits in $\sim$ 10$^5$ years before photoevaporative wind clears the disk of source material.