ALBERT

Notes: A study has been made of the vibrational energy flow mechanisms and time scales pertaining to the overtone stretch excitations of methyl and acetylenic CH stretches in propyne. Classical trajectories are used to interpret the experimental data for the overtone linewidths, as well as to analyze the role that individual modes play in determining energy flow. The full anharmonic potential surface for these calculations, including all modes, has been developed from spectroscopic and structural information, including the linewidth data. The principal results are: (1) The trajectory calculations show a localization transition, corresponding to a switch over from normal-mode behavior for CH3 excitations up to v≅3 to a local-mode CH excitation within the CH3 moiety for excitations of v(approximately-greater-than)6, with transition behavior for v=4,5. (2) The acetylenic CH shows local-mode behavior from v=1. Extremely long lifetimes are found for the excitations of this mode, and the trajectories indicate that the experimental width is predominantly rotational. (3) The rocking and deformation modes are dominant receiving modes in the relaxation of the methyl stretch. (4) A shorter lifetime is calculated for the v=6 vs the v=5 or v=7 overtones of the methyl C–H stretch. Experimental results are qualitatively consistent with this prediction. The origin of this shorter lifetime is a band of resonances between the stretch excitation and combinations of rocking, deformation, and pseudorotation modes. (5) CH3 internal rotation figures importantly in the relaxation of some levels (v=5, 8 of CH3) where it "closes the energy gap'' for achieving resonant energy transfer. (6) For v=8 of the methyl CH, some direct energy transfer to both C–C(Triple Bond)C stretching modes is seen. The switching on of the stretches as receiving modes is a consequence of sufficiently strong interactions between the excited H and the C–C(Triple Bond)C chain, which take place at these high vibrational energies. (7) Evidence is found for long distance "through-space'' energy transfer due to long-range dipole–dipole forces. This transfer occurs from the acetylenic to the methyl CH stretches. This result is illustrated for the v=2 excitation of the acetylenichydrogen, and constitutes a direct demonstration of intramolecular long-distance, through-space v–v energy transfer. These results demonstrate the potential importance of large amplitude modes such as rocking and deformation as initial receiving modes for vibrational energy from excited CH overtones. On the time scale probed here (∼1 ps), despite the availability of many degrees of freedom, the transfer process is dominated by specific energy transfer channels and by the specific behavior of individual modes, rather than by statistical considerations, which will certainly prevail on longer time scales.

Notes: The VAX-based data-acquisition system for the International Fusion Superconducting Magnet Test Facility (IFSMTF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a second-generation system that evolved from a PDP-11/60-based system used during the initial phase of facility testing. The VAX-based software represents a layered implementation that provides integrated access to all of the data sources within the system, decoupling end-user data retrieval from various front-end data sources through a combination of software architecture and instrumentation data bases. Independent VAX processes manage the various front-end data sources, each being responsible for controlling, monitoring, acquiring, and disposing data and control parameters for access from the data retrieval software. This paper describes the software architecture and the functionality incorporated into the various layers of the data system.

Notes: The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is currently developing a deuterium pellet injector for installation on the tokamak fusion test reactor (TFTR). This paper describes the design and development of a stand-alone data acquisition and control system for that device. Major elements of the hardware are an Allen–Bradley PLC 2/30 programmable logic controller, a MicroVAX-II computer using the VMS operating system, CAMAC data acquisition and communication equipment, and special-purpose controllers for temperature and for the sequencing of pellet firing valves. The PLC performs all actual control actions and acquires data pertinent to those actions. The MicroVAX receives the data acquired by the PLC, displays it for the operator, prompts for and processes requests for action from the operator, and informs the PLC of those requests. The primary purpose of this paper is to describe the software operating in the MicroVAX, including the system architecture, major tasks, and ancillary and background tasks.

Notes: The data system for the advanced toroidal facility (ATF) is a logical extension of the system used for the Impurity Studies Experiment ISX-B. Based on the ISX-B concepts and hardware, it extends them to provide support for long-pulse or steady-state operation of ATF. The system is now network based rather than shared memory based and can dynamically add or remove processors. The hardware consists of a pair of VAX 8700 CPUs and an assortment of MicroVAX front ends. This hardware acquires all data, generates all control waveforms, and provides trending and logging services for the safety interlock and control systems. These systems are based on programmable logic controllers (PLCs) which are independent of the data system. The software consists of three major components: a master scheduling and monitoring system (SAMS) that provides synchronizing services and allocates files and memory; a signal-based data and file management package (DMG) that provides data access services; and the ORNL CAMAC driver package. All diagnostics are supported by data acquisition and analysis software (either generic or specialized) that is based on and shared by these services.

Notes: Data management for the Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF), a stellarator located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is provided by DMG, a locally developed, VAX-based software system. DMG is a data storage and retrieval software system that provides the user interface to ATF raw and analyzed data. Data are described in terms of data models and data types and are organized as signals into files, which are internally documented. The system was designed with user accessibility, software maintainability, and extensibility as primary goals. Extensibility features include compatibility with ATF as it moves from pulsed to steady-state operation and capability for use of the DMG system with experiments other than ATF. DMG is implemented as a run-time library of routines available as a shareable image. General-purpose and specialized data acquisition and analysis applications have been developed using the DMG system. This article describes the DMG system and the interfaces to it.

Notes: © American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The capability to inject deuterium pellets from the magnetic high field side (HFS) has been added to the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon and L. G. Davis, Fusion Technol. 8, 441 (1985)]. It is observed that pellets injected from the HFS lead to deeper mass deposition than identical pellets injected from the outside midplane, in spite of a factor of 4 lower pellet speed. HFS injected pellets have been used to generate peaked density profile plasmas [peaking factor (ne(0)/〈ne〉) in excess of 3] that develop internal transport barriers when centrally heated with neutral beam injection. The transport barriers are formed in conditions where Te∼Ti and q(0) is above unity. The peaked density profiles, characteristic of the internal transport barrier, persist for several energy confinement times. The pellets are also used to investigate transport barrier physics and modify plasma edge conditions. Transitions from L- to H-mode have been triggered by pellets, effectively lowering the H-mode threshold power by 2.4 MW. Pellets injected into H-mode plasmas are found to trigger edge localized modes (ELMs). ELMs triggered from the low field side (LFS) outside midplane injected pellets are of significantly longer duration than from HFS injected pellets. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: During pellet injection in tokamaks, a rapid movement of pellet ablation substance towards the low-field or outward major radius R direction is observed, favoring pellet injection from the high-field side in order to promote deeper fuel penetration. The motion has been attributed to a vertical curvature and ∇B drift current induced inside the ionized ablated material by the 1/R toroidal field variation. The uncompensated vertical drift current inside the weakly diamagnetic (β〈0.1) ablation cloud will cause charge separation at the boundary. The resulting electrostatic field induces the E×B drift to the large-R side of the torus. The calculated fuel penetration depth is consistent with inside launched pellet experiments on the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon and L. G. Davis, Fusion Technol. 8, 441 (1985)]. The dependence of the penetration depth with plasma parameters suggests that low velocity inside launched pellets may provide a unique solution to the refueling problem in larger and hotter machines of the future. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.

Notes: The amplitude and frequency of modes driven in the edge region of tokamak high mode (H-mode) discharges [type I edge-localized modes (ELMs)] are shown to depend on the discharge shape. The measured pressure gradient threshold for instability and its scaling with discharge shape are compared with predictions from ideal magnetohydrodynamic theory for low toroidal mode number (n) instabilities driven by pressure gradient and current density and good agreement is found. Reductions in mode amplitude are observed in discharge shapes with either high squareness or low triangularity where the stability threshold in the edge pressure gradient is predicted to be reduced and the most unstable mode is expected to have higher values of n. The importance of access to the ballooning mode second stability regime is demonstrated through the changes in the ELM character that occur when second regime access is not available. An edge stability model is presented that predicts that there is a threshold value of n for second regime access and that the most unstable mode has n near this threshold. © 2000 American Institute of Physics.