Analysis of Tangential Combustion Instability Modes in a LOX/Kerosene Liquid Rocket Engine Based on OpenFOAM

Self-excited high frequency combustion instability (HFCI) of first-order tangential (1T) mode was observed in a staged-combustion LOX/Kerosene liquid rocket engine numerically. Two different kinds of 1T patterns, standing wave mode and traveling wave mode, were captured in the present work. In the nominal operation condition, the ratio of oxygen-to-fuel (O/F) was 2.5. Propellant was evenly distributed in all injectors and no HFCI occurred. The chamber pressure obtained from the numerical simulation and experiment showed a good agreement, which validated the numerical model. When the mass flow of fuel for two injectors was modified, severe HFCI occurred. The pressure wave node was located at a fixed diameter, showing a 1T standing wave mode. As the O/F was set 4.4 and the propellant distribution was completely uniform, the numerical result yielded a 1T wave node featured a spinning behavior, which was a traveling 1T wave mode. Once the HFCI arose, no matter what standing mode or spinning mode, the pressure and heat release oscillated totally in phase temporally and coupled spatially. The heat release from combustion was fed into the resonant acoustic mode. This was the thermoacoustic coupling process that maintained the HFCI.

Effects of Intrinsic Flame Instabilities On Thermoacoustic Oscillations in Lean Premixed Gas Turbines

Thermoacoustic instabilities are commonly encountered in the development of aeroengines and rocket motors. Research on the fundamental mechanism of thermoacoustic instabilities is beneficial for the optimal design of these engine systems. In the present study, a thermoacoustic instability model based on the lean premixed gas turbines (LPGT) combustion system was established. The longitudinal distribution of heat release caused by the intrinsic instability of flame front is considered in this model. Effects of different heat release distributions and characteristics parameters of the premixed gas (Lewis number Le, Zeldovich Number and Prandtl number Pr) on thermoacoustic instability behaviors of the LPGT system are investigated based on this model. Results show that the LPGT system features with two kinds of unstable thermoacoustic modes. The first one corresponds to the natural acoustic mode of the plenum and the second one corresponds to that of the combustion chamber. The characteristic parameters of premixed gases have a large impact on the stability of the system and even can change the system from stable to unstable state.

Manipulation of Time- and Frequency-Domain Dynamics by Magnon-Magnon Coupling in Synthetic Antiferromagnets

Magnons (the quanta of spin waves) could be used to encode information in beyond Moore computing applications. In this study, the magnon coupling between acoustic mode and optic mode in synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) is investigated by micromagnetic simulations. For a symmetrical SAF system, the time-evolution magnetizations of the two ferromagnetic layers oscillate in-phase at the acoustic mode and out-of-phase at the optic mode, showing an obvious crossing point in their antiferromagnetic resonance spectra. However, the symmetry breaking in an asymmetrical SAF system by the thickness difference, can induce an anti-crossing gap between the two frequency branches of resonance modes and thereby a strong magnon-magnon coupling appears between the resonance modes. The magnon coupling induced a hybridized resonance mode and its phase difference varies with the coupling strength. The maximum coupling occurs at the bias magnetic field at which the two ferromagnetic layers oscillate with a 90° phase difference. Besides, we show how the resonance modes in SAFs change from the in-phase state to the out-of-phase state by slightly tuning the magnon-magnon coupling strength. Our work provides a clear physical picture for the understanding of magnon-magnon coupling in a SAF system and may provide an opportunity to handle the magnon interaction in synthetic antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Bi-directional photonic switch and optical data storage in a hybrid optomechanical system

We propose to achieve quantum optical nonreciprocity in a hybrid qubit-optomechanical solid-state system. A two-level system (qubit) is coupled to a mechanically compliant mirror (via the linear Jaynes–Cummings interaction) placed in the middle of a solid-state optical cavity. We show for the first time that the generated optical bistability exhibits a bi-directional photonic switch, making the device a suitable candidate for a duplex communication system. On further exploring the fluctuation dynamics of the system, we found that the proposed device breaks the symmetry between forward and backward propagating optical modes (optical nonreciprocity), which can be controlled by tuning the various system parameters, including the qubit, which emerges as a new handle. The device thus behaves like an optical isolator and hence can store optical data in the acoustic mode, which can be retrieved later.

The intermittent excitation of geodesic acoustic mode by resonant Instanton of electron drift wave envelope in L-mode discharge near tokamak edge

There are two distinct phases in the evolution of drift wave envelope in the presence of zonal flow. A long-lived standing wave phase, which we call the Caviton, and a short-lived traveling wave phase (in radial direction) we call the Instanton. Several abrupt phenomena observed in tokamaks, such as intermittent excitation of geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) shown in this paper, could be attributed to the sudden and fast radial motion of Instanton. The composite drift wave – zonal flow system evolves at the two well-separate scales: the micro and the meso-scale. The eigenmode equation of the model defines the zero order (micro-scale) variation; it is solved by making use of the two dimensional (2D) weakly asymmetric ballooning theory (WABT), a theory suitable for modes localized to rational surface like drift waves, and then refined by shifted inverse power method, an iterative finite difference method. The next order is the equation of electron drift wave (EDW) envelope (containing group velocity of EDW) which is modulated by the zonal flow generated by Reynolds stress of EDW. This equation is coupled to the zonal flow equation, and numerically solved in spatiotemporal representation; the results are displayed in self-explanatory graphs. One observes a strong correlation between the Caviton-Instanton transition and the zero-crossing of radial group velocity of EDW. The calculation brings out the defining characteristics of the Instanton: it begins as a linear traveling wave right after the transition. Then, it evolves to a nonlinear stage with increasing frequency all the way to 20 kHz. The modulation to Reynolds stress in zonal flow equation brought in by the nonlinear Instanton will cause resonant excitation to GAM. The intermittency is shown due to the random phase mixing between multiple central rational surfaces in the reaction region.

Theoretical studies of low-frequency Alfvén modes in tokamak plasmas

Linear wave properties of the low-frequency Alfvén modes (LFAMs) observed in the DIII-D tokamak experiments with reversed magnetic shear [Nucl. Fusion 61, 016029 (2021)] are theoretically studied and delineated based on the general fishbone-like dispersion relation. By adopting the representative experimental equilibrium parameters, it is found that, in the absence of energetic ions, the LFAM is a kinetic ballooning mode instability of reactive-type with a dominant Alfvénic polarization. More specifically, due to diamagnetic and trapped particle effects, the LFAM can be coupled with the beta-induced Alfvén-acoustic mode in the low-frequency region (frequency much less than the thermal-ion transit and/or bounce frequency); or with the beta-induced Alfvén eigenmode in the high frequency region (frequency higher than or comparable to the thermal-ion transit frequency); resulting in reactive-type instabilities. Moreover, the ‘Christmas light’ and ‘mountain peak’ spectral patterns of LFAMs as well as the dependence of instability drive on the electron temperature observed in the experiments can be theoretically interpreted by varying the relevant physical parameters. Conditions when dissipative-type instabilities may set in are also discussed.

Nonlinear excitation of a geodesic acoustic mode by reversed shear Alfvén eignemodes

The parametric decay process of a reversed shear Alfv\'{e}n eigenmeode (RSAE) into a geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) and a kinetic reversed shear Alfv\'{e}n eigenmode (KRSAE) is investigated using nonlinear gyrokinetic theory. The excitation conditions mainly require the pump RSAE amplitude to exceed a certain threshold, which could be readily satisfied in burning plasmas operated in steady-state advanced scenario. This decay process can contribute to thermal plasma heating and confinement improvement.

INVESTIGATION ON MODE CHARACTERISTICS OF ROTATING INSTABILITY AND ROTATING STALL IN AN AXIAL COMPRESSOR

Rotating instability (RI) and rotating stall (RS) are two types of aerodynamic instability in axial compressors. The former features the side-by-side peaks below the blade passing frequency (BPF) in frequency spectra, and the latter represents one or more stall cells rotating in the compressor. This paper presents an experimental on the nearfield pressure and farfield acoustic characteristics of RI phenomenon in a low-speed axial compressor rotor, which endures both RI and RS at several working conditions. In order to obtain the high-order modes of RI and other aerodynamic instability, a total of 9 or 20 Kulites are circumferentially mounted on the casing wall to measure the nearfield pressure fluctuation using a mode order calibration method. Meantime in the farfield 16 microphones are planted to measure the acoustic mode order using the compressive sensing method. Through calibration the experiments acquire the mode orders generated by RI and the interaction between RI and BPF, which is higher than the number of transducers. As for RS, the mode decomposition shows a mode order of 1, indicating one single stall cell rotating in the compressor. This experiment also shows that amplitude of RI modes is decreased when RS occurs, but RS modes and RI modes will both be enhanced if the flow rate is further reduced. This experiment reveals that RI experiences three stages of “strengthen-weaken-strengthen”, and hence RI may not be regarded only as “prestall” disturbance.

Characteristics of collisional damping of surface ion-acoustic mode in Divertor Plasma Simulator-2 (DiPS-2)

The dissipation of ion-acoustic surface waves propagating in a semi-bounded and collisional plasma which has a boundary with vacuum is theoretically investigated and this result is used for the analysis of edge-relevant plasma simulated by Divertor Plasma Simulator-2 (DiPS-2). The collisional damping of the surface wave is investigated for weakly ionized plasmas by comparing the collisionless Landau damping with the collisional damping as follows: (1) the ratio of ion temperature $({T_i})$ to electron temperature $({T_e})$ should be very small for the weak collisionality $({T_i}/{T_e} \ll 1)$ ; (2) the effect of collisionless Landau damping is dominant for the small parallel wavenumber, and the decay constant is given as $\gamma \approx{-} \sqrt {\mathrm{\pi }/2} {k_\parallel }{\lambda _{De}}\omega _{pi}^2/{\omega _{pe}}$ ; and (3) the collisional damping dominates for the large parallel wavenumber, and the decay constant is given as $\gamma \approx{-} {\nu _{in}}/16$ , where ${\nu _{in}}$ is the ion–neutral collisional frequency. An experimental simulation of the above theoretical prediction has been done in the argon plasma of DiPS-2, which has the following parameters: plasma density ${n_e} = (\textrm{2--9)} \times \textrm{1}{\textrm{0}^{11}}\;\textrm{c}{\textrm{m}^{ - 3}}$ , ${T_e} = 3.7- 3.8\;\textrm{eV}$ , ${T_i} = 0.2- 0.3\;\textrm{eV}$ and collision frequency ${\nu _{in}} = 23- 127\;\textrm{kHz}$ . Although the wavelength should be specified with the given parameters of DiPS-2, the collisional damping is found to be $\gamma = ( - 0.9\;\textrm{to}\; - 5) \times {10^4}\;\textrm{rad}\;{\textrm{s}^{ - 1}}$ for ${k_\parallel }{\lambda _{De}} = 10$ , while the Landau damping is found to be $\gamma = ( - 4\;\textrm{to}\; - 9) \times {10^4}\;\textrm{rad}\;{\textrm{s}^{ - 1}}$ for ${k_\parallel }{\lambda _{De}} = 0.1$ .

Soliton generation and drift wave turbulence spreading via geodesic acoustic mode excitation

The two-field equations governing fully nonlinear dynamics of the drift wave (DW) and geodesic acoustic mode (GAM) interaction in toroidal geometry are derived in the nonlinear gyrokinetic framework. Two stages with distinctive features are identified and analyzed by both analytical and numerical approaches. In the linear growth stage, the derived set of nonlinear equations can be reduced to the intensively studied parametric decay instability (PDI), accounting for the spontaneous resonant excitation of GAM by DW. The main results of previous works on spontaneous GAM excitation, e.g., the much enhanced GAM group velocity and the nonlinear growth rate of GAM, are reproduced from the numerical solution of the two-field equations. In the fully nonlinear stage, soliton structures are observed to form due to the balancing of the self-trapping effect by the spontaneously excited GAM and kinetic dispersiveness of DW. The soliton structures enhance turbulence spreading from DW linearly unstable to stable region, exhibiting convective propagation instead of typical linear dispersive process, and is thus, expected to induce core-edge interaction and nonlocal transport.