Flow dynamics and magnetic induction in the von-Kármán plasma experiment

Abstract

The von-Kármán plasma experiment is a novel versatile experimental device designed to explore the dynamics of basic magnetic induction processes and the dynamics of flows driven in weakly magnetized plasmas. A high-density plasma column (1016–1019particles. m−3) is created by two radio-frequency plasma sources located at each end of a 1 m long linear device. Flows are driven throughJ×Bazimuthal torques created from independently controlled emissive cathodes. The device has been designed such that magnetic induction processes and turbulent plasma dynamics can be studied from a variety of time-averaged axisymmetric flows in a cylinder. MHD simulations implementing volume-penalization support the experimental development to design the most efficient flow-driving schemes and understand the flow dynamics. Preliminary experimental results show that a rotating motion of up to nearly 1 km/s is controlled by theJ×Bazimuthal torque.