Session GP1 - Poster Session IV.
POSTER session, Tuesday afternoon, October 30
Exhibit Hall B,
The accelerated spheromak-like compact toroid (SCT) has the potential to centrally fuel a magnetically confined plasma. The zeroth order penetration criterion for the SCT into a magnetized plasma is the balance between its kinetic energy density and the field energy density. On the acceleration time scale, the SCT behaves as a super-conducting plasmoid. Its interaction with surrounding vacuum magnetic fields is important in determining its final parameters as it enters the target plasma. Most magnetic confinement devices have a peripheral vacuum field region where the SCT accelerator resides. We have studied the interaction of an SCT with a transverse magnetic field relative to its direction of motion . In order to compare results with our 2-D MHD simulation, we are studying the interaction of the SCT with an axial magnetic field generated in the coaxial acceleration section. With the externally wound axial coils, both solenoidal and cusp field pattern can be produced. The interaction of the SCT with the field is investigated using surface magnetic probes, 2-D optical imaging, and He-Ne interferometer in the acceleration region. The final SCT parameters after the interaction are determined using time of flight measurements, Langmuir probes and gridded energy analyzer. Work supported by DOE grant DE-FG03-99ER54558