The large-scale circulation, often called "wind," in the confined thermal turbulence of mercury is studied experimentally. The instantaneous velocity profile at 128 points is directly measured using ultrasonic velocimetry. The periodic velocity oscillation is observed in the case of the aspect-ratio Gamma = 1,2 but not in Gamma = 0.5. Its peak frequency is scaled by f(c) proportional Ra(gamma(c)), where Ra is the Rayleigh number and gamma(c) = 0.43,0.45 for Gamma = 1,2. f(c) is close to the wind circulation frequency f(p), and has the same order of transit time from the bottom to the top of the convection cell. A single roll circulation is expected in Gamma = 1; however, axisymmetric toroidal rings may exist near the upper and lower plate for Gamma = 0.5, which are stable up to Ra = 7 x 10 (10).

Using ultrasonic velocimetry we measured the vertical profile of the velocity fluctuation in high-Rayleigh-number thermal convection in a cell with aspect ratio of 0.5, filled with a low-Prandtl-number fluid, mercury. The intriguing fluctuating dynamics of the mean flow and universal nature of the kinetic energy cascade are elucidated utilizing spectral decomposition and reconstruction. The scaling properties of the structure functions and the energy spectrum are directly calculated without the use of Taylor's frozen-flow hypothesis. Despite the complex nature of the mean flow, it is found that the energy cascade process exhibits universal laws in thermal turbulence.

Origin of the longitudinal beam non-uniformity, that is one of the key issues in large Cs-seeded negative ion sources for fusion application, was experimentally investigated in the JAERI 10 A negative ion source. After a sufficient caesium of ~0.3 g was seeded in the negative ion source to enhance the negative ion production, the longitudinal distribution of the beam intensity was measured. The distribution of the beam intensity was non-uniform,

The H− ion production and transport processes are numerically simulated to clarify the origin of H− beam nonuniformity. The three-dimensional transport code using the Monte Carlo method has been applied to H0 atoms and H− ions in the large “JAERI 10A negative ion source” under the Cs-seeded condition, in which negative ions are dominantly produced by the surface production process. The results show that a large fraction of hydrogen atoms is produced in the region with high electron temperature. This leads to a spatial nonuniformity of H0 atom flux to the plasma grid and the resultant H− ion surface production. In addition, most surface-produced H− ions are extracted even through the high Te region without destruction. These results indicate a correlation between the production process of the H− ion and the spatial nonuniformity of the H− ion beam.

For optimization and accurate prediction of the amount of H-ion production in negative ion sources, analysis of electron energy distribution function (EEDF) is necessary. We are developing a numerical code which analyzes EEDF in the tandem-type arc-discharge source. It is a three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulation code with realistic geometry and magnetic configuration. Coulomb collision between electrons is treated with the “binary collision” model and collisions with hydrogen species are treated with the “null-collision” method. We applied this code to the analysis of the JAEA 10 A negative ion source. The numerical result shows that the obtained EEDF is in good agreement with experimental results.