POTENTIAL PROJECTS FOR AUTUMN 2023 ENTRY
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Developing a new approach to efficient, atomistically informed, dynamic compression simulations (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr Andy Higginbotham (University of York) Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is one of a number of research fields which rely on the dynamic compression of materials. These approaches compress…
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Dust transport and mobilisation in Mast-U (plasma strand)
Supervisor: Dr Paul Bryant (University of Liverpool) Dust can have a significant impact on reactor performance and efficiency [1]. Energy can be radiated from the superheated dust cooling the core…
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Measuring the plasma physics impact on nuclear reaction cross-sections and lifetimes (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr Chris Murphy (University of York) & Andrew Simons (AWE) Fusion in supernovae or neutron star collisions are responsible for generating around half of all material consisting of elements…
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Laser-plasma based x-ray source development with applications in inertial fusion (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr Chris Murphy (University of York) Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is one of the two mainstream approaches to fusion energy (along with MCF) and involves compression of hydrogen to…
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X-ray generation in high energy density plasmas (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Christopher Ridgers (University of York) High power lasers produce extremely strong electromagnetic fields in their focus. The fields rapidly strip electrons from atoms to produce a plasma. These electrons…
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Femtosecond imaging of ultra-relativistic plasma phenomena (plasma strand project)
Supervisors: Christopher Ridgers & Andrew Higginbotham (University of York) Modern high power lasers enable the focussing of light to extremely high intensities – up to 26 orders of magnitude higher…
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Non-linear modelling of fast particle interactions with MHD and disruptions in spherical tokamaks (plasma strand project)
Supervisors: Marco Cecconello (Durham University), Alexandre Fil & Christopher Ham (UKAEA) The path to high performance fusion power plants requires an understanding of the interaction between fast particles in the…
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Motional Stark effect (MSE) measurements of microwave-driven current profile on MAST-Upgrade (plasma strand project)
Supervisors: Roddy Vann (University of York) & Sam Gibson (UKAEA) In the next generation of spherical fusion devices, plasmas will be predominantly heated using microwave technology. It is critical to…
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Digital Twin Model Development for Through-Life Management of the “Divertor” in a Fusion Power Plant (plasma / materials strand project)
Supervisors: Suresh Perin (University of York) The development of maintenance and through-life management of commercial fusion power plants present a unique set of challenges associated with the complexity of the…
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Understanding Laguerre-Gaussian laser-plasma interactions for applications in inertial fusion (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr Chris Murphy (University of York) Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is one of the two mainstream approaches to fusion energy (along with MCF) and involves compression of hydrogen to…
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Determining the role of plasma-molecule interactions on tokamak power exhaust (plasma strand project)
Supervisors: Dr Kirsty McKay (University of Liverpool), Kevin Verhaegh / James Harrison (UKAEA) In present-day tokamak experiments, there is strong evidence the interactions between plasma, atoms and molecules plays a…
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Advanced inertial confinement fusion schemes (plasma strand project)
Supervisor: Dr John Pasley (University of York) The inertial confinement approach to fusion involves assembling small quantities of deuterium-tritium fuel to high densities and temperatures such that thermonuclear ignition and…
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Off-axis neutron camera for MAST Upgrade (Plasma Strand Project)
Supervisor: M. Cecconello (Durham University) In fusion plasmas, fast ions have energies much higher than the thermal plasma background. Fast ions are generated by external auxiliary heating such as Neutral…
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Development of a Fast Camera Diagnostic Platform for Real-time Control Applications (Plasma Strand Project)
Supervisor: M. Cecconello (Durham University) External Supervisor: Charles Vincent (UKAEA) Fast cameras are an important diagnostic instrument for studying plasma physics in fusion devices. Current camera based systems are used…
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Flexible Grids for Complex Tokamak Topologies (Plasma Strand Project)
Supervisor: Peter Hill (University of York) External Supervisor: Ben Dudson (LLNL) The divertor of a tokamak is a critical power-handling component that must robustly handle extreme heat loads. Innovations and…
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Characterisation of ion and electron scale electromagnetic turbulent transport in MAST Upgrade and STEP pedestals (Plasma Strand Project)
Supervisor: Dr David Dickinson (University of York) External Supervisor: Dr Benjamin Chapman-Oplopoiou (UKAEA) Plasma turbulence acts to degrade the confinement of particles and energy in magnetic confinement devices, such as…
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Non-linear modelling of performance limiting MHD and disruptions in spherical tokamaks (Plasma Strand Project)
Supervisor: Prof. Jonathan P. Graves (University of York) External Supervisor: Dr. C. Ham (CCFE) Future energy producing fusion reactors such as EU-DEMO and STEP need to avoid unmitigated disruptions of…
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Laser Thomson scattering measurements in fusion-relevant magnetised plasma (plasma strand project)
Supervisors: Professor James Bradley and Dr Mark Bowden (University of Liverpool) At the University of Liverpool, we have developed a world-class magnetically confined plasma experiment, furnished with an array of…
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Development of tungsten diamond composites for nuclear fusion applications (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Aneeqa Khan, Ed Pickering, Paul Mummery (University of Manchester) This project will focus on the analysis and development of tungsten diamond composites for fusion applications, building on existing work…
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Developing MAX phase coatings for nuclear fusion (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Philipp Frankel, Prof Sarah Haigh (University of Manchester). External Supervisor/s: Dr Max Rigby-Bell (UKAEA) Background MAX phases possess an extensive chemical and structural diversity which results in a…
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Developing SiC for fusion application (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Ping Xiao & Philip Withers (University of Manchester). SiC/SiC composites have been proposed for fusion application as blanket materials to achieve high-operation-temperature of up to ~1000 oC (for high…
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Numerical modelling of plasma turbulence via a novel two-fluid lattice Boltzmann method (Plasma Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Alessandro De Rosis, Dr Alex Skillen, Prof Alistair Revell (University of Manchester) Plasma turbulence is a complex topic that involves the transport of ions and electrons. Turbulence in…
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Joining tungsten for nuclear fusion applications (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Aneeqa Khan, John Francis, Anastasia Vasileiou (University of Manchester) External Supervisor/s: Yiqiang Wang (UKAEA), Simon Kirk (UKAEA), Saurabh Kabra (STFC) Typically components in a fusion reactor need to be…
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An Investigation into the Potential for the Development of a Tritium Production Industry to service Fusion Power Plants for Electricity and Industrial Heat Production (materials strand)
Supervisors: Professor Laurence G Williams OBE FREng (Bangor University), Dr Simon Middleburgh (Bangor University), Dr Mark Gilbert (UKAEA, Culham) & Dr Lee Packer (UKAEA, Culham). The current view of the…
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Novel heat treatment of Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic steel welds (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Aneeqa Khan, Ed Pickering, Anastasia Vasileiou (University of Manchester). External Supervisor/s: Yiqiang Wang (UKAEA) Saurabh Kabra (STFC) Structural components in a fusion reactor must withstand the diverse range of…
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Using Computational Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) Theory to calculate and visualise the current density of high-field superconductors in fusion tokamaks: a Computational PhD (materials strand project)
Supervisor: Prof. D. P Hampshire (Durham University) Background: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific…
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Tungsten Coatings for Nuclear Fusion Applications (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Ying Chen and Dr David Hall (University of Manchester) The requirements for high resistance against extreme heat flux and sputter erosion caused by the incident particle flux has…
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High-Field Superconductors under biaxial strain that enable commercial fusion power tokamaks – an Experimental PhD. (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor: Professor D. P Hampshire (Durham University). Background to the PhD Research Project: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one…
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Understanding the ablation of plasma facing components in Tokamak devices using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics. (Plasma Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Steven Lind, Dr Jack King, Prof Benedict Rogers, Prof Lee Margetts (University of Manchester). Divertor components in Tokamak devices are subjected to significant thermal loads, both in steady…
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Multiphysics Modelling of High Energy Density Advanced Manufacturing Processes (Materials Strand Project)
Supervisor/s: Dr Tom Flint , Dr Ed Pickering (University of Manchester). Construction of a fusion reactor will require the joining or additive manufacture (AM) of alloys to create high-integrity components….