Coal gangue exhibits complex morphology, rough surfaces, and significant size variations. In dynamic conveying scenarios, it is easily affected by factors such as reflection, occlusion, and motion asynchrony, which lead to breakage or displacement of laser line stripes, resulting in point cloud sampling loss and volume measurement errors. To address this problem, a point cloud volume measurement method for coal gangue based on an improved projection-based integration method was proposed. The Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm was used to fit the main plane, and a spatial filtering criterion was applied to effectively remove the conveyor belt background and noise. Initial region growing segmentation was performed based on normal and curvature constraints, and a multi-factor clustering mechanism was introduced to eliminate over-segmentation interference, thereby achieving accurate instance segmentation of adhesive objects. Considering that the vertical scanning perspective of the line-laser camera and the irregular natural morphology of coal gangue caused severe self-occlusion in the bottom region, a bottom surface completion strategy integrating normal foot projection and uniform density filling was proposed, and a closed bottom contour was reconstructed using a two-dimensional concave hull or ellipse fitting. In the traditional projection-based integration process, concave hull boundaries were introduced to eliminate redundant empty grids. The median criterion was applied to remove height outliers, and a radial-sector parallel strategy was adopted to improve overall computational efficiency and noise robustness. The experimental results showed that the overall average relative error of coal gangue volume measurement was only 8.92%, and the qualification rate reached 95.89% under the maximum allowable error standard of 20%. In multi-orientation flipping tests of the same gangue, the average relative error of volume measurement was only 5.7%.

To address the challenges of limited and uneven gangue sample data in the gangue sorting task, which affects the performance of recognition models, we propose a cooperative data enhancement method - Gangue-GAN. This approach is based on an improved Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Network (DCGAN) combined with Real-World Blind Enhanced Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Network (Real-ESRGAN) to effectively increase the dataset size and enhance image quality. Firstly, gangue images are preprocessed using enhancement techniques such as Gaussian filtering and image sharpening to highlight key features. Next, the DCGAN model is improved by introducing the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) in the generator to refine feature learning. The Self-Normalizing Neural Network (SeLU) activation function is adopted in the discriminator to replace the original Leaky Rectified Linear Unit (Leaky ReLU), and random deactivation is applied. Additionally, the Instance Normalization (IN) layer is used to replace the original Batch Normalization (BN) layer, and Binary Cross-Entropy with Logits Loss (BCE with Logits Loss) is used as the loss function for generator and discriminator to improve image generation quality and stabilize training. Finally, based on transfer learning, Real-ESRGAN is fine-tuned to perform super-resolution reconstruction of the generated low-resolution images, addressing the issue of low image quality in the generated samples. Experimental results demonstrate that Gangue-GAN achieves superior performance in terms of Fr & eacute;chet Inception Distance (FID), Maximum Mean Discrepancy (MMD), Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Structural Similarity (SSIM) compared to the original DCGAN. Furthermore, Gangue-GAN outperforms traditional data augmentation and DCGAN-based methods, significantly improving the performance of recognition models such as YOLOv8s, SSD-VGG16, and Faster R-CNN-VGG16, with average accuracy improvements of 3.9%, 2.2%, and 1.3%, respectively. These results validate the effectiveness of Gangue-GAN for coal gangue image data enhancement, providing better datasets for gangue image recognition models and enhancing the generalization ability of these models.

The external camera of ITER Radial X-ray Camera, which was designed and will be manufactured by China, is now in manufacture study phase. This paper is focused on the manufacture study of external camera. Many activities were carried out to explore the manufacture process for mechanical system, electronics and I&C. Mockups were fabricated and tested to validate the methods and performance.

Controlling fast particles in tokamaks is crucial for both safe device operation and optimal plasma performance. We report the first observation, on EAST with a fully metallic wall, of a central ion temperature peaking (Ti-peak) regime reaching 9 keV, achieved through the synergistic combination of high-power neutral beam injection and argon (Ar) injection. Within this Ti-peak regime, we observe multiple instabilities spanning different scales, including fishbone (FB), long-lived mode (LLM), beta-induced Alfv & eacute;n eigenmode, and ion-scale turbulence. Notably, the presence of FB and LLM instabilities is associated with a suppression of ion-scale turbulence and a flattening of the core current density profile. Furthermore, edge fast-ion-driven high-frequency magnetic fluctuations are found to be modulated by an n = 0 low-frequency mode excited by core sawtooth crashes, revealing a core-edge coupling mechanism. Ar injection also induces the generation of fast electrons (40-100 keV) in the region around rho approximate to 0.4. These findings have immediate implications for future fusion reactors, as the multiscale physics and core-edge coupling dynamics observed here are directly relevant to the management of alpha particles generated by fusion reactions.

To address the issues of complex algorithm models, poor accuracy, and low real-time performance in the coal industry's coal gangue sorting, a lightweight real-time detection method called YOLOv8s-GSC is proposed based on the characteristics of coal gangue. This method incorporates the ghost module into the YOLOv8s backbone network to reduce the network's parameter count. Additionally, a slim-neck model is used for feature fusion, and a coordinate attention module is added to the backbone network to enhance the network's feature representation capability. The experimental results show: (1) The average precision of the YOLOv8s-GSC model is 91.2%, which is a 0.6% improvement over the YOLOv8s model. The parameters and floating-point computation are reduced by 36.0% and 41.6%, respectively. (2) Compared to other models such as FasterRCNN-resnet50, SSD-VGG16, YOLOv5s, YOLOv7, YOLOv8s-Mobilenetv3, and YOLOv8s-GSConv, the average precision is improved to varying degrees. (3) The YOLOv8s-GSC model achieves a detection speed of 115FPS, meeting the real-time requirements for coal gangue detection. In conclusion, the proposed YOLOv8s-GSC model provides a lightweight, real-time, and efficient detection method for coal gangue separation in the coal industry, demonstrating high practical value.

The intense magnetic field surrounding the electronic system in the ITER Tokamak necessitates the use of magnetic field shielding to protect electronic devices from failure. To ensure that the components installed in these areas can withstand ITER’s magnetic environment, they must be tested beforehand for magnetic field tolerance. This paper presents a magnetic shielding design for the Radial X-ray Camera (RXC) electronic system in ITER, silicon steel sheet is used as shielding material. The design scheme was simulated and analyzed using Ansys Maxwell software, and the shield shell was designed and optimized to reduce the magnetic induction intensity from 120 mT to less than 60 mT. To determine whether the magnetic field tolerance capability of the shield and electronic system meets ITER’s requirements, tests were conducted. Based on the experimental results, it has been observed that the shield is effective in shielding the magnetic field to 50–60 mT. Furthermore, the electronic system has been tested under a magnetic field intensity of 140 mT and 180 mT, and it has been found to be functioning normally, thereby meeting the requirements of ITER.

In the environment of a fusion reactor, electronic systems are subjected to various influences including vibration, electromagnetic pulses, as well as irradiation from neutrons and gamma rays. Diagnostics systems on fusion reactors can accumulate radiation doses to a level where issues such as signal attenuation and system interruption can occur. Additionally, maintenance of electronic systems during fusion reactor experiments is often not feasible. Therefore, assessing the radiation tolerance of electronic systems used in fusion reactors is of paramount importance. To validate the radiation resistance of front -end electronics and cable in various diagnostic systems, a test circuit board was designed. This board integrates a variety of commonly used amplification chips and power supply chips to assess their performance in the environment of a fusion reactor. The experiment selected three different types of cables commonly used in fusion reactors for separate testing, to assess their parameter changes before and after irradiation experiments. Gamma Irradiation Experiments were conducted using a cobalt -60 (Co -60) radiation source at the Irradiation Center of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The test circuit board was exposed to continuous gamma irradiation at two test points, with dose rates of 6 Gy/min and 1 Gy/min, respectively, for a total of 6.5 h, Data from the irradiation experiments were collected and analyzed. The results show that under continuous gamma irradiation, CJ7805 and AMS1117-5 chips stopped working at 586 Gy and 776 Gy, respectively. The output of the LT1175I5 chip dropped from -5 V to -1 V at 447 Gy. Apart from the radiation-resistant power supply chips, the output of other power supply chips slightly decreased. The signal reference of the charge amplifier dropped at 741 Gy but then slowly rose again, and the signal amplitude decreased at 900 Gy. The signal reference of the current amplification circuit remained unchanged, with a slight decrease in amplitude. The signal reference of the voltage amplifier exhibited jitter, with no change in amplitude. The experiment provides valuable data support for the radiation-resistant design of electronic systems in the environment of a nuclear fusion reactor.

In the environment of a fusion reactor, electronic systems are subjected to various influences including vibration, electromagnetic pulses, as well as irradiation from neutrons and gamma rays. Diagnostics systems on fusion reactors can accumulate radiation doses to a level where issues such as signal attenuation and system interruption can occur. Additionally, maintenance of electronic systems during fusion reactor experiments is often not feasible. Therefore, assessing the radiation tolerance of electronic systems used in fusion reactors is of paramount importance. To validate the radiation resistance of front-end electronics commonly used in various diagnostic systems, including charge, current, voltage, integrator amplifiers, and positive/negative power supply chips, a test circuit board was designed. This board integrates a variety of commonly used amplification chips and power supply chips to assess their performance in the environment of a fusion reactor. Gamma irradiation experiments were conducted using a cobalt-60 (Co-60) radiation source at the Irradiation Center of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The test circuit board was exposed to continuous gamma irradiation at two test points, with dose rates of 6 Gy/min and 1 Gy/min, respectively, for a total of six hours thirty minutes, Data from the irradiation experiments were collected and analyzed. The results revealed anomalies such as abnormal signal amplitudes and circuit shutdowns for different circuit chips under continuous gamma irradiation. This demonstrated that the radiation tolerance of different chips varies significantly due to differences in functionality and manufacturing processes. The experiment provides valuable data support for the radiation-resistant design of electronic systems in the environment of a nuclear fusion reactor. It also provides crucial insights into the electronic design of various diagnostic systems in the radiation environment of future fusion reactors.

Abstract To address the issues of complex algorithm models, poor accuracy, and low real-time performance in the coal industry's coal gangue sorting, a lightweight real-time detection method called YOLOv8s-GSC is proposed based on the characteristics of coal gangue. This method incorporates the ghost module into the YOLOv8s backbone network to reduce the network's parameter count. Additionally, a slim-neck model is used for feature fusion, and a coordinate attention module is added to the backbone network to enhance the network's feature representation capability. The experimental results show: 1) The average precision of the YOLOv8s-GSC model is 91.2%, which is a 0.6% improvement over the YOLOv8s model. The parameters and floating-point computation are reduced by 36.0% and 41.6%, respectively. 2) Compared to other models such as FasterRCNN-resnet50, SSD-VGG16, YOLOv5s, YOLOv7, and YOLOv8s-Mobilenetv3, the average precision is improved to varying degrees. 3) The YOLOv8s-GSC model achieves a detection speed of 115FPS, meeting the real-time requirements for coal gangue detection. In conclusion, the proposed YOLOv8s-GSC model provides a lightweight, real-time, and efficient detection method for coal gangue separation in the coal industry, demonstrating high practical value.

介绍了在ITER装置中使用激光二极管实现软X射线相机自检的设计.利用漫反射板进行光路设计,基于FPGA完成驱动模块设计和基于LABVIEW软件完成上位机设计.实现了激光二极管的远程实时开关和激光功率的调控,控制精度达到10-3量级.在FPGA代码中预留了发出窄脉冲电流信号的功能,最窄脉冲达到100ns以内,能用于探测系统响应速率的测量,并对探测系统的本底噪声和基线偏移进行测量.

Soft x-ray (SXR) cameras in a tokamak are limited spatially by ports of the vacuum vessel, and SXR tomography (SXT) technology is developed for reconstructing a two-dimensional SXR profile. However, traditional SXT is time-consuming and has difficulty achieving abundant and quick reconstructions for a tokamak. Based on experimental SXR data and Fourier–Bessel SXT codes at the EAST tokamak, three typical neural networks are built and trained. All the trained neural networks complete reconstruction within several milliseconds on a personal computer and succeed in constraining the SXR profile to match most of the data. In particular, the best-performing fully convolutional neural network provides SXR reconstruction images on the 2D evolution of a sawtooth, and shows its generalization. In the future, it is possible to provide an outstanding deep learning substitute to give abundant and quick SXT images instead of traditional SXT, after training for a few days.

Argon and xenon are both attractive working gas for low voltage ionization chamber (LVIC), which is a promising candidate for ITER X-ray detectors. In this work, the performances of Ar-filling LVIC (Ar-LVIC) and Xe-filling LVIC (Xe-LVIC) as well as the impacts of operation parameters were investigated. Saturation curves of Ar-LVIC and Xe-LVIC with pressure from 0.4 to 1.2 bar were measured with a tungsten X-ray source. The minimum voltage of saturation region ( V min ) of Ar-LVIC and Xe-LVIC, the relationship between V min and saturation current, the ideal operating voltage in ITER and impacts of pressure on saturation current were studied. It was found that Ar-LVIC had smaller V min and saturation currents which decreased with the drop of pressure from 1.2 to 0.4 bar; Xe-LVIC had larger V min and saturation currents which did not obviously decrease with the same pressure drop. It is envisaged that ITER can take advantage of the larger saturation current and lower pressure of Xe-LVIC in the non-nuclear operation phase, and flexibility of pressure and low sensitivity to neutron/gamma radiation of Ar-LVIC in the nuclear operation phase.

The response and current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of irradiated and non-irradiated silicon photodiode arrays (SPDAs) for use in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor camera are measured and compared. Irradiation experiments are carried out using a uranium-zirconium hydride pulsed reactor. The total equivalent 1 MeV neutron fluence with energy above 0.01 MeV is ∼9.89 × 1013 n cm-2. The output signal of the irradiated SPDA (XD2) shows a nonlinear trend during the irradiation experiment. The final signal is about 5.6% of the original one in the visible light region. Tests on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) show that the XD2 signal is 70%-80% of that of a non-irradiated SPDA (XD3). This indicates that irradiated SPDAs can still observe plasma radiation after exposure to 9.89 × 1013 n cm-2 neutron fluence. However, because the neutron fluence of external camera detectors will reach 1.4 × 1016 n cm-2 in D-T phase, the SPDAs might become unusable at some point. The responsivity ratio of irradiated and non-irradiated SPDAs is about 4%-20% from 7 to 13 keV. The degradation of responsivity is related to the energy level. After irradiation, the reversed dark current rises from 0.1 to 10 nA to a level of around 1 µA. In terms of tests of XD2 on EAST, zero bias is a good working condition for irradiated SPDAs.

A low voltage ionization chamber (LVIC) is a very promising alternative to ITER X-ray detectors owing to its outstanding radiation tolerance. To investigate the characteristics of the LVIC preliminary prototype and evaluate its application in ITER, the saturation curves corresponding to 10-30 keV monochromatic radiations were measured in the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. In the saturation region, the output current variation was linear with respect to input power, indicating that the LVIC can be used to detect X-ray emissions. Based on the saturation curves and related simulation, it is speculated that the saturation voltages needed for LVICs of the external and internal cameras in ITER might be no greater than 150 V and 300 V respectively. Responsivity (R) derived from experimental results was compared with theoretical calculations, showing good agreement at 15-20 keV, but significant deviations at 10 keV and 30 keV, which will be studied in the future. It is estimated that R of the LVIC ranges from 2.66 x 10(-2) to 1.89 x 10(-3) A/W between 10 to 30 keV. The experimental results show promising potential for LVIC application in ITER as an X-ray detector.

Multipliers are central to modern compute-intensive applications, such as signal processing and artificial intelligence (AI). However, the complex logic chain in conventional multipliers, particularly due to cascaded carry propagation circuits, contributes to high energy and performance costs. This paper proposes a novel current-mode multiplier design that reduces the carry propagation chain and improves the current amplification. Fundamental to this design is a one transistor multi-memristor (1TxM) cell architecture. In each cell, transistor can be switched ON/OFF to determine the cell selection, while the high/low resistive states of memristors determine the corresponding cell output current when selected. The memristor states as well as biasing configurations in each memristor are suitably optimized through a new memristor model. The number of memristors implementing this model in each cell is suitably determined depending on the cell significance to achieve the required amplification. Consequently, the design reduces the need to have current mirror circuits in each current path, while also ensuring high resilience in transitional bias voltages. Parallel cell currents are then directed to a common current accumulation path to generate the multiplier output without requiring any carry propagation chain. We carried out a wide range of experiments to extensively validate our multiplier design in Cadence Virtuoso analogue design environment for functional and parametric properties. The results show that the proposed multiplier reduces up to 85% latency and 99% energy cost when compared with the recently proposed approaches.

The Soft X-Ray camera (SXR) is designed to measure the polar profile of plasma X-ray emissivity with high spatial and temporal resolution. The camera is located on the Equatorial 12 Port Plug of ITER Tokamak. During the nuclear operation phase, a large number of high-energy neutrons are generated. These neutrons will activate the camera components and make them radioactive. In order to evaluate the activation of SXR's structural and shielding materials, an activation and radwaste analysis has been performed, and the results are summarized in this paper. A simplified model of all necessary parts of SXR is integrated into the ITER C-lite model for neutron transport. The activation of the components is calculated using the FISPACT-2007 code. The safety scenario SA2 for ITER activation calculations is recommended as irradiation history. The contact dose rate provides recommendations for the maintenance of SXR. The security risk of decay heat to SXR is analyzed. Specific activity and clearance index provide the basis for the classification of radwaste. The linear relationship between the neutron flux and activation parameters is obtained by expanding the neutron flux, so that the activation of SXR can be rapidly predicted according to the flux measured in the actual operation of ITER.

The design of ITER Radial X-ray Camera (RXC) is nearly finished. The design of internal camera was updated using gas detector modules and considering the mechanical, electrical and gas interfaces with Diagnostic Shielding Module (DSM). The design of camera structure was optimized for the purpose of easy maintenance, safety and simplification, including support flange, Be window flange, boron carbide shielding module, external camera chamber, back flange assembly, cooling and feedthrough. The design of camera electronics was also optimized. The pre-amplifiers and mid-amplifiers are more resistant to disturbances. The chassis facilitates the maintenance and provides efficient cooling to the components inside.

ITER is an international experimental nuclear fusion device. In the project, the RAMI approach (reliability, availability, maintainability, and inspectability) has been adopted for technical risk control to mitigate all the possible failures of components in preparation for operation and maintenance. The availability and reliability assessment is required and is one of main design contents in the ITER radial X-ray camera diagnostic (RXC) system final design review phase. The availability and reliability assessment, based on the RAMI program, ensured the system with a very high performance to measure the X-ray emission and research the MHD of plasma with high accuracy on the ITER machine. A functional breakdown was prepared in a bottom-up approach, and the system was divided into three main functions, eight intermediate functions, and 31 basic functions which are described using the IDEFØ method. Reliability block diagrams (RBDs) were prepared to calculate the reliability and availability of each function under assumption of operation conditions and failure data. Initial and expected scenarios were analyzed to define risk-mitigation actions. The initial availability of RXC system was 86.13%, while after optimizations were taken the expected availability was 92.57%. The initial reliability for all functions of ITER RXC system was 92.3% without spares and 94.7% with spares over 16 months. A failure modes, effects, and criticality analysis (FMECA) was performed to the system initial risk. Criticality charts highlight the risks of the different failure modes with regard to the probability of their occurrence and impact on operations. There are 29 risks for the initial state, including 16 major risks. No major risk remains after taking into account all the actions. It was assessed that the RAMI analysis results meet the project requirement in the final design phase and the results will be qualified further with the system manufacture going ahead.

The magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)-induced internal crash (IC) is one of the most fundamental dynamics of a tokamak discharge. Study of IC and the consequent formation of seed island (for neo-classical tearing modes) are still attractive in both experimental and numerical studies. In this work, a set of MHD-induced sawtooth like crashes (SLCs) have been observed in experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST) ohmic discharge near density limit. With the tomography of high-resolution upgraded soft x-ray imaging system, it is observed that m/n = 2/1 tearing mode converts to a m/n = 1/1 instability, and it then triggers crash in the plasma core, here, m is the poloidal mode number and n is the toroidal mode number. Similar to sawtooth crash (SC), the crash of SLC here is due to m/n = 1/1 mode nonlinear dynamic. An extended MHD simulation code M3D is used to understand of the dynamics of m/n = 1/1 internal kink mode in SC in torus. A complex SC is reproduced from M3D nonlinear simulation under EAST realistic magnetic flux equilibrium and experimental resistivity. The rapid growth of unstable m/n = 1/1 kink and interaction with its higher harmonics, are responsible for SC. The simulation results show an existence of annular chaos belt outside q = 1 surface during SC. Furthermore, magnetic islands with higher poloidal mode number are found after SC. The formation of island after SC make plasma current profile flat in the core.

In order to clean the marine fouling attached to marine steel piles, a scraping method is proposed in this paper. Barnacles were used to represent a typical object needing removal, in order to estimate the maximum force required in the equipment designed for use in this method. On the basis of the orthogonal cutting theory and the peel zone method, a scraping method and its cutting force model are proposed in this paper for the surface cleaning of marine steel piles. The finite element method was used to verify the analytical model errors. The comparison showed that the relative errors of the cutting force are less than 10%. Our model can be used for cutting force estimation in cleaning equipment design. Our analysis shows that the blade rake angle has a large effect on the cutting force and that the optimum blade rake angle design is a compromise between blade strength and cutting force. We conclude that increasing the blade rake angle can reduce the cutting force in this scraping process; a medium blade rake angle [30°, 60°] is recommended, considering both cutting force and blade strength.