Joint DoD/DOE PRS Simulator Upgrade: Load Physics Stability Risk Mitigation Management.

Abstract

Plasmas are subject to many instabilities that make control of their components particularly difficult. It is well known that z-pinches are subject to Rayleigh-Taylor-like instabilities. This report analyzes MJ-level, 50 ns gas-puff z-pinches performed on the Saturn accelerator at Sandia National Laboratory with the magnetohydrodynamic codes Mach2 and Mach3. This analysis indicates that the uniformity of the pinch depends on the thickness of the initial gas-puff. Three-dimensional calculations suggest that modes with azimuthal asymmetry cause only modest changes to the radiative yield of fast z-pinches.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA331967

Entities

People

  • Norman F. Roderick
  • Robert E. Peterkin Jr.
  • Thomas W. Hussey

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Annular Nozzles
  • Department Of Defense
  • Fluids
  • Geometry
  • Governments
  • Instability
  • Ionizing Radiation
  • Long Wavelengths
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Materials
  • Pulsed Power
  • Rayleigh Taylor Instability
  • Short Wavelengths
  • Thickness
  • Three Dimensional
  • Two Dimensional
  • Z-Pinches

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.