System Expectations for Pioneer I Foil Implosion Experiments
Abstract
Prior to the beginning of the Pioneer I shot series of the Los Alamos National Laboratory TRAIL-MASTER project, numerous computational simulations were run to provide ball-park estimates for the electrical currents and voltages in the circuit, the timing of the implosion, the kinetic energy, temperature, and radiation output of the load. The purpose of these calculations was to provide guidance in setting the timings of the various switches within the circuit and to establish operating ranges for the various diagnostics. In performing these calculations we have relied primarily on a fully implicit one-dimensional Lagrangian MHD code developed by Thomas Oliphant of the Thermonuclear Applications group at Los Alamos. This code provides us with a very sophisticated electrical circuit simulation capability as well as the ability to simulate the imploding plasma load as a zero dimensional slug and a one dimensional symmetric cylinder. To provide an estimate of the stability of the imploding plasma we have used a heuristic model of magnetically driven Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in the zero dimensional slug simulations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA638875
Entities
People
- Arthur E. Greene
- D. J. Erickson
- D. L. Weiss
- Irvin R. Lindemuth
- J. H. Brownell
- Jasmes H. Goforth
- R. S. Caird
- T. A. Oliphant
Organizations
- Los Alamos National Laboratory