Wire number dependence of the implosion dynamics, stagnation, and radiation output of tungsten wire arrays at Z driver
- Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)
- National Nuclear Security Administration, Washington, D.C. 20585 (United States)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
- Imperial College, London, SW and 2BW (United Kingdom)
We report results of the experimental campaign, which studied the initiation, implosion dynamics, and radiation yield of tungsten wire arrays as a function of the wire number. The wire array dimensions and mass were those of interest for the Z-pinch driven Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program. An optimization study of the x-ray emitted peak power, rise time, and full width at half maximum was effectuated by varying the wire number while keeping the total array mass constant and equal to {approx}5.8 mg. The driver utilized was the {approx}20-MA Z accelerator before refurbishment in its usual short pulse mode of 100 ns. We studied single arrays of 20-mm diameter and 1-cm height. The smaller wire number studied was 30 and the largest 600. It appears that 600 is the highest achievable wire number with present day's technology. Radial and axial diagnostics were utilized including crystal monochromatic x-ray backlighter. An optimum wire number of {approx}375 was observed which was very close to the routinely utilized 300 for the ICF program in Sandia.
- OSTI ID:
- 22047080
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 11; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Implosion and stagnation of wire array Z pinches
Implosion dynamics and K-shell x-ray generation in large diameter stainless steel wire array Z pinches with various nesting configurations