Current delivery and radiation yield in plasma flow switch-driven implosions
- Phillips Lab., Kirtland Air Force Base, NM (United States); and others
Vacuum inductive-store, plasma flow switch-driven implosion experiments have been performed using the Shiva Star capacitor bank (1300 {mu}f, 3 nH, 120 kV, 9.4 MJ). A coaxial plasma gun arrangement is employed to store magnetic energy in the vacuum volume upstream of a dynamic discharge during the 3- to 4-{mu}s rise of current from the capacitor bank. Motion of the discharge off the end of the inner conductor of the gun releases this energy to implode a coaxial cylindrical foil. The implosion loads are 5-cm-radius, 2-cm-long, 200 to 400 {mu}g/cm{sup 2} cylinders of aluminum or aluminized Formvar. With 5 MJ stored initially in the capacitor bank, more than 9 MA are delivered to the implosion load with a rise time of nearly 200 ns. The subsequent implosion results in a radiation output of 0.95 MJ at a power exceeding 5 TW (assuming isotropic emission). Experimental results and related two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations are discussed. 10 refs., 12 figs.
- OSTI ID:
- 121553
- Journal Information:
- Fusion Technology, Journal Name: Fusion Technology Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 27; ISSN 0748-1896; ISSN FUSTE8
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Electromagnetic-implosion generation of pulsed high-energy-density plasma
Shiva electromagnetic implosion x-ray source. Final report