skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: One-dimensional theory and simulations of the dynamic Z-pinch

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5104340· OSTI ID:1648405

The dynamical formation of a Z-pinch in the strong-shock limit is studied in this paper using one-dimensional (1D) simulations of a two-temperature magnetohydrodynamic model. The classic 1D picture consists of three stages: run-in, reflected-shock, and expansion. The special case of a constant current I and uniform gas fill, which are approximate conditions of the pinch-formation stage in a dense plasma focus, is examined in detail. Time-profiles for the shock-front and piston positions during the run-in stage are compared with some of the commonly used 0D models from the literature. Some practical improvements to these models are presented here and it is shown that this model gives the best agreement with results from the simulations. Maximum compression of the plasma is achieved when the reflected shock from the axis meets the incoming current layer. The ratio of the plasma radius at this time with respect to its initial radius is found from the simulations to be rp/R≈1/8 using 5/3 for the adiabatic coefficient γ. The pressure and temperature of the compressed plasma are found to peak a short time after maximum compression due to the inability of the reflected shock to completely stagnate the incoming plasma driven by the converging current layer. Finally, the variation of the results with a finite dI/dt and for different values of γ is presented.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1648405
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1582096
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-772662; 964488; TRN: US2202901
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 27, Issue 1; ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (49)

Strong ionizing shock waves conference August 1965
Stability conditions in the numerical treatment of parabolic differential equations journal September 1953
Evidence of Stabilization in the Z-Pinch text January 2001
An attempt to produce a thermo-nuclear reaction in deuterium by means of a high current spark discharge journal February 1952
A review of the dense Z -pinch journal June 2011
A Primer on Eulerian Computational Fluid Dynamics for Astrophysics journal March 2003
Neutron Production in Linear Deuterium Pinches journal January 1958
The Guderley problem revisited journal February 2012
Fully Kinetic Simulations of Dense Plasma Focus Z -Pinch Devices journal November 2012
Ion acceleration mechanism in mega-ampere gas-puff z-pinches journal May 2018
Z Pinch of a Gas Jet journal February 1978
Fully Ionized Pinch Collapse journal January 1960
Formation of a High-Density Deuterium Plasma Focus journal January 1965
Ionization and radiation dynamics of dense MHD plasmas journal August 1978
Energy balance and the radius of electromagnetically pinched plasma columns journal May 1983
Transition from Beam-Target to Thermonuclear Fusion in High-Current Deuterium Z -Pinch Simulations journal May 2016
The formation of high-density z-pinches journal June 1978
Increasing plasma parameters using sheared flow stabilization of a Z-pinch journal May 2017
Evidence of Stabilization in the Z -Pinch journal October 2001
Relaxation model for extended magnetohydrodynamics: Comparison to magnetohydrodynamics for dense Z-pinches journal January 2011
Self-similar motions in Z-pinch dynamics journal June 1986
Measurements of Magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor Instability Growth during the Implosion of Initially Solid Al Tubes Driven by the 20-MA, 100-ns Z Facility journal October 2010
Development of the dense plasma focus for short-pulse applications journal January 2017
The physics of fast Z pinches journal January 2000
High-Gain Magnetized Inertial Fusion journal January 2012
A survey of several finite difference methods for systems of nonlinear hyperbolic conservation laws journal April 1978
Strong Ionizing Shock Waves journal October 1965
Self-Similar Solutions for Converging Shocks and Collapsing Cavities journal April 1981
Analysis of high-density Z-pinches by a snowplow energy equation journal March 1984
Stability Conditions in the Numerical Treatment of Parabolic Differential Equations journal July 1953
An Elementary Theory of the Transient Pinched Discharge journal January 1957
Investigation of the Paschen curve for helium in the 100–1000 kV range journal September 2017
A Free, Fast, Simple, and Efficient Total Variation Diminishing Magnetohydrodynamic Code journal December 2003
Investigation of the High-Energy Acceleration Mode in the Coaxial Gun journal January 1964
An energy-consistent snow-plough model for pinch design journal December 1983
Dimensions and lifetime of the plasma focus pinch journal June 1996
Deuterium z-pinch as a powerful source of multi-MeV ions and neutrons for advanced applications journal March 2016
Pressure and Energy Balance of Stagnating Plasmas in z -Pinch Experiments: Implications to Current Flow at Stagnation journal July 2013
Analytic model for the dynamic Z-pinch journal June 2015
Neutron Production in Linear Deuterium Pinches journal June 1958
Numerical study on the dynamics of Z ‐pinch carbon plasma journal April 1996
The relaxation schemes for systems of conservation laws in arbitrary space dimensions journal January 1995
Plasma Focus Radiative Model: Review of the Lee Model Code journal March 2014
Neutron production and implosion characteristics of a deuterium gas-puff Z pinch journal February 2007
Drift-ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations of m   =  0 modes in Z-pinch plasmas journal July 2019
Z-pinch plasma neutron sources journal February 2007
Deuterium gas-puff Z-pinch implosions on the Z accelerator journal May 2007
Sheared flow stabilization experiments in the ZaP flow Z pinch journal May 2003
Electrode contaminant plasma effects in 1 0 7 -A Z pinch accelerators journal July 2019