Studies of supersonic, radiative plasma jet interaction with gases at the Prague Asterix Laser System facility

Journal Article · Fri Aug 15 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2963083· OSTI ID:21120522

Nicolaie, Ph; Stenz, C; Tikhonchuk, V; Ribeyre, X; Galera, S; Schurtz, G ^[1]; Kasperczuk, A; Pisarczyk, T ^[2]; Klir, D; Kravarik, J; Kubes, P ^[3]; Juha, L; Krousky, E; Masek, K; Pfeifer, M; Rohlena, K; Skala, J ^[4]; Ullschmied, J ^[5]; Kalal, M ^[6]; Pisarczyk, P ^[7]

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1. Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications, Universite Bordeaux 1-CNRS-CEA, 33405 Talence Cedex (France)
2. Institute of Plasma Physics and Laser Microfusion, 00-908 Warsaw (Poland)
3. Czech Technical University in Prague, FEL, Technicka 2, 166 27 Prague 6 (Czech Republic)
4. Institute of Physics ASCR, v.v.i. Na Slovance 2, 182 21 Prague 8 (Czech Republic)
5. Institute of Plasma Physics ASCR, v.v.i. Za Slovankou 3, 182 00 Prague 8 (Czech Republic)
6. Czech Technical University in Prague, FNSPE, Brehova 7, 115 19 Prague 1 (Czech Republic)
7. Warsaw University of Technology, ICS, 00-665, Warsaw (Poland)

The interaction of laser driven jets with gas puffs at various pressures is investigated experimentally and is analyzed by means of numerical tools. In the experiment, a combination of two complementary diagnostics allowed to characterize the main structures in the interaction zone. By changing the gas composition and its density, the plasma cooling time can be controlled and one can pass from a quasiadiabatic outflow to a strongly radiation cooling jet. This tuning yields hydrodynamic structures very similar to those seen in astrophysical objects; the bow shock propagating through the gas, the shocked materials, the contact discontinuity, and the Mach disk. From a dimensional analysis, a scaling is made between both systems and shows the study relevance for the jet velocity, the Mach number, the jet-gas density ratio, and the dissipative processes. The use of a two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic code, confirms the previous analysis and provides detailed structure of the interaction zone and energy repartition between jet and surrounding gases.

• OSTI ID: 21120522
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 15, Issue 8; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2963083; (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
COOLING
COOLING TIME
GASES
INTERACTIONS
LASERS
MACH NUMBER
PLASMA
PLASMA JETS
SHOCK WAVES
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS