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 Article · Fri Oct 29 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.105.185001· OSTI ID:21467052

Sinars, D B; Slutz, S A; Herrmann, M C; McBride, R D; Cuneo, M E; Peterson, K J; Vesey, R A; Nakhleh, C; Tomlinson, K; Edens, A D; Lopez, M R; Smith, I C; Shores, J; Bigman, V; Bennett, G R; Atherton, B W; Savage, M; Stygar, W A; Leifeste, G T; Porter, J L ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185 (United States)

The first controlled experiments measuring the growth of the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability in fast ({approx}100 ns) Z-pinch plasmas are reported. Sinusoidal perturbations on the surface of an initially solid Al tube (liner) with wavelengths of 25-400 {mu}m were used to seed the instability. Radiographs with 15 {mu}m resolution captured the evolution of the outer liner surface. Comparisons with numerical radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations show remarkably good agreement down to 50 {mu}m wavelengths.

• OSTI ID: 21467052
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 105; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DISTURBANCES
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INSTABILITY
LINEAR PINCH DEVICES
LINEAR Z PINCH DEVICES
LINERS
LONGITUDINAL PINCH
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MECHANICS
OPEN PLASMA DEVICES
PINCH DEVICES
PINCH EFFECT
PLASMA
PLASMA SIMULATION
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
SIMULATION
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
WAVELENGTHS