Rotation of electrothermal-instability-driven overheating structure due to helically oriented surface magnetic field on a high-current-density aluminum rod

Awe, T. J.; Yu, Edmund P.; Shipley, Gabriel Alan; Yates, Kevin Colligan; Tomlinson, Kurt; Hatch, Maren W.

doi:10.1063/5.0279628

Rotation of electrothermal-instability-driven overheating structure due to helically oriented surface magnetic field on a high-current-density aluminum rod

Journal Article · Fri Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0279628· OSTI ID:2575608

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Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)

Experiments on the 1-MA, 100-ns-rise-time Mykonos Facility demonstrate rotation of electrothermal instability (ETI)-driven overheating structure on 1.00-mm-diameter, 10-nm-surface roughness, 99.999%-pure aluminum rods, which are pulsed with helically polarized surface magnetic field. Rods are machined to include pairs of 10-micron-scale quasi-hemispherical voids or “engineered defects (ED)” which provide the dominant current density perturbation from which ETI grows most rapidly. Experiments include an axial magnetic field component through the addition of a helically wound return-current electrode or “helical return can (HRC).” For a given HRC design, azimuthal field (B_ɵ) and axial field (B_z) components rise at a prescribed and fixed ratio, driving an increasing magnetic field of constant polarization at the rod's surface; most experiments generated surface magnetic field at a 15-degree field polarization angle (from horizontal) defined as ɸ_B = arctan(B_z/B_ɵ). ETI-driven emission patterns from individual ED are observed to rotate along ɸ_B, while emission patterns from dielectric-coated ED pairs are shown to elongate and preferentially merge along ɸ_B, in qualitative agreement with 3D-magnetohydrodynamic simulations. These data strongly support that for a randomized distribution of current density perturbations on a high-current density conductor, nearby perturbations will favorably merge about ɸ_B, with the degree of merging increasing with current. Such observations offer fundamental new understanding of the seeding mechanisms of the helical magneto-Rayleigh Taylor (MRT) instabilities observed from axially magnetized magnetically driven imploding liners.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 2575608

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--25-22768; 10.1063/5.0279628; 1089-7674

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 32; ISSN 1070-664X; ISSN 1089-7674

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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