Final report for NIF chamber dynamics studies, final rept (May 1997), Subcontract No. B291847
- University of California, Berkeley (United States)
The National Ignition Facility (NIF), a 1.8 MJ, 192 laser beam facility, will have anticipated fusion yields of up to 20 MJ from D-T pellets encased in a gold hohlraum target. The energy emitted from the target in the form of x rays, neutrons, target debris kinetic energy, and target shrapnel will be contained in a 5 m. radius spherical target chamber. Various diagnostics will be stationed around the target at varying distances from the target. During each shot, the target will emit x rays that will vaporize nearby target facing surfaces including those of the diagnostics, the target positioner, and other chamber structures. This ablated vapor will be transported throughout the chamber, and will eventually condense and deposit on surfaces in the chamber, including the final optics debris shields. The research at the University of California at Berkeley relates primarily to the NIF chamber dynamics. The key design issues are the ablation of the chamber structures, transport of the vapor through the chamber and the condensation or deposition processes of those vaporized materials. An understanding of these processes is essential in developing a concept for protecting the final optics debris shields from an excessive coating (> 10 {Angstrom}) of target debris and ablated material, thereby prolonging their lifetime between change- outs. At Berkeley, we have studied the physical issues of the ablation process and the effects of varying materials, the condensation process of the vaporized material, and design schemes that can lower the threat posed to the debris shields by these processes. In addition to the work described briefly above, we performed extensive analysis of the target-chamber thermal response to in- chamber CO{sub 2} Cleaning and of work performed to model the behavior of silica vapor. The work completed this year has been published in several papers and a dissertation [1-6]. This report provides a summary of the work completed this year, as well as copies fo presentation materials that have not been published elsewhere. In particular, the Appendix contains copies of presentations made on CO{sub 2} cleaning that are not available elsewhere.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 305342
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-CR-127738; ON: DE98052021; BR: DP0212000; TRN: 99:002054
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Jul 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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