Solid liner compression of working fluid to megabar range
- Phillips Lab., Kirtland AFB, NM (United States). High Energy Sources Div.
- NumerEx, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Maxwell Technologies, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States); and others
The authors have used 12 megamp, 5 megajoule axial discharges to electromagnetically implode tapered thickness spherical aluminum shells, achieving peak implosion velocities above 20 km/sec inner surface, 10 km/sec thickness averaged. The shell thickness was proportional to the inverse of the square of the cylindrical radius. This causes the ratio of magnetic pressure to shell areal mass density (and spherical acceleration) to be independent of polar angle, so that the spherical shape is nominally maintained during the implosion. The authors have used these implosions to compress hot hydrogen plasmas with initial pressure about 100 atm and initial temperature above 1 eV. The hot hydrogen plasmas were injected beforehand using 1 megamp, 100 kilojoule range co-axial gun discharges through a circular array of vanes to strip away magnetic field. The imploding shell and the compressed hot hydrogen working fluid`s effect on a diagnostic compression target were observed with radiography. Interior magnetic probes and auxiliary shots without working fluid injection were used to confirm that there is no magnetic field interior to the imploding aluminum shell. Thus, diagnostic target compression, which was observed in working fluid compression experiments, was presumably due to the compressed hot hydrogen pressure.
- OSTI ID:
- 330586
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970559--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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