Three-dimensional multimode simulations of the ablative Rayleigh--Taylor instability
- LCP&FD, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375-5344 (United States)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
- Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. 20375-5344 (United States)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)
Multimode simulations of the evolution of the laser-driven, ablative Rayleigh--Taylor instability on planar, plastic targets are performed in three dimensions, with FAST3D--CM. The initial mass density target perturbations are random, with a power law dependence of {ital k}{sup {minus}2}, a RMS surface finish of 0.1 {mu}m, and perturbation wave numbers ranging from 2{pi}/{ital d}{sub max} to {radical}2{times}(12{pi}/{ital d}{sub max}), for {ital d}{sub max}=128 {mu}m. At early nonlinear times, the perturbations grow to tile the target with approximately hexagonal bubbles that are of the shortest, initially seeded wavelengths not stabilized by density gradients. This tiling occurs on a time scale that is comparable to the eddy turnover time of the dominant bubble wavelength. When the target thickness is large compared to the dominant, short wavelengths, the bubbles continue to burn into the target and to evolve to progressively longer spatial scales. Predictions from second-order mode coupling and saturation models are found to be consistent with the simulation results.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 55103
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 2, Issue 6; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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