Experimental and numerical investigation of shock wave propagation through complex geometry, gas continuous, two-phase media
- Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
The work presented here investigates the phenomenon of shock wave propagation in gas continuous, two-phase media. The motivation for this work stems from the need to understand blast venting consequences in the HYLIFE inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactor. The HYLIFE concept utilizes lasers or heavy ion beams to rapidly heat and compress D-T targets injected into the center of a reactor chamber. A segmented blanket of falling molten lithium or Li2BeF4 (Flibe) jets encircles the reactor`s central cavity, shielding the reactor structure from radiation damage, absorbing the fusion energy, and breeding more tritium fuel. X-rays from the fusion microexplosion will ablate a thin layer of blanket material from the surfaces which face toward the fusion site. This generates a highly energetic vapor, which mostly coalesces in the central cavity. The blast expansion from the central cavity generates a shock which propagates through the segmented blanket - a complex geometry, gas-continuous two-phase medium. The impulse that the blast gives to the liquid as it vents past, the gas shock on the chamber wall, and ultimately the liquid impact on the wall are all important quantities to the HYLIFE structural designers.
- Research Organization:
- California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76OR00033
- OSTI ID:
- 587721
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/OR/00033-T782; ON: DE97053585; TRN: 98:001813
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: TH: Thesis (Ph.D.); PBD: 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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