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Title: A 1D Analysis of Direct and Indirect Drive Target Performance for Planar Hydrodynamics Experiments on the NIF

Abstract

The 1D performance of laser or X-ray driven targets to study phenomena such as the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability in a single, steady shock, step down in density system has been described by a simple model based on 1D hydrodynamics. It is shown that the distance the interface travels under constant velocity conditions is a multiple of the separation between the ablation and shock front, and that this multiple depends on the density ratio at the interface, and the equations of states of the two materials. The model is applied to NIF with the aid of 1D hydrocode simulations to predict the ablation-shock separation. It is found that if adequate interface planarity can be maintained over an experimental length equal to the focal spot diameter, direct drive may out-perform indirect drive by up to {approx} factor 2 at the same pulse length and typically {ge} 2 at the same ablation pressure. This depends on the ability to control 2D effects in the directly driven targets (critically), and on the optimum hohlraum performance achievable for these experiments, rather than the achievable performance used for the study. It is predicted that several mm of constant velocity interface travel are potentially achievable on NIF, andmore » that this is only weakly dependent on the available energy. The 1D model and its application are described. Uncertainties surrounding the predictions are discussed, and means to resolve them outlined.« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (US)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP) (US)
OSTI Identifier:
793580
Report Number(s):
UCRL-ID-139831
TRN: US200221%%205
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-Eng-48
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 10 Jul 2000
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; ABLATION; EQUATIONS OF STATE; HYDRODYNAMICS; INSTABILITY; LASERS; PERFORMANCE; TARGETS; VELOCITY

Citation Formats

Edwards, M.J. A 1D Analysis of Direct and Indirect Drive Target Performance for Planar Hydrodynamics Experiments on the NIF. United States: N. p., 2000. Web. doi:10.2172/793580.
Edwards, M.J. A 1D Analysis of Direct and Indirect Drive Target Performance for Planar Hydrodynamics Experiments on the NIF. United States. doi:10.2172/793580.
Edwards, M.J. Mon . "A 1D Analysis of Direct and Indirect Drive Target Performance for Planar Hydrodynamics Experiments on the NIF". United States. doi:10.2172/793580. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/793580.
@article{osti_793580,
title = {A 1D Analysis of Direct and Indirect Drive Target Performance for Planar Hydrodynamics Experiments on the NIF},
author = {Edwards, M.J.},
abstractNote = {The 1D performance of laser or X-ray driven targets to study phenomena such as the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability in a single, steady shock, step down in density system has been described by a simple model based on 1D hydrodynamics. It is shown that the distance the interface travels under constant velocity conditions is a multiple of the separation between the ablation and shock front, and that this multiple depends on the density ratio at the interface, and the equations of states of the two materials. The model is applied to NIF with the aid of 1D hydrocode simulations to predict the ablation-shock separation. It is found that if adequate interface planarity can be maintained over an experimental length equal to the focal spot diameter, direct drive may out-perform indirect drive by up to {approx} factor 2 at the same pulse length and typically {ge} 2 at the same ablation pressure. This depends on the ability to control 2D effects in the directly driven targets (critically), and on the optimum hohlraum performance achievable for these experiments, rather than the achievable performance used for the study. It is predicted that several mm of constant velocity interface travel are potentially achievable on NIF, and that this is only weakly dependent on the available energy. The 1D model and its application are described. Uncertainties surrounding the predictions are discussed, and means to resolve them outlined.},
doi = {10.2172/793580},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2000},
month = {Mon Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2000}
}

Technical Report:

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  • The simulations provided in this milestone have solidified the theoretical underpinning of direct drive targets and also the ability to design experiments on NDCX II that will enhance our understanding of ion-beam hydrodynamic coupling, and thus be relevant to IFE. For the case of the IFE targets, we have studied hydro and implosion efficiency using HYDRA in ID, a starting point towards the goal of polar direct drive in geometry compatible with liquid wall chambers. Recent analysis of direct drive fusion energy targets using heavy ion beams has found high coupling efficiency of ion beam energy into implosion energy. However,more » to obtain optimal coupling, the ion energy must increase during the pulse in order to penetrate the outflowing ablated material, and deposit the energy close enough to the fuel so that the fuel achieves sufficient implosion velocity. We have computationally explored ID (radial) time dependent models of ion driven direct drive capsule implosions using the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) code HYDRA, to help validate the theoretical analysis done so far, particularly exploring the effects of varying the ion energy and ion current over the course of the pulse. On NDCX II, experiments have been proposed to explore issues of ion penetration of the outflowing plasma over the course of the ion pulse. One possibility is to create a first pulse of ions that heats a planar target, and produces an outflow of material. A second pulse, {approx}10 ns after the first, of higher ion energy (and hence larger projected range) will interact with this outflow before reaching and further heating the target. We have investigated whether the change in range can be tailored to match the evolution of the ablation front. We have carried out simulations using the one-dimensional hydrodynamic code DISH and HYDRA to set parameters for this class of experiments. DISH was upgraded with an ion deposition algorithm, and we have carried out ID (planar) simulations. HYDRA was also used for ID (planar) and 2D (r,z) simulations of potential experiments. We have also explored whether similar physics could be studied using an energy ramp (i.e., a velocity tilt) rather than two separate pulses. We have shown that an optimum occurs in the macropulse duration (with fixed velocity tilt) that maximizes the shock strength. In the area of IFE target design we have continued to explore direct drive targets composed of deuterium-tritium fuel and ablator layers. We have extended our previous target designs at 0.44 MJ drive energy, gain 50, (50 MeV foot, 500 MeV main pulse, Rb ion, which requires a large number of beams due to a high beam space charge constraint) to a power plant scale 3.7 MJ drive energy, gain {approx}150 (220 MeV foot, 2.2 GeV main pulse, Hg ion) that eases requirements on the accelerator. We have studied the effects of two important design choices on ICF target performance. We have shown that increasing the number of foot pulses may reduce the target's in-flight adiabat and consequently improve its compressibility and fusion yield. As in the case of laser drive, the first three shocks are the most important to the target's performance, with additional shocks contributing only marginally to compression and burn. We have also demonstrated that ion range lengthening during the main pulse can further reduce the target adiabat and improve the efficiency with which beam energy is coupled into the target. (Ion range lengthening using two different kinetic energies for the foot and main pulse has previously proven effective in the design of high gain targets).« less
  • A brief description of the work done under LLNL Subcontract No. 4180405, which expired as of December 31, 1988, is presented. The work performed under this subcontract covered a wide range of research activities which may be generically labeled as Technical Investigation of Cryogenic Laser Fusion Target Fabrication and Characterization.'' However, the specific work performed during the period of October 1, 1987 through December 31, 1988, which this report concentrates on, covers the following three categories of research: Theoretical study of the stability of a thermally induced, uniformly thick liquid fuel layer inside a spherical-shell ICF target. Development of methodsmore » for fabricating spherical-shell low-density foam targets using hollow drop generation and sol-gel processing techniques. Further study of the behavior of a liquid D-T mixture layer inside an ICF target using a ternary-mixture approach with the inclusion of convection and thermal diffusion effects.« less
  • Understanding and mitigating hydrodynamic instabilities and the fuel mix are the key elements for achieving ignition in Inertial Confinement Fusion. Cryogenic indirect-drive implosions on the National Ignition Facility have evidenced that the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (RTI) is a driver of the hot spot mix. This motivates the switch to a more flexible higher adiabat implosion design [O. A. Hurricane et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056313 (2014)]. The shell instability is also the main candidate for performance degradation in low-adiabat direct drive cryogenic implosions [Goncharov et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056315 (2014)]. This paper reviews recent results acquired in planar experimentsmore » performed on the OMEGA laser facility and devoted to the modeling and mitigation of hydrodynamic instabilities at the ablation front. In application to the indirect-drive scheme, we describe results obtained with a specific ablator composition such as the laminated ablator or a graded-dopant emulator. In application to the direct drive scheme, we discuss experiments devoted to the study of laser imprinted perturbations with special phase plates. The simulations of the Richtmyer-Meshkov phase reversal during the shock transit phase are challenging, and of crucial interest because this phase sets the seed of the RTI growth. Recent works were dedicated to increasing the accuracy of measurements of the phase inversion. We conclude by presenting a novel imprint mitigation mechanism based on the use of underdense foams. The foams induce laser smoothing by parametric instabilities thus reducing the laser imprint on the CH foil.« less
  • Understanding and mitigating hydrodynamic instabilities and the fuel mix are the key elements for achieving ignition in Inertial Confinement Fusion. Cryogenic indirect-drive implosions on the National Ignition Facility have evidenced that the ablative Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (RTI) is a driver of the hot spot mix. This motivates the switch to a more flexible higher adiabat implosion design [O. A. Hurricane et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056313 (2014)]. The shell instability is also the main candidate for performance degradation in low-adiabat direct drive cryogenic implosions [Goncharov et al., Phys. Plasmas 21, 056315 (2014)]. This paper reviews recent results acquired in planar experimentsmore » performed on the OMEGA laser facility and devoted to the modeling and mitigation of hydrodynamic instabilities at the ablation front. In application to the indirect-drive scheme, we describe results obtained with a specific ablator composition such as the laminated ablator or a graded-dopant emulator. In application to the direct drive scheme, we discuss experiments devoted to the study of laser imprinted perturbations with special phase plates. The simulations of the Richtmyer-Meshkov phase reversal during the shock transit phase are challenging, and of crucial interest because this phase sets the seed of the RTI growth. Recent works were dedicated to increasing the accuracy of measurements of the phase inversion. We conclude by presenting a novel imprint mitigation mechanism based on the use of underdense foams. Lastly, the foams induce laser smoothing by parametric instabilities thus reducing the laser imprint on the CH foil.« less
  • The impact of smoothing method on the performance of a direct drive target is modeled and examined in terms of its l-mode spectrum. In particular, two classes of smoothing methods are compared, smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) and the induced spatial incoherence (ISI) method. It is found that SSD using sinusoidal phase modulation (FM) results in poor smoothing at low l-modes and therefore inferior target performance at both peak velocity and ignition. Modeling of the hydrodynamic nonlinearity shows that saturation tends to reduce the difference between target performance for the smoothing methods considered. However, using SSD with more generalized phasemore » modulation results in a smoothed spatial spectrum, and therefore target performance, which is identical to that obtained with the ISI or similar method where random phase plates are present in both methods and identical beam divergence is assumed.« less