Numerical investigation on the implosion dynamics of wire-array Z-pinches in (r, {theta}) geometry
- Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics, Beijing 100088 (China)
The implosion dynamics of wire-array Z-pinches are investigated numerically in 2D (r, {theta}) geometry by using a resistive MHD code. It is assumed that the wires have expanded to plasmas with diameter d{sub 0}, which is used as the initial condition for the consequent implosion process. In fact, the explosion process of individual wires is not included. By changing d{sub 0}, the effects of the wire expansion degree on the implosion dynamics are analyzed. When d{sub 0} is larger, the current density is more concentrated at the outer side of the wires and the fraction of current flow around the wire plasmas is nearly in proportion to d{sub 0}. As a result, the ablation rate of wires is increased and the implosion phase starts earlier. This conclusion agrees with the simulation works of other authors [Chittenden et al., Phys. Plasmas 11(3), 1118 (2004)]. When the array radius and initial wire plasma diameter are fixed, the increase of wire number leads to the azimuthal merge of wires during implosion. When the wires number exceed a critical value, which is related to d{sub 0}, wire plasmas can merge to a continuous shell with an azimuthal perturbation in density, which depends on the initial wires number.
- OSTI ID:
- 22072469
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 6; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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