Fast commutation of high current in double wire array Z-pinch loads

Davis, J.; Gondarenko, N. A.; Velikovich, A. L.

doi:10.1063/1.118339

Cited by 76 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The full current is then transferred rapidly to what was initially the inner, imploding it rapidly onto the outer array material on axis. 20,21 The rapid implosion of the inner array has a low integral number of Rayleigh-Taylor growth times and hence has the potential for a relatively stable, high power implosion. In addition, the almost independent implosion of the outer and inner array provides enormous potential for being able to control the shape of the radiation pulse by variation of the array diameters and masses.…”

Section: Nested Array Collision Dynamics In the R-planementioning

confidence: 99%

One-, two-, and three-dimensional modeling of the different phases of wire array Z-pinch evolution

et al. 2001

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A series of one-, two-, and three-dimensional (1-D, 2-D, and 3-D) resistive magnetohydrodynamic models are used to build up a composite model of the different phases of wire array Z-pinch implosions. 1-D(r) and 2-D(r,z) “cold-start” simulations of single wire experiments are used to illustrate some of the important processes in the plasma formation phase of wire arrays. Detailed comparison of the simulation results with data from single wire experiments provides an excellent method of code verification. 2-D simulations in the r–θ or x–y plane show how the combination of the core–corona structure of the wire plasmas and the magnetic field topology result in the formation of radial plasma streams and a precursor plasma on axis well before the implosion phase commences. The same 2-D(x–y) model is also used to illustrate how the implosion trajectories of nested wire arrays are controlled by the levels of momentum, energy, and magnetic flux which are transferred during their collision. Preliminary results showing the evolution of a single wire in the array in 3-D are presented. These results suggest that the dynamics and structure of imploding wire arrays at Imperial College can potentially be explained in terms of the current breaking through the wire cores rather than in terms of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability.

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Section: Nested Array Collision Dynamics In the R-planementioning

confidence: 99%

One-, two-, and three-dimensional modeling of the different phases of wire array Z-pinch evolution

et al. 2001

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“…1,31,33 It is interesting to compare this "nested" configuration with the operation of the two-stage array described in the present paper. In a nested load configuration, the outer array inductively shields an inner array from the generator current during the ablation phase and the beginning of the snowplough implosion.…”

Section: Discussion On the Scaling Of The Two-stage Z-pinch To Higmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterisation of the current switch mechanism in two-stage wire array Z-pinches

et al. 2015

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In this paper, we describe the operation of a two-stage wire array z-pinch driven by the 1.4 MA, 240 ns rise-time Magpie pulsed-power device at Imperial College London. In this setup, an inverse wire array acts as a fast current switch, delivering a current pre-pulse into a cylindrical load wire array, before rapidly switching the majority of the generator current into the load after a 100–150 ns dwell time. A detailed analysis of the evolution of the load array during the pre-pulse is presented. Measurements of the load resistivity and energy deposition suggest significant bulk heating of the array mass occurs. The ∼5 kA pre-pulse delivers ∼0.8 J of energy to the load, leaving it in a mixed, predominantly liquid-vapour state. The main current switch occurs as the inverse array begins to explode and plasma expands into the load region. Electrical and imaging diagnostics indicate that the main current switch may evolve in part as a plasma flow switch, driven by the expansion of a magnetic cavity and plasma bubble along the length of the load array. Analysis of implosion trajectories suggests that approximately 1 MA switches into the load in 100 ns, corresponding to a doubling of the generator dI/dt. Potential scaling of the device to higher current machines is discussed.

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“…A significant method to mitigate these instabilities is to introduce additional mass, such as an inner wire array, into the implosion plasmas [77].…”

Section: Nested Wire Arraysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theoretical and numerical research of wire array Z-pinch and dynamic hohlraum at IAPCM

Ding

Zhang

Xiao

et al. 2016

Matter and Radiation at Extremes

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Dense Z-pinch plasmas are powerful and energy-efficient laboratory sources of x rays, and show the possibility to drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Recent advances in wire-array Z-pinch and Z-pinch dynamic hohlraum (ZPDH) researches at the Institute of Applied Physics and Computational Mathematics are presented in this paper. Models are setup to study different physical processes. A full circuit model (FCM) was used to study the coupling between Z-pinch implosion and generator discharge. A mass injection model with azimuthal modulation was setup to simulate the wire-array plasma initiation, and the two-dimensional MHD code MARED was developed to investigate the Z-pinch implosion, MRT instability, stagnation and radiation. Implosions of nested and quasispherical wire array were also investigated theoretically and numerically. Key processes of ZPDH, such as the array-foam interaction, formation of the hohlraum radiation, as well as the following capsule ablation and implosion, were analyzed with different radiation magneto-hydrodynamics (RMHD) codes. An integrated 2D RMHD simulation of dynamic hohlraum driven capsule implosion provides us the physical insights of wire-array plasma acceleration, shock generation and propagation, hohlraum formation, radiation ablation, and fuel compression.

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Fast commutation of high current in double wire array Z-pinch loads

Cited by 76 publications

References 4 publications

One-, two-, and three-dimensional modeling of the different phases of wire array Z-pinch evolution

One-, two-, and three-dimensional modeling of the different phases of wire array Z-pinch evolution

Characterisation of the current switch mechanism in two-stage wire array Z-pinches

Theoretical and numerical research of wire array Z-pinch and dynamic hohlraum at IAPCM

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