Speakers
Description
Recent results from experiments of magnetically-driven pulsed power solid
liners have exhibited electrothermal instability (ETI) growth early during
the phase transitions of the conductor. Understanding the development of
these instabilities and potential stabilization mechanisms could play a sig-
nificant role in the success of fusion concepts such as MagLIF (Magnetized
Liner Inertial Fusion). For MagLIF, the magneto Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT)instability is the most detrimental instability toward achieving fusion energy
production, so understanding any and all seeding mechanisms can help delay
or control the MRT instability growth. The solid liner implosions undergo
exotic phase transitions that make ideal magnetohydrodynamics inadequate
resulting in the need for more advanced physics models such as extended-
MHD. The overall focus of this project is on using a multi-fluid extended-
MHD model with kinetic closures for thermal conductivity, resistivity, and
viscosity to study moderately-to-highly coupled high energy density plasmas.
Thus far extended-MHD simulations have been conducted using SESAME
equation-of-state tables along with semi-implicit time-stepping schemes for
the parabolic terms of resistivity and thermal conductivity. Simulations of
early time ETI growth will be presented using tabulated Lee-More-Desjarlais
electrical and thermal conductivities in various configurations and for dif-
ferent pulse profiles.
