Conveners
4.6 Fast Z Pinches I
- Steve Richardson (Naval Research Laboratory)
Pulsed power driven underwater wire explosions are accompanied by the efficient generation of strong shockwaves. In the case of cylindrical or quasi-spherical wire arrays, convergence of these shockwaves results in high energy density conditions with multi Mbar pressures being obtained on axis, even in compact ‘table-top’ experiments. However much of the physics underlying wire explosion and...
Thomson scattering measurements have been performed on plasma jets created from a 15 µm thick radial Al foil load on COBRA, a 1 MA pulsed power machine. Two different spectrometers were used to collect both the ion acoustic wave (IAW) and the electron plasma wave (EPW) spectral features. The IAW feature gives a good measurement of the electron temperature, while the EPW feature measures the...
In previous studies at the UNR high-impedance Marx bank Zebra generator (1.9 Ω, 1.7 MA, 100 ns), Double Planar Wire Arrays (DPWAs) proved to be excellent radiators, and Double Planar Foil Liners (DPFLs) proved useful for future ICF applications. This presentation will showcase the results of joint UNR/UM experiments with Aluminum (Al) DPWAs and Al DPFLs at the UM low-impedance Linear...
Understanding the evolution of ohmically heated conductors is a fascinating physics challenge with numerous applications. The expansion of aluminum-6061 rods pulsed with rapidly rising lineal current density (3$\times$10$^{15}\,$A$\,$m$^{-1}$s$^{-1}$ for 80$\,$ns, from the SNL-Mykonos linear transformer driver) has been measured with photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV). The 400-µm rod radius...
The observation and analysis of shock waves generated by the underwater electrical explosion of a single aluminum and copper wires are reported. Experiments were carried out using microsecond timescale high-current generators delivering ~180 kA pulse with 1.2 µs rise-time and ~30 kA pulse with 1 µs rise-time. Shadow streak imaging was applied to study shock waves generated by the radially...
Energetic charged particles and plasma outflows are emitted by some transient high dense plasmas, particularly, different kinds of Z-pinches [1,2]. These emissions have been studied for producing surface modifications, implantation and/or deposition onto different substrates [2]. In this work, the axial outflows, composed of both keV-MeV ions and plasma jet, of a tungsten (W) conical wire...
