Wire ablation dynamics model and its application to imploding wire arrays of different geometries

• Published in: Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics, 2012-10, Vol.86 (4 Pt 2), p.046404-046404, Article 046404
• Main Authors: Esaulov, A A, Kantsyrev, V L, Safronova, A S, Velikovich, A L, Shrestha, I K, Williamson, K M, Osborne, G C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1539-3755; 1550-2376
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.86.046404

The paper presents an extended description of the amplified wire ablation dynamics model (WADM), which accounts in a single simulation for the processes of wire ablation and implosion of a wire array load of arbitrary geometry and wire material composition. To investigate the role of wire ablation effects, the implosions of cylindrical and planar wire array loads at the university based generators Cobra (Cornell University) and Zebra (University of Nevada, Reno) have been analyzed. The analysis of the experimental data shows that the wire mass ablation rate can be described as a function of the current through the wire and some coefficient defined by the wire material properties. The aluminum wires were found to ablate with the highest rate, while the copper ablation is the slowest one. The lower wire ablation rate results in a higher inward velocity of the ablated plasma, a higher rate of the energy coupling with the ablated plasma, and a more significant delay of implosion for a heavy load due to the ablation effects, which manifest the most in a cylindrical array configuration and almost vanish in a single-planar array configuration. The WADM is an efficient tool suited for wire array load design and optimization in wide parameter ranges, including the loads with specific properties needed for the inertial confinement fusion research and laboratory astrophysics experiments. The data output from the WADM simulation can be used to simplify the radiation magnetohydrodynamics modeling of the wire array plasma.