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Liner Dynamics During Flux Compression
| Author: | Goodrich T. |
| Coauthor: | B.S. Bauer, I.R. Lindemuth, V. Makhin, R.E. Siemon, R.E. Reinovsky, R. Faehl |
| Institution : | University of Nevada, Reno |
| Abstract text: | Large magnetic fields can be generated by compressing flux using liner technology. Fields of 500 Tesla and above correspond to millions of atmospheres, a regime where new important fusion possibilities exist such as Magnetized Target Fusion. The University of Nevada, Reno is collaborating with Los Alamos National Laboratory on a flux compression experiment that will use the Atlas facility (23 MJ, 30 MA) to generate 100 Tesla in initial experiments. No plasma is involved, but the geometry is compatible with the inverse pinch (see Bauer et al., this conference). Flux is trapped between a hard core conductor that carries an initial bias current, and an outer cylinder or liner. The few-mm-thick liner implodes because of Atlas current on the outside of the liner, which flows in a circuit separate from the trapped flux. The end electrodes can be either perpendicular to the liner motion or cone shaped such that the liner impacts upon the cones during the implosion. With cones the cavity containing trapped flux shrinks axially as well as radially, which amplifies flux compression during radial liner motion. An existing code solves simultaneous ordinary differential equations that represent a zero-dimensional model of liner motion. An Atlas-driven liner 2-mm thick, 4-cm long, and 5-cm in radius would implode in about 15 microseconds. The compressed field rises to 100T on a 5-mm-radius hard core conductor as the liner reaches within 2mm of the hard core, provided the initial current for trapped flux is 370 kA in the perpendicular geometry or 110 kA in the conical geometry. A new zero-dimensional model using Matlab will include the tapered geometry and effects of finite liner thickness. Output from the zero-D code is also useful to quantify boundary motions for partial-differential-equation solvers that model plasma response. |
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