Investigation of the Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities

Bonazza, Riccardo ; Anderson, Mark ; Oakley, Jason

University of Wisconsin--Madison

关键词: Research Programs;    Acceleration;    Inertial Confinement Fusion;    Target Implosion.;    70 Plasma Physics And Fusion Technology;   

DOI  :  10.2172/877172
RP-ID  :  DOE/FG/00061-3
RP-ID  :  FG52-03NA00061
RP-ID  :  877172

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The present research program is centered on the experimental and numerical study of two instabilities that develop at the interface between two different fluids when the interface experiences an impulsive or a constant acceleration. The instabilities, called the Richtmyer-Meshkov and Rayleigh-Taylor instability, respectively (RMI and RTI), adversely affect target implosion in experiments aimed at the achievement of nuclear fusion by inertial confinement by causing the nuclear fuel contained in a target and the ablated shell material to mix, leading to contamination of the fuel, yield reduction or no ignition at all. Specifically, our work is articulated in three main directions: study of impulsively accelerated spherical gas inhomogeneities; study of impulsively accelerated 2-D interfaces; study of a liquid interface under the action of gravity. The objectives common to all three activities are to learn some physics directly from our experiments and calculations; and to develop a database at previously untested conditions to be used to calibrate and verify some of the computational tools being developed within the RTI/RMI community at the national laboratories and the ASCI centers.