Modifying wire-array Z-pinch ablation structure using coiled arrays.
A new wire-array configuration has been used to control the modulation of ablated plasma flow for the first time. Cylindrical aluminum coiled arrays, in which each straight wire is replaced with a single helix, were driven by a 1 MA, 240 ns current pulse. Ablated plasma is directed away from the coiled wire cores in a manner that can be understood in terms of Lorentz forces that arise from a complex current path modeled by 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Outside the diameter of the helix, the flow of ablated plasma is axially modulated at the wavelength of the coil.
Hall
G N
GN
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BW, United Kingdom.
Chittenden
J P
JP
Bland
S N
SN
Lebedev
S V
SV
Bott
S C
SC
Jennings
C
C
Palmer
J B A
JB
Suzuki-Vidal
F
F