Design and modeling of precision solid liner experiments on Pegasus

Abstract

Pulsed power driven solid liners may be used for a variety of physics experiments involving materials at high stresses. These include shock formation and propagation, material strain-rate effects, material melt, instability growth, and ejecta from shocked surfaces. We describe the design and performance of a cylindrical solid liner that can attain velocities in the several mm/μs regime, and that can be used to drive high-stress experiments. An approximate theoretical analysis of solid liner implosions is used to establish the basic parameters (mass, materials, and initial radius) of the driver. We then present one-dimensional and two-dimensional simulations of magnetically driven, liner implosions which include resistive heating and elastic–plastic behavior. The two-dimensional models are used to study the effects of electrode glide planes on the liner’s performance, to examine sources of perturbations of the liner, and to assess possible effects of instability growth during the implosion. Finally, simulations are compared with experimental data to show that the solid liner performed as predicted computationally. Experimental data indicate that the liner imploded from an initial radius of 2.4 cm to a target radius of 1.5 cm, and that it was concentric and cylindrical to better than the experimental resolution (60 μm) at the target. The results demonstrate that a precision solid liner can be produced for high-stress, pulsed power applications experiments.