Computational modeling of wall-supported dense Z-pinches

In the authors' previous computational modeling of deuterium-fiber-initiated Z-pinches intended for ohmic self-heating to fusion conditions, instability-driven expansion caused densities to drop far below those desired for fusion applications; such behavior has been observed on experiments such as Los Alamos' HDZP-II. A new application for deuterium-fiber-initiated Z-pinches is Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF), in which a preheated and magnetized target plasma is hydrodynamically compressed, by a separately driven liner, to fusion conditions. Although the conditions necessary for a suitable target plasma-density O(1018 cm-3), temperature O(100 eV), magnetic field O(100 kG) are less extreme than those required for the previous ohmically heated fusion scheme, the plasma must remain magnetically insulated and clean long enough to be compressed by the imploding liner to fusion conditions, e.g., several microseconds. A fiber-initiated Z-pinch in a 2-cm-radius, 2-cm long conducting liner has been built at Los Alamos to investigate its suitability as an MTF target plasma. Two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic modeling of this experiment shows early instability similar to that seen on HDZP-II; however, when plasma finds support and stabilization at the outer radial wall, a relatively stable profile forms and persists. Comparison of experimental results and computations, and computational inclusion of additional experimental details is being done. Analytic and computational investigation is also being done on possible instability-driven cooling of the plasma by Benard-like convective cells adjacent to the cold wall