Helical Instability Evolution in Dynamic-Screw-Pinch-Driven Plasma Implosions

动态螺杆夹紧驱动等离子体内爆中的螺旋不稳定性演化

• 批准号: 2205608
• 负责人: Ryan McBride
• 金额: $ 58.6万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2205608&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Helical; Instability; Evolution; Dynamic; Screw

This award supports an effort to understand a plasma compression technique called the dynamic screw pinch, which has been demonstrated to reduce plasma instabilities. The knowledge gained in this project could enable more powerful x-ray generation, higher-pressure materials properties experiments, more efficient nuclear fusion generation, and a better understanding of astrophysical processes. The project will benefit society by advancing basic scientific knowledge, enabling future energy sources, and improving national defense capabilities. This project will also help train a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in plasma science and engineering while building stronger partnerships between academia, industry, and national laboratories. The project is awarded by the NSF Division of Physics with support from the National Nuclear Security Administration within the Department of Energy. This project will investigate the way in which cylindrical plasmas become unstable and break apart when they are strongly compressed by a magnetic field. Recently, a plasma compression technique called the dynamic screw pinch (DSP) has been demonstrated to reduce plasma instability growth in initially solid-metal thin-foil liner implosions on 1-MA, 100-nanosecond pulsed power facilities. The DSP technique uses a helical magnetic field with a time-dependent pitch angle to compress the cylindrical plasma. Despite the success of the DSP technique, questions remain as to how DSP-driven instabilities initially form and evolve relative to those driven by a standard z-pinch with a purely azimuthal magnetic field. This project will evaluate competing theories computationally and experimentally. Specifically, this project will investigate the roles of the electrothermal instability, coronal plasma dynamics, and magnetic field pitch angles in the seeding and evolution of the magneto-Rayleigh-Taylor instability (MRTI).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项支持对称为动态螺杆夹紧的等离子体压缩技术的研究，该技术已被证明可以减少等离子体的不稳定性。该项目中获得的知识可以实现更强大的 X 射线生成、高压材料特性实验、更有效的核聚变生成以及更好地理解天体物理过程。该项目将通过推进基础科学知识、实现未来能源和提高国防能力来造福社会。该项目还将帮助培训等离子体科学与工程领域的多元化本科生和研究生，同时在学术界、工业界和国家实验室之间建立更牢固的合作伙伴关系。 该项目由美国国家科学基金会物理部授予，并得到能源部国家核安全管理局的支持。该项目将研究圆柱形等离子体在受到磁场强烈压缩时如何变得不稳定和分裂。 最近，一种称为动态螺旋夹紧 (DSP) 的等离子体压缩技术已被证明可以减少 1-MA、100 纳秒脉冲电力设施上最初的固体金属薄箔衬里内爆中等离子体不稳定性的增长。 DSP 技术使用具有随时间变化的螺距角的螺旋磁场来压缩圆柱形等离子体。 尽管 DSP 技术取得了成功，但与由纯方位角磁场的标准 z 箍缩驱动的不稳定性相比，DSP 驱动的不稳定性最初是如何形成和演化的问题仍然存在。 该项目将通过计算和实验来评估竞争理论。 具体来说，该项目将研究电热不稳定性、日冕等离子体动力学和磁场俯仰角在磁瑞利泰勒不稳定性 (MRTI) 的播种和演化中的作用。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。