Abstract
Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth is shown to be hydrodynamically scale invariant in convergent cylindrical implosions for targets that varied in radial dimension and implosion timescale by a factor of 3. The targets were driven directly by laser irradiation providing a short impulse, and instability growth at an embedded aluminum interface occurs as it converges radially inward by a factor of 2.25 and decelerates on a central foam core. Late-time growth factors of 14 are observed for a single-mode azimuthal perturbation at both scales, despite the differences in laser drive conditions between the experimental facilities, consistent with predictions from radiation-hydrodynamics simulations. This platform enables detailed investigations into the limits of hydrodynamic scaling in high-energy-density systems.
- Received 20 December 2019
- Revised 16 March 2020
- Accepted 7 April 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.185003
© 2020 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
synopsis
Laser-Driven Implosions Similar at Dissimilar Scales
Published 7 May 2020
Imploding targets at two different inertial confinement fusion facilities exhibit the same hydrodynamics over spatial and temporal scales that vary by a factor of 3.
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