Events in Physics
Nikita Chaturvedi (Imperial): Simulations of Magnetised Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) and relevant experiments
Location: PS1.28
Abstract: Magnetised Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) is one of several approaches being investigated as a potential avenue to fusion energy. This is currently being pursued on the Z facility at Sandia National Laboratories, the largest pulsed-power facility in the world. An immense current is rapidly passed through a metallic cylindrical shell (liner) containing fusion fuel, forcing the liner to implode under the Lorentz force and compressing the fuel to high density and temperatures.
There are several factors that can degrade the fusion performance. One of these are magneto-Rayleigh Taylor (MRT) instabilities that form on the liner surface and penetrate the liner-fuel interface, deviating away from a uniform compression and enhancing radiation losses. The seed of the MRT instability is not yet fully understood, however one proposed mechanism is the electrothermal instability (ETI), where defects in the liner result in the axial current being redirected.
This talk will describe the MagLIF platform, and describe the ongoing simulation efforts by the Plasma Physics group at Imperial College London to simulate ETI and MRT growth using Gorgon, an in-house radiation magnetohydrodynamics code.