2-DIMENSIONAL MODELING OF THE X-RADIATION OUTPUT FROM PERTURBED Z-PINCHES

Two-dimensional radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations are presente d that demonstrate the effects of magnetically driven Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities on the soft x-ray output from Z pinches. Instability mod els, which reproduce the current drive wave form and match visible fra ming camera data for instability wavelength and amplitude for implosio ns on capacitively driven inductive store systems, are used to study t he structure of the x-ray output and the spectrum of radiation emitted from the pinch. The results indicate that standard magnetohydrodynami cs is capable of reproducing much of the observed data when two-dimens ional effects associated with Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities are includ ed. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.