EQUILIBRIUM PELLET AND LIQUID JET SHAPE UNDER HIGH ABLATION PRESSURES

Owing to the nonspherical nature of the heat deposition in the pellet ablation cloud by energy loss of incident plasma electrons streaming p arallel to the uniform magnetic field, a nonuniform pressure distribut ion develops at the pellet surface. This can lead to deformation of '' soft'' cryogenic pellets exposed to high temperature and high density magnetized plasmas. The effect of deformation on the burning rate and stability of the condensed phase is evaluated for pellets and liquid j ets. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.