Shock tube investigation of hydrodynamic issues related to inertial confinement fusion

A shock tube investigation of two hydrodynamic issues related to inertial c onfinement fusion (ICF) is undertaken. ICF is a promising source of energy for the future. There has been a considerable increase in the interest in I CF with the development of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). However, m uch remains to be investigated before a useful yield is obtained from a fus ion reaction for power generation. The physics involved in carrying out a f usion reaction combines hydrodynamics, plasma physics and radiation effects superimposed on each other, at extremely small scales, making the problem very complex. One such phenomenon occurring in the deuterium-tritium pellet implosion is the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability occuring at each layer of t he fuel which results in the mixing of the ablator with the fuel. This caus es dilution of the fuel and reduces the yield of the reaction. Another issu e is the impulsive loading of ICF reactor cooling tubes due to the shock wa ve produced as a result of the fusion reaction. These tubes must withstand the impulse of the shock wave. A shock tube provides an ideal environment t o study these issues at large geometric scales with the isolation of hydrod ynamics from other effects. A new vertical, square shock tube has been desi gned specifically for the purpose of studying these fluid flow phenomena fr om a fundamental point of view. The shock tube is vertical, with a large sq uare inner cross-section and is designed to allow for the release of a M = 5 shock into air at atmospheric pressure. In this paper, we describe the ne w shock tube and related instrumentation in detail and present a few prelim inary results on the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability and shock-cylinder inter actions.