Simulation of wire array implosions on high-current pulsed power generators

Abstract

A dynamic model for wire array implosion, describing the single wire explosion starting from the solid state, has been developed and applied for simulation of the load on the PBFA-Z accelerator. Current through the single wire is calculated at each instant of time and used for 1D magnetohydrodynamic simulation of wire dynamics. The model allows to estimate the time when individual wires merge into a plasma shell. Calculations for various number of wires, load diameter, wire array mass for the wire array loads have been performed for the PBFA-Z accelerator. Simulations show that with optimal mass ratio in inner and outer wire arrays, output radiation power for double wire array load could be increased in about a factor of two compared to single wire array configuration.