Magnetic pressure driven implosion of solid liner suitable for compression of field reversed configurations

Summary form only given, as follows. The initial design and performance of a magnetic pressure driven imploding solid liner with dimensions suitable for compressing a field reversed configuration (FRC) is presented and discussed. The nominal liner parameters are 30 cm length, 5 cm outer radius, /spl sim/0.1 cm thickness, Al material. The liner is imploded by magnetic pressure from an axial discharge driven by a 1300 microfarad capacitor bank. Other nominal discharge parameters are /spl sim/80 kV initial bank voltage, /spl sim/44 nanohenry initial total inductance, and /spl sim/milliohm series resistance. The discharge current exceeds 10 megamps in /spl sim/9 /spl mu/sec. Several types of calculations indicate that such a liner will implode in /spl sim/22 to 25//spl mu/sec, and will achieve a >0.3 cm//spl mu/sec implosion velocity by the time the liner has imploded to /spl sim/2.5 cm radius. This performance and these dimensions are suitable for FRC formation and compression. The diagnostics for the initial experiments include current (via Rogowski coils and inductive magnetic probes), voltage (via capacitive divider probes), flash radiography, and diagnostic magnetic field compression. Several types of simulations, including two dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, are also discussed.