Develop and Perform Experiments for High Energy Density Implosion Systems.

摘要

Work completed under this contract covers two facets of the development of high energy density plasma implosion systems. In the area of laser-guided discharges the following tasks have been accomplished: a preliminary analysis of the laser-aerosol-air interactions, which are responsible for initiating laser breakdown, has been performed; and a detailed air chemistry code, CHMAIR, has been developed to follow the evolution of air plasmas created by CO2 lasers and other heating or ionization sources to determine their temperature and chemical composition. Simple hydrodynamic calculations have been performed to predict channel radial growth. In the area of LINUS implosion systems the following tasks, in addition, have been performed: engineering designs have been provided for the HELIUS and LINUS-O machines; and experiments have been performed using the NRL 'water model' to measure the effect of duct shape and operating parameters on cylindrical and quasi-spherical implosions.