Hydrodynamic Phenomena Of Gas Filled Chamber Due To Target Implosion In Fusion Reactors

Use of an intermediate gas in the reaction chamber of an inertial fusion power reactor is under consideration to decrease the thermal shock to the walls resulting from target implosions. A model was developed and implemented in HEIGHTS package to simulate hydrodynamic and radiation shock waves in the chamber and used to determine the effect of xenon gas at various densities ranging from mtorr up to tens of torr. Numerical calculations for the dense-gas case indicated that two pressure peaks result from the shock wave interacting with the chamber wall, and radiation energy accumulates directly in front of the hydrodynamic shock wave. The shock wave should reach a maximum pressure peak when the chamber gas has a density between the two extremes analyzed. In general, calculated results with our model compared favorably with previously published data.