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arXiv · 1610.03728

Simulation and assessment of ion kinetic effects in a direct-drive capsule implosion experiment

Ari Le·T. J. T. Kwan·M. J. Schmitt·H. W. Herrmann·S. H. Batha
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Abstract

The first simulations employing a kinetic treatment of both fuel and shell ions to model inertial confinement fusion experiments are presented, including results showing the importance of kinetic physics processes in altering fusion burn. A pair of direct drive capsule implosions performed at the OMEGA facility with two different gas fills of deuterium, tritium, and helium-3 are analyzed. During implosion shock convergence, highly non-Maxwellian ion velocity distributions and separations in the density and temperature amongst the ion species are observed. Diffusion of fuel into the capsule shell is identified as a principal process that degrades fusion burn performance.

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Ari Le, T. J. T. Kwan, M. J. Schmitt, H. W. Herrmann, S. H. Batha. 2016-10-12. Simulation and assessment of ion kinetic effects in a direct-drive capsule implosion experiment. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4965913

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