Time evolution and asymmetry of a laser produced blast wave

E. R. Tubman, R. H. H. Scott, Hugo W. Doyle, J. Meinecke, H Ahmed, R. A.B. Alraddadi, Riccardo Bolis, Joseph E. Cross, R. Crowston, D. Doria, L D LAMB, B. Reville, A. P. L. Robinson, P. Tzeferacos, M Borghesi, G. Gregori, N. C. Woolsey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Studies of a blast wave produced from carbon rods and plastic spheres in an argon background gas have been conducted using the Vulcan laser at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. A laser of 1500 J was focused onto these targets, and rear-side observations of an emission front were recorded using a fast-framing camera. The emission front is asymmetrical in shape and tends to a more symmetrical shape as it progresses due to the production of a second shock wave later in time, which pushes out the front of the blast wave. Plastic spheres produce faster blast waves, and the breakthrough of the second shock is visible before the shock stalls. The results are presented to demonstrate this trend, and similar evolution dynamics of experimental and simulation data from the FLASH radiation-hydrodynamics code are observed.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103124
JournalPhysics of Plasmas
Volume24
Issue number10
Early online date13 Oct 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2017

Bibliographical note

©2017 The authors

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