F. W. Doss

Instability, mixing, and transition to turbulence in a laser-driven counterflowing shear experiment

In a turbulence experiment conducted at the Omega Laser Facility [Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]], regions of 60 mg/cc foam are separated by an aluminum plate running the length of a 1.6 mm shock tube. Two counter-propagating laser-driven shocks are used to create a high speed, ΔV=140 km/s shear flow environment, sustained for ∼10 ns, while canceling the transverse pressure gradient across the interface. The spreading of the aluminum by shear-instability-induced mixing is measured by x-ray radiography. The width of the mix region is compared to simulations. Reynolds numbers ≳4×105 are achieved within the layer. Following the onset of shear, we observe striations corresponding to the dominant mode growth and their transition through non-linear structures to developed turbulence.

The Shock/Shear platform for planar radiation-hydrodynamics experiments on the National Ignition Facilitya)

An indirectly-driven shock tube experiment fielded on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) was used to create a high-energy-density hydrodynamics platform at unprecedented scale. Scaling up a shear-induced mixing experiment previously fielded at OMEGA, the NIF shear platform drives 130 μm/ns shocks into a CH foam-filled shock tube (∼ 60 mg/cc) with interior dimensions of 1.5 mm diameter and 5 mm length. The pulse-shaping capabilities of the NIF are used to extend the drive for >10 ns, and the large interior tube volumes are used to isolate physics-altering edge effects from the region of interest. The scaling of the experiment to the NIF allows for considerable improvement in maximum driving time of hydrodynamics, in fidelity of physics under examination, and in diagnostic clarity. Details of the experimental platform and post-shot simulations used in the analysis of the platform-qualifying data are presented. Hydrodynamic scaling is used to compare shear data from OMEGA with that from NIF, suggesting a possible change in the dimensionality of the instability at late times from one platform to the other.

The high-energy-density counterpropagating shear experiment and turbulent self-heating

The counterpropagating shear experiment has previously demonstrated the ability to create regions of shock-driven shear, balanced symmetrically in pressure, and experiencing minimal net drift. This allows for the creation of a high-Mach-number high-energy-density shear environment. New data from the counterpropagating shear campaign is presented, and both hydrocode modeling and theoretical analysis in the context of a Reynolds-averaged-Navier-Stokes model suggest turbulent dissipation of energy from the supersonic flow bounding the layer is a significant driver in its expansion. A theoretical minimum shear flow Mach number threshold is suggested for substantial thermal-turbulence coupling.

Modifying mixing and instability growth through the adjustment of initial conditions in a high-energy-density counter-propagating shear experiment on OMEGA

Counter-propagating shear experiments conducted at the OMEGA Laser Facility have been evaluating the effect of target initial conditions, specifically the characteristics of a tracer foil located at the shear boundary, on Kelvin-Helmholtz instability evolution and experiment transition toward nonlinearity and turbulence in the high-energy-density (HED) regime. Experiments are focused on both identifying and uncoupling the dependence of the model initial turbulent length scale in variable-density turbulence models of k-ϵ type on competing physical instability seed lengths as well as developing a path toward fully developed turbulent HED experiments. We present results from a series of experiments controllably and independently varying two initial types of scale lengths in the experiment: the thickness and surface roughness (surface perturbation scale spectrum) of a tracer layer at the shear interface. We show that decreasing the layer thickness and increasing the surface roughness both have the ability to increase the relative mixing in the system, and thus theoretically decrease the time required to begin transitioning to turbulence in the system. We also show that we can connect a change in observed mix width growth due to increased foil surface roughness to an analytically predicted change in model initial turbulent scale lengths.

Measurements of continuous mix evolution in a high energy density shear flow

We report on the novel integration of streaked radiography into a counter-flowing High Energy Density (HED) shear environment that continually measures a growing mix layer of Al separating two low-density CH foams. Measurements of the mix width allow us to validate compressible turbulence models and with streaked imaging, make this possible with a minimal number of experiments on large laser facilities. In this paper, we describe how the HED counter-flowing shear layer is created and diagnosed with streaked radiography. We then compare the streaked data to previous two-dimensional, single frame radiography and radiation hydrodynamic simulations of the experiment with inline compressible turbulent mix models.

Simulation ensemble for a laser–driven shear experiment

We perform an ensemble of simulations of a laser-driven shear experiment [L. Welser-Sherrill et al., “Two laser-driven mix experiments to study reshock and shear,” High Energy Density Phys. J. 9(3), 496–499 (2013)] in the strong-shock high energy-density regime to better understand material mixing driven by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. Each simulation uses a different realization of random initial interface perturbations based on data from targets used in experiments. Validation of the simulations is based on direct comparison of simulation and radiographic data. Simulations are also compared with published direct numerical simulation and the theory of homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Despite the fact that the flow is neither homogeneous, isotropic, nor fully turbulent, there are local regions in which the flow demonstrates characteristics of homogeneous isotropic turbulence. Our analysis shows characteristics consistent with those of incompressible isotropic turbulence. Our results show that turbul...

Analysis of the effects of energy deposition on shock-driven turbulent mixing

We perform simulations of laser-driven turbulence experiments with energy deposition, modeling situations where energy is deposited in a mixing layer before or after it is reshocked. Such situations are experienced in, e.g., inertial confinement fusion capsules. We show that the timing of the energy deposition has a significant impact on the development of turbulent flow and corresponding turbulent material mixing. In particular, if the energy is deposited before the shock wave begins interacting with the mixing layer, the development of turbulence and turbulent mixing are inhibited. If, however, the energy is deposited after the shock wave has interacted with a portion of the mixing layer, turbulence generation and turbulent mixing are enhanced.

Development of Indirectly Driven Shock Tube Targets for Counter-Propagating Shear-Driven Kelvin-Helmholtz Experiments on the National Ignition Facility

Abstract The shear experiments are designed to investigate the transition to turbulence of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability driven by counter-propagating shear flows. The shear targets for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) shear experiments consist of two hohlraums connected to both ends of a shock tube. The cylindrical shock tube is filled with two hemi-cylindrical CH foams separated by a metal tracer foil. On both ends, a thick gold half-moon–shaped D-plug is placed on opposite halves of the tube to create counter-propagating shock waves. The design is based on a smaller Omega shear target. While the basic NIF design has remained the same, details of the design have undergone several changes over the last 2 years and continue to evolve to improve the quality of the experimental results. Design changes include shock tube designs, tracer foil variations, transitioning to beryllium spool machining, and groove features inside of the tube. Details of how the targets are built including design, machining the parts, target assembly, and metrology are presented, as well as recent target developmental work to meet the needs of future experiments and to improve target assembly efficiency and accuracy.

Three- and two-dimensional simulations of counter-propagating shear experiments at high energy densities at the National Ignition Facility

Three- and two-dimensional numerical studies have been carried out to simulate recent counter-propagating shear flow experiments on the National Ignition Facility. A multi-physics three-dimensional, time-dependent radiation hydrodynamics simulation code is used. Using a Reynolds Averaging Navier-Stokes model, we show that the evolution of the mixing layer width obtained from the simulations agrees well with that measured from the experiments. A sensitivity study is conducted to illustrate a 3D geometrical effect that could confuse the measurement at late times, if the energy drives from the two ends of the shock tube are asymmetric. Implications for future experiments are discussed.

Multimode instability evolution driven by strong, high-energy-density shocks in a rarefaction-reflected geometry

We present an experiment using lasers to produce a shock pressure of >10 Mbar, which we then use to drive Richtmyer–Meshkov and Rayleigh–Taylor growth at a 2D multimode perturbed interface. Key features of this platform are that we can precisely reproduce the perturbation from iteration to iteration of the experiment, facilitating analysis, and that the lasers allow us to produce very strong shocks, creating a plasma state in the system. We also implement a Bayesian technique to analyze the multimode spectra. This technique enables us to draw quantitative conclusions about the spectrum, even in the presence of significant noise. For instance, we measure the signal contained in the seeded modes over time, as well as the transition of the initial growth rate of these modes into the overall saturation behavior of the spectrum.