ABSTRACT
A vacuum-voltmeter (VVM) was fielded on the Saturn pulsed power generator during a series of argon gas-puff Z-pinch shots. Time-resolved voltage and separately measured load current are used to determine several dynamic properties as the load implodes, namely, the inductance, L(t), net energy coupled to the load, E(coupled)(t), and the load radius, r(t). The VVM is a two-stage voltage divider, designed to operate at voltages up to 2 MV. The VVM is presently being modified to operate at voltages up to 6 MV for eventual use on the Z generator.
ABSTRACT
The distribution of argon gas injected by a 12-cm-diameter triple-shell nozzle was characterized using both planar, laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) and high-sensitivity interferometry. PLIF is used to measure the density distribution at a given time by detecting fluorescence from an acetone tracer added to the gas. Interferometry involves making time-dependent, line-integrated gas density measurements at a series of chordal locations that are then Abel inverted to obtain the gas density distribution. Measurements were made on nominally identical nozzles later used for gas-puff Z-pinch experiments on the Saturn pulsed-power generator. Significant differences in the mass distributions obtained by the two techniques are presented and discussed, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each method.
