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Farmer, William A.

Publications and source records attributed to Farmer, William A..

Deep Koopman Neural Network for Analyzing High-Energy-Density Simulations of Electrical Wire Explosions

Megaampere-scale electrical wire experiments (EWEs) provide a platform for studying magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instability growth in magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) devices. Even when nonlinear simulations of these experiments can digitally reproduce much of the experimentally observed instability growth, interpreting the results and understanding mode growth and evolution can be non-trivial. As a first step toward providing better interpretation of these simulation features, this work investigates the use of a deep neural network that uses Koopman operator theory to analyze the dynamics of pulsed-power-driven explosions of EWEs. This deep neural network is trained on 1-D resistive MHD simulations of EWEs. This neural network learns to transform the nonlinear data into a lower-dimensional representation where the time dynamics are linear. Layers of this neural network are shown to learn features of the simulations, including the locations of shock waves and different physical regimes of the simulation. Using the learned features, the network can compress a time state of the simulation consisting of 5120 data point into a 36-parameter lower-dimensional latent space embedding. Furthermore, these embeddings are shown to be clustered in the latent space by initial radius and time state.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Understanding the deficiency in inertial confinement fusion hohlraum x-ray flux predictions using experiments at the National Ignition Facility

The predicted implosion performance of deuterium-tritium fuel capsules in indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments relies on precise calculations of the x-ray drive in laser-heated cavities (hohlraums). This requires accurate, spectrally dependent simulations of laser to x-ray conversion efficiencies and x-ray absorption losses to the hohlraum wall. A set of National Ignition Facility experiments have identified a cause for the long-standing hohlraum “drive deficit” as the overprediction of gold emission at ~2.5 keV in nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium coronal plasma regions within the hohlraum. Finally, reducing the emission and absorption opacity in this spectral region by ~20% brings simulations into agreement with measured x-ray fluxes and spectra.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Numerical Improvements in Magnetohydrodynamic, Pulsed Power Simulations of Near-Target Plasmas

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of pulsed power experiments frequently result in unphysical runaway heating when extended to low values of mass density. Traditionally, this has been addressed by the use of conductivity floors below which the plasma is given an arbitrarily low conductivity value. Here, a low-density treatment is presented that allows for low-density material to carry current while maintaining a stable temperature. This treatment is implemented in the Ares multiphysics code. Numerical modifications to the conventional vacuum treatment include an energy-conserving density floor, a modified averaging procedure to determine the thermal conductivity at the edge of adjacent zones, and a modified averaging procedure for determining the thermal conductivity in mixed zones that contain material from differing regions. Additionally, anomalous resistivity and Bohm diffusion models are implemented as simplified models for microphysics-induced enhancement of collisional transport. Importantly, the advantage of these various improvements are illustrated in a simple 1-D pulsed power target where the combined changes result in stable temperatures within the lower density regions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Effect of surface roughness on phase transition timing in megaampere pulsed-power–driven exploding conductors

An understanding of material phase transitions in megaampere pulsed-power–driven exploding conductors is important for predicting the growth of hydrodynamic instabilities in magneto-inertial fusion concepts. Here, this study analyzes phase transitions in electrical conductor explosions using 1D Lagrangian and 2D arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations to show that micrometer-scale surface roughness can lead to the electrothermal instability (ETI), a feedback effect that concentrates resistive heating and leads to early melting and ablation. Simulations of the Mykonos electrothermal instability II (METI-II) experiment show melting begins 19% sooner for machined rods with micrometer-scale surface roughness than for rods without these features. The surface magnetic field is 41 T around the initial region of melt, representing a lower magnitude than both the 86 T from 1D simulations and the 85 T threshold reported elsewhere. In 2D simulations with micrometer-scale surface roughness, temperature measurements indicate the critical point temperature of aluminum is reached 17% faster in comparison with 1D simulations. Values from 2D simulations with surface roughness align with predictions from ETI theory, and the observed temperature redistribution further supports the ETI as an underlying mechanism. Simulation results are validated against experimental photonic Doppler velocimetry data. This study shows 1D simulations are adequate to model conductors with sub-micrometer-scale surface roughness in this high-energy-density regime; however, 2D or 3D simulations are required to capture the full range of physics for accurately describing phase transitions in conductors with micrometer-scale or larger surface roughness.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Contribution to: UNM-UNR-VT Project Research Performance Progress Report 'Seeding and Evolution of Magnetohydrodynamic Instabilities of a Metal Surface Driven by Intense Current' Year 4 (no-cost extension for FY 2022): Oct 2021 - Sept 2022

The multiphysics code Ares has been used to perform resistive MHD fluid simulations of the METI-II experiments (described in Section 1.1.2). The simulations include both 1D Lagrangian simulations and axisymmetric 2D ALE simulations. The results of these simulations are summarized here and a full manuscript is nearing completion for submission.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗