Simulating radiative shocks in nozzle shock tubes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the use of advanced simulation tools to model and analyze laser-driven radiative shocks in complex nozzle geometries, aiding the interpretation of high-energy-density physics experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a combined simulation approach using Hyades and CRASH codes to accurately model three-dimensional radiative shocks in nozzle shock tubes.

Findings

Successful simulation of compound shock structures

Verification of shock properties against estimates

Generation of synthetic radiographs for experimental comparison

Abstract

We use the recently developed Center for Radiative Shock Hydrodynamics (CRASH) code to numerically simulate laser-driven radiative shock experiments. These shocks are launched by an ablated beryllium disk and are driven down xenon-filled plastic tubes. The simulations are initialized by the two-dimensional version of the Lagrangian Hyades code which is used to evaluate the laser energy deposition during the first 1.1ns. The later times are calculated with the CRASH code. This code solves for the multi-material hydrodynamics with separate electron and ion temperatures on an Eulerian block-adaptive-mesh and includes a multi-group flux-limited radiation diffusion and electron thermal heat conduction. The goal of the present paper is to demonstrate the capability to simulate radiative shocks of essentially three-dimensional experimental configurations, such as circular and elliptical nozzles. We show that the compound shock structure of the primary and wall shock is captured and verify that the shock properties are consistent with order-of-magnitude estimates. The produced synthetic radiographs can be used for comparison with future nozzle experiments at high-energy-density laser facilities.