Validation of FLASH for magnetically driven inertial confinement fusion target design
FLASH is a widely available radiation magnetohydrodynamics code used for astrophysics, laboratory plasma science, high energy density physics, and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Increasing interest in magnetically driven inertial confinement fusion, including Pacific fusion's development of a 60 MA demonstration system designed to achieve facility gain, motivates the improvement and validation of FLASH for modeling magnetically driven ICF concepts, such as MagLIF, at ignition scale. Here, we present a collection of six validation benchmarks from experiments at the Z Pulsed Power Facility and theoretical and simulation studies of scaling MagLIF to high currents. The benchmarks range in complexity from focused experiments of linear hydrodynamic instabilities to fully integrated MagLIF fusion experiments. With the latest addition of physics capabilities, FLASH now obtains good agreement with the experimental data, theoretical results, and leading ICF target design simulation code results across all six benchmarks. These results establish confidence in FLASH as a useful tool for designing magnetically driven ICF targets on facilities like Z and Pacific fusion's upcoming 60 MA Demonstration System.
Authors
- Philip Mocz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6631-2566)
- Adam Reyes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1859-9229)
- B. Ferguson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4133-925X)
- Nantas Nardelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8491-8166)
- N. B. Meezan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7671-2886)
- K. Moczulski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8676-2684)
- Paul Schmit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9709-7333)
- A. Link (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7686-7741)
- F. García-Rubio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7168-3190)
- A. B. Zylstra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0489-7479)
- C. Leland Ellison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1253-5868)
- Jonathan Carroll-Nellenback (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3265-7210)
- Keith LeChien
- Douglas S. Miller
- D. C. van Vugt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1108-3927)
- Petros Tzeferacos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9042-6333)
- E. C. Hansen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8565-9602)
- Patrick Knapp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3009-8673)
- Chiatai Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1990-4117)
- Jacob King (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6325-8899)
- Susan A. Davidson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3436-6513)
- Hardeep Sullan
- Yannick de Jong
Institutions
- Luxun Academy of Fine Arts (CN)
- Pacific Environment (US)
- Torino e-district (IT)
- Flatiron Health (United States) (US)
- University of Rochester (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physics of Plasmas
- Published
- 2025-09-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0273596
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.35
Funders
- Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy
- Office of Science
- Los Alamos National Laboratory