Concave variable-mass liner

The liner magnetic implosion experiments typically employ liners having the shape of a right circular cylinder. This paper considers the feasibility to use axially symmetric liners of a more complex (concave) shape. According to computations, the liner linear mass can decrease many-fold during concave liner implosion with an appropriate selection of the initial curvature (in plane r-z). These liners can be considered as variable (decreasing) mass liners. The above feature is interesting in that it allows a considerable increase in the rate of the liner convergence toward the axis as compared to a cylindrical liner of the same initial thickness and the same initial radius. As for the liner velocity at a fixed speed of operation of current source, its increase is desirable in a number of practical applications of liner high-velocity magnetic implosion (generation of megabar pressures, X-ray pulse, etc.).