On feasibility to achieve a high longitudinal symmetry of cylindrical metal liners compressed by currents from most powerful disk EMG

Due to their interaction with end current leads during implosion, high-energy cylindrical liners driven by disk EMG currents can gain considerable longitudinal asymmetry, like, for example, in the joint RF-US experiment HEL-1 (1996), which agrees with computations using various 2D techniques. This paper using 2D DRAKON and MEDUZA computations demonstrates the possibility to cardinally improve the longitudinal compression symmetry for this liner type as compared to that in HEL-1. The influence of liner geometry and strength parameters as well as ponderomotive unit end current lead parameters on the liner compression longitudinal symmetry is studied. Data is obtained which is needed for selection of the ponderomotive unit for the second potential joint VNIIEF/LANL explosive magnetic experiment (HEL-2) in order to achieve a high longitudinal symmetry of impact of the cylindrical solid liner on the target at liner velocity up to 15 km/s.