MACH2 simulations of some DECADE plasma opening switch experiments

Summary form only given, as follows. The DECADE Facility at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) is a short pulse high power X-ray generator used for nuclear effects simulation. It uses a plasma opening switch (POS) to produce the high voltage pulse required by the X-ray source. Over the past several years, we at the University of Tennessee Space Institute have used the MACH2 computer code to simulate several experimental POS configurations proposed for the DECADE Facility. It was found that the Hall effect must be included in an MHD code in order to simulate the opening physics. When the Hall effect is correctly implemented in the code, the simulations predict time-delay and voltage characteristics which compare favorably with the experimental results. Cableguns are used for initial plasma injection into the DECADE POS. The current MACH2 simulations use an empirical model based on experimental measurements of cablegun velocity and density to simulate this injection process. Our current efforts to model the cablegun plasma source are described. The methodology and limitations of the newly developed Hall algorithm are described and the simulation results are compared with experimental measurements for several POS configurations.