Numerical studies of wire array Z-pinch X-ray source on the PTS facility

Summary form only given. The Z-pinch driven X-ray source is the combinations of the pulsed-power electrical energy source, transmission line, switch and the wire-array load. It has been proved by many experiments that the X-ray source produced by Z pinches has wide applications on inertial confinement fusion, high energy density science and experimental astrophysics. Full circuit model has bee n developed to simulate the discharge process of the Z-pinch d riven X-ray source problem. Circuit model has been applied to each part of the combinations, and the full circuit model is constructed by connecting all the parts in series. Then the full circuit model is coupled with the radiation MHD model to simulate the electrical pulse transmissions and the implosions of the Z pinch plasmas. The influences of the circuit parameters and load parameters on the outputs were examined. Besides the loss current at the magnetically insulated transmission lines (MITL) in vacuum, the breakdown voltage and the inductance of th e output switch are the most important. The appropriate reduct ion of the inductance of the output switch helps to get more powerful and faster electrical pulse.