We discuss the design, fabrication, and operation of a liner implosion system at peak currents of 16 MA. Liners of 1100 aluminum, with initial length, radius, and thickness of 4 cm, 5 cm, and 1 mm, respectively, implode under the action of an axial current, rising in 8 s. Fields on conductor surfaces exceed 0.6 MG. Design and fabrication issues that were successfully addressed include: Pulsed Power-especially current joints at high magnetic fields and the possibility of electrical breakdown at connection of liner cassette insulator to bank insulation; Liner Physics-including the angle needed to maintain current contact between liner and glide-plane/electrode without jetting or buckling; Diagnostics-X-radiography through cassette insulator and outer conductor without shrapnel damage to film.

An entirely new cylindrical liner system has been designed and fabricated for use on the Shiva Star capacitor bank. The design incorporates features expected to be applicable to a future power Ilow channel of the Atlas capacitor bank with the intention of keeping any required liner design modifications to a minimum when the power flow channel at Atlas is available. Four shots were successfully conducted at Shiva Star that continued a series of hydrodynamics physics experiments started on the Los Alamos Pegasus capacitor bank. Departures from the diagnostic suite that had previously been used at Pegasus required new techniques in the fabrication of the experiment insert package.We describe new fabrication procedures that were developed by the Polymers and Coatings Group (MST-7) of the Los Alamos Materials Science Division to fabricate the Shiva Star experiment loads. Continuing MST-7 development of interference fit processes for liner experiment applications, current joints at the glide planes were assembled by thermal shrink fit using liquid nitrogen as a coolant [I]. The liner material was low strength, high conductance 1100 series aluminum. The liner glide plane electrodes were machined from full hard copper rod with a IO" ramp to maintain liner to glide plane contact as the liner was imploded. The parts were fabricated with 0.015 mm radial interference fit between the liner inside diameter (ID) and the glide plane outside diameter (OD). to form the static liner current joints. The liner was assembled with some axial clearance at each end to allow slippage if any axial force was generated as the liner assembly cassette was bolted into Shiva Star, a precaution to guard against buckling the liner during installation of the load cassette. Other unique or unusual processes were developed and are described. Minor adaptations of the h e r design are now being fabricated for first Atlas experiments.

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A hydrogen rich, low density liquid, contained within the internal volume of a cylindrical liner, was requested of the Polymers and Coatings Group (MST-7) of the Los Alamos Materials Science Division for one of the last liner driven experiments conducted on the Los Alamos Pegasus facility. The experiment (Fig.1) was a continuation of the Raleigh-Taylor hydrodynamics series of experiments and associated liners that have been described previously [1,2]. These experiments required massive tungsten glide planes for inertial confinement of the liner fill media during implosion. Shallow sinusoidal perturbations were machined on the inside surface of the liner to seed instabilities, also true of the previous experiments. Butane was selected for a relatively low equilibrium vapor pressure, a practical attribute for use in the Pegasus vacuum power flow channel. Butane safety topics at Pegasus are addressed. Glide planes were sealed to the liner by use of butane compatible o-rings. A sintered form of tungsten was used for the glide planes to facilitate machining the relatively complex shapes that were required. Porosity of the tungsten was sealed by an epoxy vacuum/pressure impregnation procedure. Following some development experiments, we chose to pre-fill the load with butane and seal the liner assembly as opposed to filling the load after being installed in the target chamber at Pegasus. A butane reservoir was developed and mounted above the load as a part of the load assembly to allow monitoring the liquid level and to prevent loss of the entire experiment as a result of possible butane loss during the few days required to set up a Pegasus experiment. This paper describes the load fabrication processes and development of novel procedures that were required. We expect to apply the technologies to future Los Alamos experiments that will be conducted at the new Atlas facility.