Ablator equivalency measurements for Shock-driven Rayleigh-Taylor/Richtmyer-Meshkov experiments

The study of hydrodynamic instabilities such as singly or multiply shocked Rayleigh-Taylor/Richtmyer-Meshkov systems usually uses an x-ray opaque, denser material to track the perturbed interface that is driven into a lower density, more transparent material. To avoid 3D effects a center region of the denser material is usually isolated by using a doped tracer strip. Recent experiments even use doped and undoped regions of denser materials side by side for a single measurement. Interchangeability of the undoped, more transparent (here, Polyamide-Imide) and the doped, more opaque (here, CHI) materials is usually assumed.

Here we present experimental measurements that check the equivalency of the tracer layer and surrounding material by examining the shock breakout and velocity. These measurements lay the foundation for many shock-driven Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov experiments.