Radiation Hydrodynamics Simulations of Radiative Shear Experiments at the National Ignition Facility

The Shock/Shear platform was developed at LANL to study turbulent mixing in high-energy-density systems. By using a radiative shock, we seek to develop a similar experiment, which explores effects of a radiation on the developing structure of the experiment. The shock tube containing a solid plastic ablator and various types of foam is irradiated by halfraum that will drive either a radiative shock or adiabatic shock into the foam material. The radiation hydrodynamic code, Hyades, was used to scope the experiment. We show the results of a parameter study to determine an optimal experiment design by varying the foam material (CRF and SiO2), the foam density, and ablator thickness. Our simulations provide plasma parameters under which a successful experiment is possible.