Computational Study of a Possible Future Experiment Exploring Vishniac Unstable Blast Waves at ZEUS

The Vishniac-Ryu decelerating shock instability is relevant in thin-shell astrophysical phenomena such as supernovae remnants and shock waves in supernova events. We use CRASH, a Eulerian radiation-hydrodynamics code developed at the University of Michigan to compare 2D radiation hydrodynamics simulations of laboratory created blast waves to past experimental and 1D computational results (Edens et al. 2010) evaluating blast wave dynamics and radiation characteristics. Then we use CRASH to explore a new experimental setup to produce Vishniac-unstable blast waves using the capabilities of a long-pulse laser at the University of Michigan's ZEUS facility. We will present a poster.