Manufacturing Process and Characterization Overview of a Cylindrical CH ablator with seamlessly embedded thin aluminum band for use in Omega and NIF Experiments.

LANL has implemented and refined manufacturing techniques to create a cylindrical ablator with a thin internal embedded aluminum band.  Current NIF and Omega Cylinder Direct Drive Rayleigh Taylor (CylDRT) campaigns use these techniques.  In CylDRT experiments a shock is driven radially through the cylindrical ablator, a thin aluminum band, and finally into a 30mg/cc foam and 5atm of propane that can be easily imaged.  The aluminum band is either smooth (constant thickness with round OD and ID), or modal (Round OD with controlled perturbations on the ID). The total wall thickness of the aluminum band is between 10 and 50 microns, and perturbation amplitudes between 4 and 12 micron depending on the specific physics requirements.

 

This presentation will discuss the multistep machining, coating, leaching, and characterization processes and techniques that have been implemented in order to bring CylDRT and similar campaigns to fruition.