TSUNAMI Analysis of National Ignition Facility 2-D Gas Dynamics Phenomenon

The tests in the chamber of National Ignition Facility will involve complex multi-dimensional dynamics phenomena. Many safety concerns relate to the ablation of the chamber material and the re-condensation of it. The x-ray induced ablation can vaporize surfaces of internal structures. The deposition of the ablated mass to the laser optics can cause significant damage to the laser optics. This study presents a typical analysis of the ablation from the target positioner in the NIF chamber with the TSUNAMI two-dimensional gas dynamics code. Results reveal that the geometry of target positioner has strong influence to the vapor mass amount and distribution over the chamber wall. The analysis done here shows that it is possible to perform parametric study for different NIF chamber design configurations.