Research progress in experimental studies of magnetically driven solid liner implosion in China

Magnetically driven solid liner implosion is widely used for achieving high energy density states in the laboratory, with important applications in hydrodynamics, weapon physics, fusion energy and other fields. The FP-1/2 solid liner implosion loading platform was developed by the Institute of Fluid Physics of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics. It has conducted experimental studies on various complicated configuration implosions, assisted by a precise testing and diagnostic system, and has played a vital role in associated major concerns and applied research. This paper reviews the development and present state of the magnetically driven solid liner implosion platform, as well as the physical application experiments based on FP-1/2 facility in recent years and the insights gained. The device-load target’s matching and optimization design reduces the current waveform deviation between shots to less than 1%, the implosion velocity waveform deviation to less than 2%, and the maximum time deviation as the liner impacts on the target to less than 20 ns. It demonstrates that the driven platform has good synchronization, repeatability and implosion symmetry, which are the foundations of high-precision physical experiments. Based on the FP facility, metal liners weighing several grams to tens of grams are driven to achieve implosion velocities ranging 1–7 km/s, and have been successfully applied in flow field studies in complex-configuration gas regions, cylindrical RM/RT interface instability, cylindrical gas-filled ejecta mixing and gas-particle two-phase flow, among other experimental studies. Rich experimental evidences have also been acquired, and it is critical that we enhance our understanding of the underlying physical difficulties. In the future, it will be necessary to improve loading and high-precision diagnosis capabilities in response to actual engineering needs, develop innovative experimental technologies, collect high-precision experimental data, and provide data support for the verification of physical models and 2D/3D codes.