An Euler system source term that develops prototype Z‐pinch implosions intended for the evaluation of shock‐hydro methods

In this paper, a phenomenological model for a magnetic drive source term for the momentum and total energy equations of the Euler system is described. This body force term is designed to produce a Z‐pinch like implosion that can be used in the development and evaluation of shock‐hydrodynamics algorithms that are intended to be used in Z‐pinch simulations. The model uses a J × B Lorentz force, motivated by a 0‐D analysis of a thin shell (or liner implosion), as a source term in the equations and allows for arbitrary current drives to be simulated. An extension that would include the multi‐physics aspects of a proposed combined radiation hydrodynamics (rad‐hydro) capability is also discussed. The specific class of prototype problems that are developed is intended to illustrate aspects of liner implosions into a near vacuum and with idealized pre‐fill plasma effects. In this work, a high‐resolution flux‐corrected‐transport method implemented on structured overlapping meshes is used to demonstrate the application of such a model to these idealized shock‐hydrodynamic studies. The presented results include an asymptotic solution based on a limiting‐case thin‐shell analytical approximation in both (x, y) and (r, z). Additionally, a set of more realistic implosion problems that include density profiles approximating plasma pre‐fill and a set of perturbed liner geometries that excite a hydro‐magnetic like Rayleigh–Taylor instability in the implosion dynamics are demonstrated. Finally, as a demonstration of including and evaluating multiphysics effects in the Euler system, a simple radiation model is included and self‐convergence results for two types of (r, z) implosions are presented. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.