Condensed Matter Physics, 2010, vol. 13, No. 4, p. 43402:1-12
DOI:10.5488/CMP.13.43402

Title: Computational algorithms for multiphase magnetohydrodynamics and applications to accelerator targets
Author(s):
  R.V. Samulyak (Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA; Computational Science Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA) ,
  W. Bo (Computational Science Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA) ,
  X. Li (Computational Science Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA) ,
  H. Kirk (Physics Deparment, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA) ,
  K. McDonald (Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA)

An interface-tracking numerical algorithm for the simulation of magnetohydrodynamic multiphase/free surface flows in the low-magnetic-Reynolds-number approximation of (Samulyak R., Du J., Glimm J., Xu Z., J. Comp. Phys., 2007, 226, 1532) is described. The algorithm has been implemented in multi-physics code FronTier and used for the simulation of MHD processes in liquids and weakly ionized plasmas. In this paper, numerical simulations of a liquid mercury jet entering strong and nonuniform magnetic field and interacting with a powerful proton pulse have been performed and compared with experiments. Such a mercury jet is a prototype of the proposed Muon Collider/Neutrino Factory, a future particle accelerator. Simulations demonstrate the elliptic distortion of the mercury jet as it enters the magnetic solenoid at a small angle to the magnetic axis, jet-surface instabilities (filamentation) induced by the interaction with proton pulses, and the stabilizing effect of the magnetic field.

Key words: MHD algorithm, multiphase flow, front tracking, mercury target
PACS: 47.11, 47.35, 47.55


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