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A radiographic diagnostic has been developed to quantify the plume of erosion products after the interaction between a target and a relativistic electron beam. The diagnostic is based on a point Z-pinch (PZ-pinch) with a metallic plasma jet. It creates an X-ray source with a typical size of 10 μm, a photon energy of up to 3 keV and a flash duration of 3 ns. The X-ray visualization system is based on a thin scintillator and a CCD camera. The spatial resolution of the diagnostic was evaluated experimentally. The spatial frequency limit was found to be about 1.5 line pairs per millimeter. The diagnostic was tested in an experiment performed using an LIA-5 linear induction accelerator. An electron beam with a current of 400 A, an energy of 3.5 MeV and a pulse duration of 80 ns was focused on a plane tantalum target 1 mm in thickness. The FWHM of the focal spot was ∼ 2 mm. Radiographs of the plume were taken with different delays after different accelerator pulses. According to our data, the plume most commonly propagates toward the beam. After 70 μs its length was about 70 mm, i.e. the plume expansion rate was about 1 km/s. The area density of the semi-transparent regions of the plume was estimated as lying in the range 3 · 10-16–2 · 1017 cm-2.

A multiple-mirror confinement is an alternative concept in fusion energy development that improves the particle and energy confinement times in open traps (linear magnetic systems). The paper discusses the development progress of the GOL-NB multiple-mirror experiment that was recently commissioned at BINP. The reference description of the GOL-NB hardware is presented. Properties of a low-temperature start plasma are discussed. The first results from test experiments with injection of one 25 keV neutral beam are shown. Methods of plasma stabilization in the non-min-B configuration are discussed. In general, the ongoing commissioning progress and results of the preliminary experiments are modestly optimistic for the expected device performance.

A number of experimental studies of melt motion and droplet ejection caused by pulsed plasma load include the measurements of the shape of surface after the solidification of target. The measured shape may be different from the one during the heating stage because of melt motion. In present paper the evolution of this perturbations is treated as capillary waves on the melt surface. The dispersion relation for capillary waves taking into account viscosity and limited depth of liquid was used. The numerical estimations for the melt surface behavior are done for tungsten samples irradiated at BETA facility.

Experimental research on behavior of rolled tungsten plates under intense transient heat loads generated by a powerful (a total power of up to 7 MW) long-pulse (0.1–0.3 ms) electron beam with full irradiation area of 2 cm2 was carried out. Imaging of the sample by the fast CCD cameras in the NIR range and with illumination by the 532 nm continuous-wave laser was applied for in-situ surface diagnostics during exposure. In these experiments tungsten plates were exposed to heat loads 0.5–1 MJ/m2 with a heat flux factor (Fhf) close to and above the melting threshold of tungsten at initial room temperature. Crack formation and crack propagation under the surface layer were observed during multiple exposures. Overheated areas with excessive temperature over surrounding surface of about 500 K were found on severely damaged samples more than 5 ms after beam ending. The application of laser illumination enables to detect areas of intense tungsten melting near crack edges and crack intersections.

A new test facility for experimental simulation of transient heat load expected in the ITER divertor during unmitigated events is developed. Application of a long-pulse (0.1–0.3 ms) wide-aperture (up to 2 cm 2 ) electron beam as a heating device provides powerful energy loads at a tungsten target with F HF > 250 MJ m −2 s −0.5 . Dynamics of tungsten particles in the ablation plume is investigated with a novel for PSI experiments small-angle laser light scattering technique. The threshold of intense droplet generation and dynamics of particles sizes are estimated.

Residual stresses in rolled tungsten after pulsed irradiation with a plasma and an electron beam at the GOL-3 facility were measured. The mechanical stresses were derived from the strain, which was measured by the change in the interplanar distance in different directions. The interplanar distance was gaged from the shift of the peak of diffraction scattering of X-rays. The measured tension turned out to be a tensile stress along the surface. The tension along the direction of rolling and grinding was approximately three times larger than that in the perpendicular direction. The work was carried out at the VEPP-3/VEPP-4 complex.

Hihg-power flows of plasma cause mechanical destruction of materials via non-uniform deformation and stresses. The possibility of synchrotron radiation scattering diagnostics of deformation is discussed. The experiments at the new scattering station “Plasma” on VEPP-4M demonstrated the measurements of change in the diffraction angle during pulsed heating.

A mathematical model of surface cracking under pulsed heat load was developed. The model correctly describes a smooth brittle–ductile transition. The elastic deformation is described in a thin-heated-layer approximation. The plastic deformation is described with the Hollomon equation. The time dependence of the deformation and stresses is described for one heating–cooling cycle for a material without initial plastic deformation. The model can be applied to tungsten manufactured according to ITER specifications. The model shows that the stability of stress-relieved tungsten deteriorates when the base temperature increases. This proved to be a result of the close ultimate tensile and yield strengths. For a heat load of arbitrary magnitude a stability criterion was obtained in the form of condition on the relation of the ultimate tensile and yield strengths.

A novel BETA test facility (Beam of Electrons for materials Test Applications) was developed at the Budker Institute to study the erosion of materials directly during the impact of intense thermal shocks. A powerful (up to 7 MW) long pulse (100–300 μs) electron beam is applied for experimental simulation of fast transient heat loads with the intensity probable in the ITER divertor. The heat flux parameter on a target can be widely varied (FHF = 10–300 MW m−2 s0.5) from a value significantly below the melting threshold to a value much higher, within the area of about 1 cm2. The use of an electron beam to simulate the thermal impact on the material surface makes it possible to employ a variety of optical diagnostics for in situ observations of the dynamics of surface erosion processes during intense thermal shocks. These distinctive features make BETA a promising tool in the research of material surface erosion mechanisms and for experimental verification of various analytical and numerical models associated with these mechanisms. The first results obtained with this facility include fast (10 μs exposure) imaging of the heated target in the near-infrared range and in the reflected light of 532 nm continuous wave (CW) laser, visualization of ejected tungsten particles using fast ICCD and CCD cameras with the minimal exposure of 2 μs and 7 μs respectively. The dynamics of dust particles ejected from the heated surface is investigated using a multichannel recording of the light of 532 nm CW-laser scattered on the dust particles. The present paper describes the first results of use of two new in situ methods: continuous recording of light scattered from the tungsten surface and three-dimensional tracking of tungsten particles using three viewing angles. The first method makes it possible to observe the dynamics of development of roughness and cracking of the polished tungsten surface, which manifest themselves as two successive processes separated by a large time delay. The second method allows us to track dust particles ejected from the melt layer, and thus determine the time and place of particle ejection from the surface.