Studying successive shock effects on heavy-to-light instabilities*

The Richtmyer-Meshkov instability of shocked interfaces is believed to be a major contributor to mix in shaped-pulse ICF capsules, where multiple shocks typically pass through the inner interfaces and converge near the center.  Sending multiple successive shocks through a heavy-to-light interface can lead to distinct outcomes compared to either a single shock or a shock followed by reshock from the opposite direction.  This can theoretically include partial or complete `freeze-out’ of the perturbation after the second shock, reducing total mix width.  We review some of the theory of successively shocked heavy-to-light interfaces as previously developed by Mikaelian[1], and results from a recent planar halfraum-drive experiment which has verified some of these ideas.

[1] K O Mikaelian “Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities in stratified fluids,” Phys. Rev. A 26 2140 (1982)