Comparison between Kelvin–Helmholtz instability experiments on OMEGA and simulation results using the CRASH code

The Center for Radiative Shock Hydrodynamics (CRASH) at the University of Michigan has developed a Eulerian radiation-hydrodynamics code with dynamic adaptive mesh refinement, CRASH, which can model high-energy-density laser-driven experiments. One of these experiments, performed previously on the OMEGA laser facility, was designed to produce and observe the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. The target design included low-density carbonized-resorcinol-formaldehyde (CRF) foam layered on top of polyamide–imide plastic, with a sinusoidal perturbation on the interface and with the assembled materials encased in beryllium. The results of a series of CRASH simulations of these Kelvin–Helmholtz instability experiments are presented. These simulation results show good agreement both quantitatively and qualitatively with the experimental data.