An Extended-MHD Model for Handling Low-density Plasmas with Tabular Material Models

Abstract

An extended-MHD model, interfaced with tabular equation-of-state and conductivity models, has been developed in PERSEUS (Physics as an Extended-MHD Relaxation System with an Efficient Upwind Scheme) for simulating a plasma-vacuum interface under experimentally-relevant conditions for a pulsed-power system, and with minimal sensitivity to parameters characterizing the numerical vacuum. For several test problems, we demonstrate convergence of this model for sufficiently low density floors and with respect to certain vacuum parameters. This capability is crucial for predictively modeling the coupling of energy and current onto a target in a pulsed-power system.