Studies on the mechanism of energy transformation in implosion processes of the Z-pinches

In this paper, the energy transformation processes in neon gas-puff pinch and Al wire-array pinch were studied numerically by means of one-dimensional three-temperature radiation magneto-hydrodynamic code. In the Z-pinch, the main energy transformation process is the Coulomb collision process between ions and electrons. The second one is the photoelectric process and bremsstrahlung radiation process. The energy transformation in the Compton scattering process can be neglected in the computation. The x-ray energy radiated from Z-pinch was produced mainly by the photoelectric excitation and recombination process, and also by the bremsstrahlung radiation process and Compton scattering process. Numerical analysis indicates that the x-ray radiation energy can be larger or smaller than the maximal plasma kinetic energy. In our numerical simulation, the radiation energy from neon gas-puff pinch is smaller than the maximal plasma kinetic energy, however, that from Al wire-array pinch is larger than the maximal plasma kinetic energy. They are all smaller than the work done by magnetic pressure. The electric energy consumed by Ohm heating is rather small.