The effect of initial load twisting on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability growth and X-ray radiation

The initial twisting of multi-wire Z-pinch loads is expected to significantly improve the performance of X-ray sources. A model based on self-consistent simulation of the dynamics of twisted plasma shell. The development of the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) perturbations on a plasma surface is proposed for quantitative study of the effect of various physical factors on the generation of X-rays. The model provides a tool for analysis of processes occurred during implosion of the system plasma shell-wire cores. It is desirable to assure that the RT perturbations break a plasma shell in the moment when the internal radius of a shell becomes zero, while the greatest possible values of kinetic energy and X-ray radiation power ought to be obtained. The results of numerical simulations for the Sandia National Laboratories' Z generator are presented and discussed.