ePLAS Studies of Viscous, Kinetic and Transport Effects in Laser ICF Target Dynamics

Noting that the artificial and/or grid viscosity used for most Laser ICF fluid modeling assumes a cell size much larger than the ion-ion mean free path, while the opposite can be true in many evolving target regions, we explore the effects of a generalized ion viscous treatment, as well as electron-ion charge separation fronts with reflected ions, on target dynamics. Transport effects from an added external B-field are also under consideration. We do this in a fluid context with support from kinetic calculations. We demonstrate results from an enhanced version of the ePLAS simulation code that uses either fluid or Krook collisional PIC modeling for multiple ion species, particle, or fluid electrons with thermal flux limitation, interspecies collisional coupling, E & B-fields computed by the Implicit Moment Method and a new hybrid method for efficient runs on the ion Courant time scale.