Abstract This work explores the parameter space of a cylindrical hybrid nuclear fuel in support of a z-pinch driven pulsed fission-fusion (PuFF) engine. 0D power balance and 1D burn wave calculations have been performed to explore the parameter space of hybrid cylindrical nuclear fuels. The boundary of minimal initial conditions needed to reach breakeven are found within the context of the model. The effects of initial conditions upon the yield at the end of burn wave expansion are also determined. The model is used to examine the minimum initial energies predicted to result in yields of a few MJ. The goal of this work is to guide fuel design, inform future models and experiments as well as look for the most efficient parameter space for ignition in a z-pinch driven hybrid nuclear reaction. The impact of initial parameters upon ignition, burn, and gain are discussed. It is found that a hybrid cylindrical target may breakeven with initial energy near the axis of approximately 4–6 MJ in lithium deuteride/uranium 235 fuel. It is also found that magnetic field can lower the threshold further of which the magnitude changes across the parameter space. The dual fusion/fission reactions are found to boost each other leading to lower initial driving energies needed to reach breakeven in the hybrid cylindrical nuclear fuel.

中文翻译：

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脉冲火箭发动机混合核燃料的点火和燃烧

摘要 这项工作探索了支持 z 夹点驱动脉冲裂变聚变 (PuFF) 发动机的圆柱形混合核燃料的参数空间。已经进行了0D功率平衡和1D燃烧波计算，以探索混合圆柱核燃料的参数空间。在模型的上下文中可以找到达到盈亏平衡所需的最小初始条件的边界。还确定了初始条件对燃烧波膨胀结束时的产率的影响。该模型用于检查预计会产生几 MJ 产量的最小初始能量。这项工作的目标是指导燃料设计，为未来的模型和实验提供信息，并在 z 夹点驱动的混合核反应中寻找最有效的点火参数空间。初始参数对点火、燃烧、和增益进行讨论。研究发现，在氘化锂/铀 235 燃料中，混合圆柱形靶材可能在初始能量接近 4-6 MJ 轴时收支平衡。还发现磁场可以进一步降低阈值，其幅度在参数空间上发生变化。发现双重聚变/裂变反应相互促进，导致在混合圆柱形核燃料中达到收支平衡所需的初始驱动能量较低。