Computational Simulation of Imploding Current Sheath Trajectory at the Radial Phase of Plasma Focus Performance

When the shock front (SF) hits the central electrode axis of plasma focus device, a reflected shock wave moves radially outwards. The current sheath (CS) results from ionization of filled gas between two electrodes continues to compress inwards until it hits the out-going reflected shock front. In this paper the Lagrangian equations are solved for a parabolic shock trajectory yielding a first and second approximation for the CS path. To determine the accuracy of the approximation, the same problem is solved for a straight shock. Keywords—Radial compression, Shock wave trajectory, Current sheath, Slog model.