New implosion method

[kecked]

total off topic but was interesting to research. I was watching a video with a quarter being smashed using a magnetic field and got the idea. Why did they not try that as an implosion method for the atomic bomb. Seems very easy to control uniformity of the field and the amount of squeeze possible is much more than that needed to reduce the mass to critical. Plus Plutonium is a metal and should be magnetic right? Well it should be except the neutrons seems to make the outer shell tristable as +3 +2 +1 all at the same time. This futzes up the ability of the electrons to align. This was a mystery until recently when they learned how to bombard the plutonium so as to stabilize the out shell and measure it. In that state it is magnetic. Ok so bombard with neutrons and then smash it. Well if you make enough neutrons to do that you might as well just set it off that way. Funny I found absolutely no references to this implosion method and testing.

[Bradfo69]

Funny the things we ponder. Maybe that's why I love this forum so much.

[kecked]

I think I just figured it out. Coat the pit in copper and then let the copper act as the piston.

Put the pit inside a copper ball filled with the pit except for say 1 few mm of water in between the pit and the copper shell. Implode the copper sphere. The water will smooth out any compression irregularities and uniformly compress the pit. Use heavy water to kick start a little fusion reaction as the neutrons fly out making some tritium from the Deuterium. Ahh and coat the inside of the copper sphere with lithium 6 deuteride for the final pop. copper could be any number of metals. Point is the metal implodes compression a fluid that compresses the pit. Water is incompressible so it is perfect and the thin layer will not act as a moderator but will reflect off the pit vaporize and blow the copper shell off. You then put a little charge on the outside of the copper ball to reflect the shockwave a touch to hold it all together a little longer for efficiency.

Hope I didn't just make some watch list.

[kecked]

I think I just figured it out. Coat the pit in copper and then let the copper act as the piston.

Put the pit inside a copper ball filled with the pit except for say 1 few mm of water in between the pit and the copper shell. Implode the copper sphere. The water will smooth out any compression irregularities and uniformly compress the pit. Use heavy water to kick start a little fusion reaction as the neutrons fly out making some tritium from the Deuterium. Ahh and coat the inside of the copper sphere with lithium 6 deuteride for the final pop. copper could be any number of metals. Point is the metal implodes compression a fluid that compresses the pit. Water is incompressible so it is perfect and the thin layer will not act as a moderator but will reflect off the pit vaporize and blow the copper shell off. You then put a little charge on the outside of the copper ball to reflect the shockwave a touch to hold it all together a little longer for efficiency. Just thought of something. the copper will most likely make a very nice soft xray source as well. That might actual be bad for this idea.

Hope I didn't just make some watch list.

[WookieBoy]

I expect you'll shortly be getting a visit from some average looking guys in bland suits with no sense of humour to speak of... :/

[buffo]

I was watching a video with a quarter being smashed using a magnetic field and got the idea. Why did they not try that as an implosion method for the atomic bomb?

Crushing a quarter is fairly simple. Crushing 14 lbs of Plutonium is quite another matter.

How are you going to build an electrical delivery system powerful enough to crush 14 lbs of Plutonium and make it portable enough to fit inside a bomb casing? (Using 1940's technology, don't forget, so superconductors are out.) And just how big will those coils need to be? (Above a certain size the field strength falls off.) And what about the size of the capacitors to store this enormous charge? The energy density of a capacitor is laughable when compared to that of TNT...

Oh and then you have to be able to charge this thing in flight from the bomber's electrical system before you drop it... Better install one hell of a generator on that plane!

Bottom line: explosives are easier to work with, more reliable, offer far greater energy density, and in the end are probably cheaper too.

Adam

[mixedgas]

I expect you'll shortly be getting a visit from some average looking guys in bland suits with no sense of humour to speak of... :/

Probably Two guys show up...

One small, organized, older balding guy in a cheap, but rumpled, baggy, single breasted suit or just a open collared, dress shirt and tan slacks, no tie. He's continuously looking around.

The other looks like a very bored Hulk Hogan or Arnold, or a big, lean, Rugby player in a very tailored very nice suit by Armani with interesting bulges... He's just calm... Says nothing, and looks right thru you. And No, humor ain't their thing...

So I've been told....

Steve

[JohnYayas]

Crushing a quarter is fairly simple. Crushing 14 lbs of Plutonium is quite another matter.

How are you going to build an electrical delivery system powerful enough to crush 14 lbs of Plutonium and make it portable enough to fit inside a bomb casing? (Using 1940's technology, don't forget, so superconductors are out.) And just how big will those coils need to be? (Above a certain size the field strength falls off.) And what about the size of the capacitors to store this enormous charge? The energy density of a capacitor is laughable when compared to that of TNT...

Oh and then you have to be able to charge this thing in flight from the bomber's electrical system before you drop it... Better install one hell of a generator on that plane!

Bottom line: explosives are easier to work with, more reliable, offer far greater energy density, and in the end are probably cheaper too.

Adam

Hehe. Was thinking the exact same things. I guess us nukes think alike.

[kecked]

What is more interesting is the incompressible liquid idea to make the pressure from whatever source uniform.

[planters]

Adam is undoubtedly right. Think about how much energy is needed at LIF to try to compress a small hydrogen target. Another way to think about it is the simple mass of the quarter to that of the fusion core and remember the quarter is distorted, but it's unclear if there is any actual increase in density, even momentarily.

I'll bet the current stockpile of nukes use lasers to initiate a fiber fuse to trigger the detonations of the chemical drivers. These are very reliable and have very low jitter. Jitter was one of the banes of the early nukes. It leads to asymmetrical compression.

What about this? Use an explosive to drive a rare earth magnet at high velocity through the high current inductor used to crush the quarter, right when the current is at its peak. Or, use a shaped charge to drive a copper plasma jet even faster through this inductor. Then focus this EMP at a drone...just saying.