The ZaP Flow Z-Pinch research project [1] at the University of Washington investigates the
effect of sheared flows on MHD instabilities. Axially flowing Z-pinch plasmas are produced
that are 100 cm long with a 1 cm radius. The plasma remains quiescent for many radial
Alfvén times and axial flow times. The quiescent periods are characterized by low magnetic
mode activity measured at several locations along the plasma column and by stationary
visible plasma emission. Plasma evolution is modeled with high-resolution simulation codes …

Abstract The ZaP Flow Z-pinch experiment at the University of Washington investigates the
effect of sheared flows on MHD stability. Z-pinch plasmas scale to high energy density by
reducing the pinch radius through any combination of lower linear density and higher pinch
current. The ZaP experiment generates 100 cm long plasma pinch columns approximately 1
cm in radius. Experimental results show a period of low fluctuation levels when a sheared
plasma flow is present. The quiescent period lasts for approximately 40 μs, approximately …