A key element in the design of a coaxial generator system is the simplicity of the geometry. The clean cylindrical geometry allows us a reasonable chance at modeling RANCHERO performance using our 1D and 2D MHD modeling codes. The results of numerical simulations have been compare to several tests of the RANCHERO system in a variety of configurations. Recent comparisons of 1D calculations with the REOT-2 data have been extremely good and suggest that the generator is behaving in a very 1D like nature until reaching 90-95% of peak current. Differences between calculated current and measured performance during the last 3 mm (out of 70 mm) of flux compression may be a consequence of either the EOS for SF6, 2D effects, or both. This study will examine the existing models and attempt to provide a robust integrated model which can then be used to drive design studies, pre- and post-shot analysis, and predict performance parameters for slight variations of the base design of RANCHE RO.
The authors are currently developing a high explosive pulsed power system concept that they call Ranchero. Ranchero systems consist of series-parallel combinations of simultaneously initiated coaxial magnetic flux compression generators, and are intended to operate in the range from 50 MA to a few hundred MA currents. One example of a Ranchero system is shown here. The coaxial modules lend themselves to extracting the current output either from one end or along the generator midplane. They have previously published design considerations related to the different module configurations, and in this paper they concentrate on the system that they will use for their first imploding liner tests. A single module with end output. The module is 1.4-m long and expands the armature by a factor of two to reach the 30-cm OD stator. The first heavy liner implosion experiments will be conducted in the range of 40--50 MA currents. Electrical tests, to date, have employed high explosive (HE) charges 43-cm long. They have performed tests and related 1D MHD calculations at the 45-MA current level with small loads. From these results, they determine that they can deliver currents of approximately 50 MA to loads of 8 nH.
We are developing a new high explosive pulsed power (HEPP) system based on the 1.4 m long Ranchero generator which was developed in 1999 for driving solid density z-pinch loads. The new application requires approximately 40 MA to implode similar liners, but the liners cannot tolerate the 65?s, 3 MA current pulse associated with delivering the initial magnetic flux to the 200 nH generator. To circumvent this problem, we have designed a system with an internal start switch and four explosively formed fuse (EFF) opening switches. The integral start switch is installed between the output glide plane and the armature. It functions in the same manner as a standard input crowbar switch when armature motion begins, but initially isolates the load. The circuit is completed during the flux loading phase using post hole convolutes. Each convolute attaches the inner (coaxial) output transmission line to the outside of the outer coax through a penetration of the outer coaxial line. The attachment is made with the conductor of an EFF at each location. The EFFs conduct 0.75 MA each, and are actuated just after the internal start switch connects to the load. EFFs operating at these parameters have been tested in the past. The post hole convolutes must withstand as much as 80 kV at peak dl/dt during the Ranchero load current pulse. We describe the design of this new HEPP system in detail, and give the experimental results available at conference time. In addition, we discuss the work we are doing to test the upper current limits of a single standard size Ranchero module. Calculations have suggested that the generator could function at up to H"20 MA, the rule of thumb we follow (1 MA/cm) suggests 90 MA, and simple flux compression calculations, along with the H" MA seed current available from our capacitor bank, suggests 118 MA is the currently available upper limit.
The authors are developing the Ranchero high explosive pulsed power (HEPP) system to power cylindrically imploding solid-density liners for hydrodynamics experiments. The near-term goal is to conduct experiments in the regime pertinent to the Atlas Capacitor bank. That is, they will attempt to implode liners of (approximately)50 g mass at velocities approaching 15 km/sec. The basic building block of the HEPP system is a coaxial generator with a 304.8 mm diameter stator, and an initial armature diameter of 152 mm. The armature is expanded by a high explosive (HE) charge detonated simultaneously along its axis. They have reported a variety of experiments conducted with generator modules 43 cm long and have presented an initial design for hydrodynamic liner experiments. In this paper they give a synopsis of their first system test, and a status report on the development of a generator module that is 1.4 m long.
The generation of megagauss fields for science and technology is an exciting area at the extremes of parameter space, involving the application and controlled handling of extremely high power and energy densities in small volumes and on short time scales. New physical phenomena, technological challenges, and the selection and development of materials, together create a unique potential and synergy resulting in fascinating discoveries and achievements. This book is a collection of the contributions of an international conference, which assembled the leading scientists and engineers worldwide working on the generation and use of the strongest magnetic fields possible. Other research activities include generators that employ explosives to create ultra-high pulsed power for different applications, such as megavolt or radiation sources. Additional topics are the generation of plasmas and magnetized plasmas for fusion, imploding liners, rail guns, etc.
Ranchero is an explosively driven magnetic flux-compression generator that has been developed, over the last four years, as a versatile power source for high energy density physics experiments. It is coaxial, and comprises a 15 cm-diameter armature and a 30-cm stator, each aluminum. The length may be varied to suit the demands of each experiment; thus far, lengths of 0.43 m and 1.4 m have been used. The stator is filled and driven by a high performance cast explosive, and the ultimate performance of the device is limited by the smoothness of the armature expansion. The armature explosive is initiated on axis by PETN hemispheres, spaced at intervals of about 18 mm and 24.5 mm; each is simultaneously detonated by a slapper detonator system. Calculations of armature expansion predicted ripples less than 0.2 mm, and this was confirmed in early experiments. Yet, ripples approaching tens of millimeters were observed in some more recent experiments. The authors discuss the possible origins of the se large ripples, and the methods the authors have used to correct them.
Explosive pulsed power generators are devices that either convert the chemical energy stored in explosives into electrical energy or use the shock waves generated by explosives to release energy stored in ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials. The objective of this book is to acquaint the reader with the principles of operation of explosive generators and to provide details on how to design, build, and test three types of generators: flux compression, ferroelectric, and ferromagnetic generators, which are the most developed and the most near term for practical applications. Containing a considerable amount of new experimental data that has been collected by the authors, this is the first book that treats all three types of explosive pulsed power generators. In addition, there is a brief introduction to a fourth type ix explosive generator called a moving magnet generator. As practical applications for these generators evolve, students, scientists, and engineers will have access to the results of a considerable body of experience gained by almost 10 years of intense research and development by the authors.
In the late 1990s, Los Alamos pursued a coaxial flux compression generator (FCG) concept that was described in several publications under the name 'Ranchero.' These FCGs were designed to be cost effective high current generators, and a variety of configurations were tested. The Ranchero armature is a 152 mm diameter aluminum cylinder with a 6 mm thick wall. The high explosive (HE) is detonated simultaneously on axis, and as the armature expands a factor of two, the wall thins to H" mm. At the final 300 mm diameter, the circumference is over 900 mm, and this should allow currents to be generated in the 90 MA range. No tests significantly over 50 MA have been performed but an experiment is planned. We have recently begun using Ranchero devices for a new application and we continue to improve the design. In this paper we describe recent tests of Ranchero and its subsystems. The load for our new application is an imploding aluminum liner that would deform due to the magnetic pressure applied during the initial flux loading. It will, however, implode properly when powered only during the H"9?s Ranchero flux compression time. This gives rise to a new system with explOSively formed fuse (EFF) opening switches and an integral closing switch that isolates the load. A capacitor bank delivers 2.8 MA to the Ranchero circuit in H"5?s. During this time, four parallel 63.5 mm wide EFFs, external to the coaxial system, complete the circuit. After armature motion begins, insulation which initially isolates the load is severed, connecting the load to the FCG in parallel with the EFFs. External HE charges are initiated on each of the EFFs to produce a resistance rise timed to not precede closure of the load isolation switch. The EFFs achieve significant resistance, and the flux remaining in the 191 nH generator and 3 nH transmission line is compressed to generate 30.85 MA in a H"2.5 nH static load. On three tests, the EFF system has operated flawlessly, and only H"00kA is driven back into the EFFs during peak voltage of the generator output. A test incorporating a 19.5 nH dual liner dynamic load has also been completed, and these results are also presented. Ranchero generators have been operated with armatures from 43 cm to 1.4 m long, corresponding to initial inductances from 56 to 191 nH. MHD code modeling gives better agreement with experiments using modules 43 cm long than the 1.4 m modules, and these results will also be presented.
Magnetic Flux Compression Generators (FCG) have been used as a power source for plasma and metal liner implosions over several decades. We have used the cost effective Ranchero generator to study hydrodynamic effects and instability growth in aluminium liners. Sometimes it is useful to tailor the shape of the current and voltage pulse. Modifications to the geometry can facilitate this task. Changes in the geometrical features of the generator can be used to allow the desired current waveform to be delivered to the load region.
While the basic operating principles of Helical Magnetic Flux Compression Generators are easy to understand, the details of their construction and performance limits have been described only in government reports, many of them classified. Conferences in the field of flux compression are also dominated by contributions from government (US and foreign) laboratories. And the government-sponsored research has usually been concerned with very large generators with explosive charges that require elaborate facilities and safety arrangements. This book emphasizes research into small generators (less than 500 grams of high explosives) and explains in detail the physical fundamentals, construction details, and parameter-variation effects related to them.
