Pulse Power Modeling and Analysis for Electromagnetic Accelerator Design

Authors

  • I.U. Uju

Abstract

This paper models a pulse forming network consisting of series of high voltage energy storage capacitors and inductors. These accumulate electrical energy over a comparatively long time, and then release the stored energy in the form of a relatively square pulse of comparatively short duration for pulsed power application. As Electromagnetic Accelerators and Electromagnetic guns move from basic research of the electromagnetic acceleration technology to the development of systems for specific applications, a wide variety of power supply systems for Electromagnetic Launchers is being investigated. The problem with most of the  research work on improvement of Electromagnetic Launching system for efficient acceleration of masses to impressive velocities centers on how to provide the primary energy store, and how to make the armature current more nearly constant with time during the entire shot period. This has not been solved till date. This paper provides a simplified and enhanced model for pulse power storage and transfer. The model is made up of 30 capacitors arranged into 6 sub- banks.   Each of the sub-banks has five capacitors of the same ratings connected in series for voltage maximization. The capacitor banks are linked in parallel with an inductor connected across the sub-banks. Each section of the bank is charged 2000V. The resulting pulse power discharge is a square wave with 258µs pulse duration and the 2000V initial condition results in a 1000V, 20000A (20kA) square pulse into the 49mΩ load resistor that represents the power device. The transferred energy of the network is 5.2kJ and the pulse power delivered by the model is 20MW.

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Published

2021-05-02 — Updated on 2021-05-04

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