Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

PBFA Z: A 20-MA z-pinch driver for plasma radiation sources

Conference ·
OSTI ID:251439

Sandia National Laboratories is completing a major modification to the PBFA-II facility. PBFA Z will be a z-pinch driver capable of delivering up to 20 MA to a z-pinch load. It optimizes the electrical coupling to the implosion energy of z pinches at implosion velocities of {approximately} 40 cm/{mu}s. Design constraints resulted in an accelerator with a 0.12-{Omega} impedance, a 10.25-nH inductance, and a 120-ns pulse width. The design required new water transmission lines, insulator stack, and vacuum power feeds. Current is delivered to the z-pinch load through four, self-magnetically-insulated vacuum transmission lines and a double post-hole convolute. A variety of design codes are used to model the power flow. These predict a peak current of 20 MA to a z-pinch load having a 2-cm length, a 2-cm radius, and a 15--mg mass, coupling 1.5 MJ into kinetic energy. We present 2-D Rad-Hydro calculations showing MJ x-ray outputs from tungsten wire-array z pinches.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
251439
Report Number(s):
SAND--96-0306C; CONF-960610--7; ON: DE96011723
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

PBFA II-Z: A 20-MA driver for z-pinch experiments
Conference · Thu Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1995 · OSTI ID:164910

Pulsed power performance of PBFA Z
Conference · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · OSTI ID:505712

PBFA Z: A 55 TW/4.5 MJ electrical generator
Conference · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · OSTI ID:510407