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Title: The Ranchero explosive pulsed power system and its implications for Atlas

Conference ·
OSTI ID:346916
; ;  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); and others

The authors are developing an explosive pulsed power system for the purpose of driving cylindrical solid liner implosions. A Ranchero module is a simultaneously initiated coaxial magnetic flux compression generator with an O.D. of 30 centimeters and an initial inductance of {approximately}195 nH. Ultimately, they expect to perform experiments at current levels of 70--90 MA, but the near term goal is to conduct experiments in the range of 25 to 50 MA for the purpose of powering implosions of interest to the Atlas program. Development of the full-length module is progressing, and experiments to date have utilized a one-third length explosive system. They have performed experiments with: (1) 1.8 MA initial current and 45 MA final current into a 1 nH static load; and (2) 4.6 MA initial current and 40 MA final current into a 5 nH static load. These experiments are described, along with expectations for liner experiments that can be conducted in anticipation of needs of the Atlas machine when it is commissioned.

OSTI ID:
346916
Report Number(s):
CONF-980601-; TRN: IM9920%%133
Resource Relation:
Conference: 25. international conference on plasma science, Raleigh, NC (United States), 1-4 Jun 1998; Other Information: PBD: 1998; Related Information: Is Part Of IEEE conference record -- Abstracts. 1998 IEEE international conference on plasma science; PB: 343 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English