Download or read book Capabilities for High Explosive Pulsed Power Research at Los Alamos National Laboratory written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research on topics requiring high magnetic fields and high currents have been pursued using high explosive pulsed power (HEPP) techniques since the 1950s at Los Alamos National Laboratory. We have developed many sophisticated HEPr systems through the years, and most of them depend on technology available from the nuclear weapons program. Through the 1980s and 1990s, our budgets would sustain parallel efforts in zpinch research using both HEPr and capacitor banks. In recent years, many changes have occurred that are driven by concerns such as safety, security, and environment, as well as reduced budgets and downsizing of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) complex due to the end of the cold war era. In this paper, we review the teclmiques developed to date, and adaptations that are driven by changes in budgets and our changing complex. One new Ranchero-based solid liner z-pinch experimental design is also presented. Explosives that are cast to shape instead of being machined, and initiation systems that depend on arrays of slapper detonators are important new tools. Some materials that are seen as hazardous to the environment are avoided in designs. The process continues to allow a wide range of research however, and there are few, if any, experiments that we have done in the past that could not be perform today. The HErr firing facility at Los Alamos continues to have a 2000 lb. high explosive limit, and our 2.4 MJ capacitor bank remains a mainstay of the effort. Modem diagnostic and data analysis capabilities allow fewer personnel to achieve better results, and in the broad sense we continue to have a robust capability.

Download or read book A Legacy of the megagoule Committee Thirty Years of Explosive Pulsed Power Research and Development at Los Alamos National Laboratory written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1980, Los Alamos formed the 'Megajoule Committee' with the expressed goal of developing a one Megajoule plasma radiation source. The ensuing research and development has given rise to a wide variety of high explosive pulsed power accomplishments, and there is a continuous stream of work that continues to the present. A variety of flux compression generators (FCGs or generators) have been designed and tested, and a number of pulse shortening schemes have been investigated. Supporting computational tools have been developed in parallel with experiments. No fewer that six unique systems have been developed and used for experiments. This paper attempts to pull together the technical details, achievements, and wisdom amassed during the intervening thirty years, and notes how we would push for increased performance in the future.

Download or read book Firing Complex for Explosive Pulsed Power written by and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A modern firing complex has been constructed for the dedicated development and application of explosive pulsed power (i.e., flux compression generators). The complex consists of three underground and interconnected buildings. The buildings, which employ several types of structural design, are engineered for above ground, open air detonations involving up to 1000 kg (TNT-equivalent) of high explosive. The explosive rating is necessary for the production of electrical pulses with energy content of hundreds of megajoules. 4 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.

Download or read book Science Campaign 1 Pulsed Power Efforts written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Design of High Explosive Pulsed Power Systems for 20 MB Isentropic Compression Experiments written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Explosive Pulsed Power Experimental Capability at LLNL written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 9 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book An Overview of the Atlas Pulsed power Systems written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Atlas is a facility being designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to perform high energy-density experiments in support of weapon-physics and basic-research programs. It is designed to be an international user facility, providing experimental opportunities to researchers from national laboratories and academic institutions. For hydrodynamic experiments, it will be capable of achieving pressures exceeding 20-Mbar in a several cm3 volume. With the development of a suitable opening switch, it will also be capable of producing soft x-rays. The 36-MJ capacitor bank will consist of 240-kV Marx modules arranged around a central target chamber. The Marx modules will be discharged through vertical triplate transmission lines to a parallel plate collector inside the target chamber. The capacitor bank is designed to deliver a peak current of 45 to 50 MA with a 4- to 5-[mu]s risetime. The Marx modules are designed to be reconfigured to a 480-kV configuration for opening switch development. Predicted performance with a typical load is presented. Descriptions of the major subsystems are also presented.

Download or read book Ranchero Explosive Pulsed Power Experiments written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Critical Pulse Power Components written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critical components for pulsed power conditioning systems will be reviewed. Particular emphasis will be placed on those components requiring significant development efforts. Capacitors, for example, are one of the weakest elements in high-power pulsed systems, especially when operation at high-repetition frequencies for extended periods of time are necessary. Switches are by far the weakest active components of pulse power systems. In particular, opening switches are essentially nonexistent for most applications. Insulaton in all systems and components requires development and improvement. Efforts under way in technology base development of pulse power components will be discussed.

Download or read book Pulsed Power Research and Technology at Sandia National Laboratories written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past 15 years, steady and sometimes exciting progress has been made in the hybrid technology called Pulsed Power. Based on both electrical engineering and physics, pulsed power involves the generation, modification, and use of electrical pulses up to the multitrillion-watt and multimillion-volt ranges. The final product of these powerful pulses can take diverse forms--hypervelocity projectiles or imploding liners, energetic and intense particle beams, X-ray and gamma-ray pulses, laser light beams that cover the spectrum from ultraviolet to infrared, or powerful microwave bursts. At first, the needs of specific applications largely shaped research and technology in this field. New the authors are beginning to see the reverse--new applications arising from technical capabilities that until recently were though impossible. Compressing and heating microscopic quantities of matter until they reach ultra-high energy density represents one boundary of their scientific exploration. The other boundary might be a defensive weapon that can project vast amounts of highly directed energy over long distances. Other applications of the technology may range from the use of electron beams to sterilize sewage, to laboratory simulation of radiation effects on electronics, to electromagnetic launchings of projectiles into earth or into solar orbits. Eventually the authors hope to use pulsed power to produce an inexhaustible supply of energy by means of inertial confinement fusion (ICF)--a technique for heating and containing deuterium-tritium fuel through compression. Topics covered here are: (1) inertial confinement fusion; (2) simulation technology; (3) development of new technology; and (4) application to directed energy technologies.

Download or read book Los Alamos National Laboratory Continued Operation Site Wide written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 942 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Explosive Pulsed Power System for New Radiation Sources written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High explosive pulsed power (HEPP) systems are capable of accessing very high energy densities and can reach conditions that are not possible with capacitor bank systems. The Procyon system was developed and used for experiments over a period of six years, and is exemplary of the capabilities of HEPP systems for state-of-the-art research. In this paper we will summarize some of the more interesting aspects of the work done in the past but will suggest ideas toward applications for future research. One of the main, unique features of HEPP systems is that they integrate easily to a particular physics experiment and the power flow can be optimized for a specific test. Magnetic flux compression generators have been an ideal power source for both high current plasma physics and hydrodynamic experimental loads. These experiments have contributed greatly to the understanding of high temperature and density plasmas and more recently to the understanding of instability growth in thick ((almost equal to)1 mm) imploding metal cylinders. Common to all these experiments is the application of a large current pulse to a cylindrically symmetric load. The resulting Lorenz force compresses the load to produce hydrodynamic motion and/or high temperature, high density plasma. In the plasma physics experiments, plasma thermalizes on axis and a black body distribution of x-rays is produced. To get better access to the radiation pulse, the load electrode geometry was modified. For example, by shaping the plasma implosion glide planes, a mass depletion region was formed along one electrode at pinch time which generated a very large voltage drop across a 1-2 mm segment of the pinch, and also produced a high energy ion beam on axis. These results were predicted by magneto-hydro-dynamic (MHD) codes and verified with framing camera and x-ray, pinhole, camera pictures. We have not previously published these features but will take another look and propose possible scenarios for studying and generating high intensity ion beams. The conditions generated in the implosion load region may be ideal for generating K and L-shell radiation via ion-atom collisions. In recent years, and in a previous conference, the simulation community has shown interest for Ar K-shell radiation and other soft x-ray sources. We will speculate on ways to use this system to generate a high fluence pulse of Ar K-shell radiation, and also to use the high intensity ion beam to study the mechanisms involved in the ion-atom collisions process. These processes can be used to enhance x-ray radiation from a variety of elements.

Download or read book Recent Progress with High Explosive Pulsed Power Isentropic Compression Experiments written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Design of an Explosive Pulsed Power System for Driving 16 MA Plasma Flow Switch Experiments written by and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We have described a system that uses a MK-IX helical generator to deliver 11 MA to a 140-nH pulse compression circuit. The purpose of that system is to drive a plasma z-pinch experiment. 11 refs., 5 figs.

Download or read book Implementation of Pulsed Power Diagnostics on Explosive Flux Compression Generators at LLNL written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Continued Operation of Los Alamos National Laboratory written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 800 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Initiation and Detonation of Heterogeneous High Explosives written by Pier K. Tang and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: