Design and Testing of the ARL Squeeze 4 Helical Flux Compression Generator
Abstract
The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has designed, built, and tested the performance of a helical flux compression generator. The generator design uses an aluminum variable pitch coil machined from a solid tube. The armature is also machined from aluminum and filled with a Comp-B explosive fill. Tests were conducted to map the performance of the generator at several different energy levels. Tests were also performed to investigate variations in the design, such as internal insulation, armature velocity, and load impedance. Available onboard energy on current Army vehicle platforms is very limited. The fielding of many pulse power devices is being hampered by the lack of available power on Army vehicle platforms. Smaller pulsed power sources will ease the fielding of such devices. One device that has increased power density for pulsed power applications is the flux compression generator. The device is able to convert stored chemical energy in the form of explosives into a pulsed electrical current. The energy density of modern explosive formulations is orders of magnitude higher than that of more conventional capacitive energy stores. Although these small devices can produce electrical currents in excess of 1 MA they do have severe limitations. One, the device requires a small seed current to start the flux compression process. Two, they are a onetime use device, as it uses a destructive explosive charge to power itself. Three, they are best suited to drive devices with low-electrical impedances.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA589133
Entities
People
- Paul Berning
- Peter Bartkowski
Organizations
- United States Army Research Laboratory