2-D modeling of electromagnetic flux-compression in /spl theta/-pinch geometry

A major research program underway at Loughborough University involves the generation of ultrahigh magnetic fields up to 300 T (3 MG) by means of magnetic flux-compression. A high pulsed current is discharged into a single-turn driving coil surrounding a liner, with various aspects of the associated practical work being presented in a companion paper. This paper explains the two-dimensional filamentary modeling technique that is used to provide detailed prediction of the liner implosion, driving coil dynamics and magnetic field diffusion through all the metallic elements of the arrangement. The main typical results from numerical experiments are presented and experimental data are compared with theoretical predictions.

I. Introduction

A COMPANION paper [1] presents some aspects of an ongoing research program at Loughborough University into electromagnetic flux-compression. The results obtained so far are very encouraging [1], [2] due not only to the experimental results that have been obtained but also to the insight provided by an accompanying two-dimensional (2-D) filamentary model. Without this very detailed analysis, far more experimentation would have been needed, and to obtain the optimized design for the overall system would have been a long, tedious, and costly process.