Fundamental Limits to Compact, Expendable Pulsed Power and Microwave Sources

摘要

This final report covers activities conducted by Texas Tech University from June 15, 1997 to June 14, 2000. We are investigating the fundamental basic materials limitations to the design of compact, expendable (i. e. one-time use), pulsed power and microwave sources which can be munitions launched, air dropped, towed, etc. These devices will ultimately be driven by explosives but the initial laboratory work was done with electrically driven flyer plates and light gas guns. The main devices of interest include piezoelectric generators, ferromagnetic generators, cylindrical implosion flux compression generators, and helical flux compression generators. Some additional research was focused on the one-time evacuation of e-beam chambers using chemical reactions. The overall goal of the research was to obtain a basic physical understanding of these generators and to establish the fundamental materials limits to their function, taking advantage of thermal and kinetic inertia, onetime dielectric stresses, etc. The longer term, practical goal is to obtain engineering guidelines for developing order of magnitude smaller devices than are possible for present-day, long life, high reliability generators.