Numerical study of a magnetic cumulative generator

Summary form only given, as follows. A magnetic cumulative generator (MCG) is a pulsed power device that uses high velocity magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow to produce a large current pulse. A helical MCG consists of a solenoid and a cylindrical high explosive (HE) charge enclosed in an aluminum liner. The HE-liner assembly is coaxial with and placed inside the solenoid. At the start of the operation the solenoid is connected to an external power supply that produces an axial magnetic field inside the coil. Then, the HE charge is detonated and a relatively small fraction of the energy produced by the explosion is used to melt the liner. The remaining energy is used to accelerate the molten aluminum radially outwards. The magnetic field that soaked the core of the device is compressed at high rates by the high temperature, highly conducting molten aluminum and it generates a high emf in the coil. The EMF produced drives a current that it is used to generate a high intensity electromagnetic pulse (EMP). In this paper we apply our approximate Riemann solver for the MHD equations to study the current output of the MCG, specifically the time evolution of the current produced by the device. For this simulation a helical grid is used to discretize the core of the solenoid. We are implementing a general equation of state and conductivity and phase transition models using plasma property tables (SESAME from Los Alamos National Laboratory).