Pulsed power research at Loughborough University

Summary form only given, as follows. The ongoing pulsed power research activity at Loughborough University includes a wide range of both theoretical and experimental topics, a number of which are outlined in the accompanying poster papers. An area in which work has been in progress for several years is the 2D modelling of flux compression generators. One of the accompanying poster papers reports how the Loughborough program has been extremely successfully employed to predict the experimental performance of one of the generators built by Texas Tech University for the MURI program. Another activity that is reported is the use of an exploding wire array, together with two air-cored transformers, to produce two synchronised series of high-voltage pulses from the single discharge of a capacitor, that is aimed at producing two-dimensional X-ray images of a dynamic process. Most of our work necessitates the production of fast electrical pulses, although this is quite the opposite of what is needed for a particular industrial application. The requirement for a very slow pulse inevitably poses several unusual technical challenges, and we demonstrate in one of the posters how these have been successfully overcome. A further activity that we report is our continued progress with electro-optic high-voltage probes, which enables us now to record reliably 500 kV fast-rising pulses. We have recently begun co-operating with a group of Urologists on the use of high-power electric and magnetic field generators in the medical field, in support of their activity in non-invasive surgery. Initial experiments have been extremely successful, and more information is again given in a poster paper. Our final poster reports the theoretical and experimental development of a novel plasma ring gun, aimed at producing a more evenly distributed plasma in a plasma opening switch and a more consistent opening threshold current.