Explosively formed fuses for high voltage systems

Summary form only given. At Los Alamos we have been adapting Explosively Formed Fuse (EFF) techniques towards the goal of producing 500 kV 1 /spl mu/s duration voltages in relatively high impedance loads. We have continued our small-scale studies over a wide range of current densities and load inductances. The new work has shed more light on our understanding of EFF operation and enabled us to numerically model switch performance for the first time. The results confirmed previous findings where it was found that metal fusing (Joule heating) has little or no effect on switch operation. Also the results demonstrated the critical relationship between switch resistance and load inductance. The findings have led to significant changes in our 76 cm EFF system design and have led to significant successes in full-scale system performance.