A model for the magnetic cores of linear induction accelerator cells

Linear induction cells are used in the electron beam accelerator for the proposed Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrotest (DARHT) facility that would be built at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Ferrite cores are used in each cell to produce 250 kV, flat to within /spl plusmn/1% for 70 ns. In the course of operating a prototype test stand for the full accelerator, circuit models have been developed for the pulsed power system and the induction cells that have been useful in achieving the /spl plusmn/1% flatness requirement. The circuit models use the MicroCap IV/sup TM/ electronic circuit analysis program, which includes a Jiles-Atherton model for magnetic materials. In addition, the coaxial, ferrite-filled geometry of the cell is modelled by a multiple-section lumped-element transmission line. Propagation of a voltage pulse through the ferrite cores, including saturation effects, can be reproduced. The model has been compared to actual waveforms obtained from prototype operations, and good results have been obtained for a wide range of operating conditions. Interest in possible future applications have led us to use the model to predict the behavior of accelerator cells driven by multiple voltage pulses without an intervening magnetic reset of the ferrite cores. Results show that multiple pulses can be applied to the accelerator cells without a magnetic reset, but with some degradation of later pulses. The degradation appears as a droop on the flat portion of the second (and subsequent) pulses. The droop can be corrected by shaping the waveform of the incident pulses.