Analysis of coupled magnetic switches in a magnetic pulse compression network

This study presents the design of a magnetic pulse compression network using coupled magnetic switches in a repetitively pulsed power system. The most popular design of magnetic switches used in pulse power systems relies on an auxiliary reset circuit to bias the core. The reset circuit applies DC current through a secondary winding on the core in a direction that provides a magnetization field which is in the opposite direction than that induced by the primary winding when the magnetic switch saturates [1]. The coupled magnetic switch and reset circuit biasing method is based on the need to utilize the complete B-H curve to take advantage of the nonlinear characteristics of the inductors. In this investigation, the windings of two out of phase stages share the same core. The two windings are configured to be opposite in polarity with respect to each other. This creates a shift in flux direction in the core during the active extent of each stage. The positive magnetic saturation of one stage is seen as a negative magnetic saturation to the opposing stage. Analysis of this proposed configuration is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of coupled magnetic switches.