An efficient method for the performance analysis of bounded-wave nuclear EMP simulators

The author discusses an approach for analyzing the electromagnetic performance of bounded-wave nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP) simulators. This method is extremely efficient and enables even the largest simulators to be analyzed. Typical bounded-wave EMP simulators are composed of flat-plate transmission-line sections approximated by wires. Using a priori knowledge as much as possible, the method presented obtains the current in the wave launcher´s wires from an approximation of the current in a conical-plate wave launcher that generates a spherical TEM wave propagating along the radial direction. This method uses TEM-like currents obtained by approximating the TEM-mode current in the conical-plate wave launcher. The transient electromagnetic fields within the simulator´s working volume are then readily computed by using efficient and analytical time-domain expressions for the fields generated by the wires. Expressions for the early-time fields and the impedance of a conical wire-mesh wave launcher are derived. Numerical results are presented for EMPSIS, a triangular-plate simulator for ships