This paper presents the results of tests of a facility based on a ten-element disk magnetocumulative generator and an explosive opening switch. A current of 10 MA with a characteristic rise time of ≈0.5 µs was obtained by breaking a circuit with a current of 18 MA in a load with an inductance of 16 nH, which is equivalent to the inductance of the chamber with a multiwire liner.

Several possibilities of preamplifier energy and power increasing are considered: using a more powerful (HMX-based) conical HE-charge in the central tube of the magneto-cumulative generator, using a magnetic flux finish pressing out device with axial initiation of the HE charge, and increasing the inner diameter of the helix. A magneto-cumulative generator (MCG) with a helix 280 mm in diameter (MCG-280) is developed. The new preamplifier has a power of ≈400 GW and is able to power a ten-element DMCG480 with an initial inductance of ≈0.2 µH by a current of ≈10 MA with a characteristic current rise time (by a factor of e at the final stage of its operation) τ e = 32 µs.

Summary form only given. Experimental results on helical MCG current switching with a vortex opening switch are presented in the paper. Operating speed dependence of the opening switch on its parameters and initial conditions was studied. Low noise inductance is a distinctive feature of this opening switch in comparison with other explosive opening switches. The experimental results with the vortex opening switch showed possibility of megampere currents formation with the front of ~1 mus in the inductive loads.

In the paper we describe a design of autonomous source of electromagnetic energy with initial field, created by permanent barium oxide magnets and present results of its tests. The energy source consists of magnetic system with initial energy of 1 J, helical magneto-cumulative generator with helix diameter of 50 nun, amplifying the field energy in 130 times, and transforming unit for a load matching. At peak power on helical generator of 66 MW, the voltage of 16 kV was obtained at inductive load of 40 gH.Weight of the energy autonomous source is 5 kg, HE-charge mass is 100 g.Several variants of magnetic systems were tested. Comparison of the magneto-cumulative generator operation, powered from permanent magnets and powered from capacitor bank was carried out. Optimizing the magnetic system with numerical methods the authors managed to get almost identical distribution of the fields in the generators. Finally, the generator based on permanent magnets operates and provides similar output characteristics as the generator powered from the capacitor bank.In contrast to other magneto-cumulative energy sources powered, for example, from an accumulator or piezo-generator, this source, based on permanent magnets, has higher specific energy characteristics, does not require any switching elements and always ready for operation.

The results from experiments with powering an electrical-explosion opening switch (EEOS) from a high-speed helical magnetic explosion generator are presented. The energy capacity of this generator is ∼1 kJ, the total operating time is 25 µs, and the characteristic current rise time is ∼2 µs. In experiments with thin copper wires used in EEOSs, voltage pulses with an amplitude of ∼180 kV and a rise time of ∼50 ns were formed across a 25-Ω resistive load connected in parallel to the EEOS.

Helical MCG of different types are the basis element of fast energy sources. A capacitor bank is used as a power source of initial energy. Characteristic current pulse rise time (in e-times), produced by such helical MCG, is /spl sim/1 /spl mu/s. The generator is operating on inductive load, the value of which is hundreds of nanohenry. Current from several tens up to hundreds of kiloamperes is produced in this case.