The minimum mass of some pulse power source components

The minimum masses of pressure vessels, flywheels, magnetic field producing windings and capacitors are studied. These devices experience structural forces as a result of storing energy and have a minimum mass expressible as M = /spl rho/W//spl sigma/, where /spl rho/ is the density of the material of which the force-resisting structure is made, /spl sigma/ is the stress in the structure and W is the stored energy. Capacitors are also limited by natural ionizing radiations which initiate electrical breakdown. The conclusion from the studies is that for other than self-destructing one-shot systems, the maximum energy per pulse is about 10 kJ per kilogram of system mass, with many practical systems attaining less than one-tenth of that figure. For self-destructing systems the maximum energy in their single operation is about lOO kJ per kg of system mass.