Conceptual design of Decade Half, a 15-MA, 300-ns PRS driver

The Decade radiation effects simulator is located at AEDC and presently consists of four modules capable of operation as either a large area bremsstrahlung source (Decade Quad LAB)
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or a plasma radiation source (Decade Quad PRS)
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. During 2001 we investigated several conceptual system architectures for connecting the current of eight Decade modules to a single PRS load. This Decade Half radiation source will be used in combination with other synchronized radiation effects simulators to offer a combined-effects testing capability at AEDC. We describe and compare the projected performance, risk, and relative cost of several rough conceptual designs, and discuss in more detail the “water bridge” concept that was selected for more complete conceptual design development. We present a self-consistent electrical and mechanical conceptual design for Decade Half, including an equivalent circuit model, details of the mechanical architecture (including operation, maintenance, and turnaround considerations), and electrical performance estimates of approximately 15 MA peak current delivered to a representative large radius, ∼ 300 ns implosion time PRS load.