Modeling and analysis of the RANCHERO coaxial explosive pulse power generator system

A key element in the design of a coaxial generator system is the simplicity of the geometry. The clean cylindrical geometry allows us a reasonable chance at modeling RANCHERO performance using the authors' 1D and 2D MHD modeling codes. The results of numerical simulations have been compare to several tests of the RANCHERO system in a variety of configurations. Recent comparisons of 1D calculations with the REOT-2 data have been extremely good and suggest that the generator is behaving in a very 1D like nature until reaching 90-95% of peak current. Differences between calculated current and measured performance during the last 3 mm (out of 70 mm) of flux compression may be a consequence of either the EOS for SF/sub 6/, 2D effects, or both. This study examines the existing models and attempt to provide a robust integrated model which can then be used to drive design studies, pre- and post-shot analysis, and predict performance parameters for slight variations of the base design of RANCHERO.