Explosive opening switch work at Westinghouse

An explosive switch that commutated 315 kA into a resistor and a second version designed to switch up to 1 MA into an HPG (homopolar generator) -driven railgun system are presented. These switches are located very near the load and consist of a set of main busbars in a low-inductance configuration shorted by a thinner switch busbar. Linear-shaped charges are used to sever this switch busbar at several locations when a preselected current level is attained, commutating the current into the load. The feasibility of multishot explosive switches for electromagnetic-launch systems is also considered.<
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