Virtual prototyping of directed energy weapons

Author

Cartwright, K.L. ; Bowers, L.A. ; Greenwood, A.D. ; Fichtl, C.A. ; Haworth, M.D. ; Kozak, M. ; Mardahl, P.J. ; Murphy, T. ; Peterkin, R.E., Jr. ; Schulz, A.E. ; Swift, R.D. ; Luginsland, J.W. ; Watrous, J.J.

Author_Institution

Air Force Res. Lab., Kirtland AFB, NM, USA

fYear

2003

fDate

9-13 June 2003

Firstpage

81

Lastpage

85

Abstract

We give an overview of how RF systems, from pulsed power to antennas, can be virtually prototyped with the ICEPIC (Improved Concurrent Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell) code. ICEPIC simulates from first principles (Maxwell´s equations and Lorenz´s force law) the electrodynamics and charged particle dynamics of the RF-producing part of the system. Our simulations focus on gigawatt-class sources; the relativistic magnetron is shown as an example. Such simulations require enormous computational resources. These simulations successfully expose undesirable features of these sources and help us to suggest improvements.

Keywords

Maxwell equations; computational electromagnetics; electrodynamics; microwave devices; military computing; virtual prototyping; weapons; ICEPIC code; Improved Concurrent Electromagnetic Particle-in-Cell code; Lorenz force law; Maxwell equation; RF system; charged particle dynamics; digital simulation; directed energy weapons; electrodynamics; gigawatt-class source; virtual prototyping; Computational modeling; EMP radiation effects; Electrodynamics; Electromagnetic forces; Electromagnetic radiation; Laboratories; Masers; Maxwell equations; Virtual prototyping; Weapons;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

User Group Conference, 2003. Proceedings

Print_ISBN

0-7695-1953-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/DODUGC.2003.1253378

Filename

1253378