A bespoke non-invasive current distribution sensor for use with a flat transmission line

Summary form only given. The work described has arisen as part of an on-going joint research programme between AWE and Loughborough University into the dynamics of electromagnetically accelerated flyer plates. A determination of the current distribution (or at least confirmation of the uniformity of the distribution) in a flat transmission line is needed in order to confirm the uniform acceleration of the flyer plate. To this end a novel mutual inductance based sensor has been developed and termed MIDOT. The sensor is calibrated using a stripline comprising an array of independent parallel filaments across the width of the transmission line with a known current flowing through each. This enabled the positional sensitivity of the sensor to be established. A subsequent series of detailed experiments confirmed that the MIDOT sensor can be used to identify accurately the currents flowing in the independent filaments under transient conditions. In contrast to previous work published on the flyer plate program, this paper is dedicated to the development of the bespoke sensor used to determine the current distribution across the flyer plate. The experimental development and results have not previously been published in great detail. The sensor has been developed to a stage where its proof of principle has been convincingly demonstrated on a low voltage test bed and it has been used to provide initial results when fielded on the high current AMPERE and QUATTRO facilities at AWE and Loughborough University respectively.