Test results of the Atlas Marxed pulsed power system

Atlas is a pulsed power machine designed to deliver a maximum of 27-32 MA to a load with a rise time of about 5 /spl mu/s. The machine will be used for hydrodynamic studies in the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Program. The load will typically be a metallic cylinder with a mass of about 40 g mounted in a coaxial configuration w.r.t. the current return. Shock pressures of about 15 Mbars can be obtained with a "direct drive" implosion, i.e. simply driving the load liner with its self-generated J/spl times/B forces. Results of test on a single Marx module prototype and on the "first-article maintenance unit" are presented, The tests are into a dummy load that allows operation at full-erected voltage at equivalent system current and timescale. Results are presented of over 500 Marx module full voltage shots with induced trigger system faults and fault level currents and the first 100 shots on the first Atlas "maintenance unit".