Filamentary modeling of pulsed high-current systems

Filamentary modeling, also termed the network mesh or mesh-matrix method, has a long history and the first to use this method of analyzing electric circuits was J.C. Maxwell. In pulsed power technology, the most intensive users of this numerical modeling were those designing electromagnetic launchers and homopolar generators. The filamentary technique has been successfully applied at Loughborough along the years in a wide range of pulsed power, high-current applications, including pulsed magnetic field coils, explosively driven magnetic flux-compression generators, various electromagnetic launchers, ultrahigh magnetic field generation by single-turn coils and electromagnetic implosions and the design of various types of high-voltage air-core pulsed transformers. After an introduction into the filamentary technique, most of these applications will be detailed.