"Compulsators" as pulsed power supplies for high-power, high-energy powder spraying

Compulsators were invented and developed for military applications such as future systems for advanced armor penetration being considered ideal power sources for electromagnetic launchers (EMLs) of railguns or coilgun types. It is, however, very probably that the "compulsators" brightest future might be in the manufacturing and materials technology areas due to a new process of hypervelocity powder spraying and surface conversion. The paper shows that the most promising power supplies for such applications are electrical machines-compulsators for both pulsed regime and continuous basis regime-of magnetic flux compression types, in order to achieve the very short duration current pulses necessary for such process. The magnetic flux compression fundamentals in the context of electromechanical energy conversion and the duality flux compression-flux expansion (pulsed power supply-pulsed railgun or coilgun) are cursory reviewed. In order to avoid magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, the shape and magnitude of the current pulse is rigorously controlled by a novel type of solid-state-assisted compulsators-with flux compression. In such an electrical machine, the flux compression is locally performed by a winding with variable structure, solid-state commutated.