Current Radiographic Pulsed Power Machines at AWE

The Hydrodynamics Department at AWE has built up an impressive suite of X-ray machines over the last four decades. The machines cover a voltage range from 800 kV to 9.5 MV which caters for a broad range of experiments. The service radiographic machines are fielded in pairs which gives the added bonus that two images can be gained from each experiment. All the machines are built on the same principles. A Marx generator charges a Blumlein which is discharged by a self closing switch. The output pulse passes through an insulator stack (X-ray tube) into a magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL) and on to the e-beam diode. The Hydrodynamics Department is developing higher resolution X-ray sources for its future facilities. To develop these sources the department has three research machines, Eros for low impedance diodes like the rod pinch and self pinch, EMU for high impedance diodes such as the paraxial and immersed Bz and PIM (an IVA based machine) for 1-3 MV X-ray machine and diode research.