Electrothermal accelerators: the power conditioning point of view

The authors advance the concept of a single-element power supply for ET (electrothermal) guns, showing that compulsator-type machines with waveform flexibility (pulse-shaping capability) can satisfy all the ET gun power supply and conditioning requirements while maintaining a high efficiency and low mass. Specifically, it is shown that such a compulsator is an optimal power supply for an ET accelerator due to its capability to conform to the load requirements while still performing the energy storage and electromechanical energy conversion functions in one element. Compulsators also have the highest power density reported for an electrical machine and have demonstrated repetitive rate operation at 60 Hz. A simulation of an existing laboratory-based 60-MJ HPG (homopolar generator) power supply driving an ET gun is also presented