Experimental and numerical investigation of armature/stator contact in magnetic flux compression generators

The efficiency of a magnetic flux compression generators (MFCG) is highly dependent on the expanding characteristics of the exploding armature and the nature of contact between the armature and the surrounding stator coil. A hydrodynamic finite element (FE) model was developed to simulate the expansion characteristics of the armature and its ensuing impact with the stator. The effectiveness of the FE model to simulate the explosive behavior of the armature was qualified by comparing the numerical results with experimentally measured parameters. Specifically, the radial displacement of the armature as well as the axial velocity of the armature/stator contact point were measured experimentally and compared with numerical results showing excellent agreement between the two. The results indicated that the radial and axial velocity with which the armature impacted the stator did not change through the length of the armature. However, the results showed that the velocity with which the contact point between the armature and the stator traveled along the length of the armature decreased as the explosion process went on. As expected, the axial propagation velocity of the contact point was found to be at its highest value (2.25 X detonation velocity) at the region close to the detonation end while approaching the detonation velocity at points away from the detonation end.