A need exists for a transportable repetitively pulsed power supply to provide .5mj pulses at 50gw power levels. Of several possible approaches pulsed plasma mhd (ppmhd) is a leading candidate for a compact high performance prime power source. Designed to operate like a rapid-fire gun, repetitively pulsed operation and short high power pulses are major attributes. Ppmhd is based on the efficient conversion of the energy of explosives to an energetic plasma and then to pulsed electrical energy in a faraday mode mhd generator. In programs to date 10gw .25mj pulses have been demonstrated. The SBIR program provides the opportunity to demonstrate 50 gw, .5mj pulses by a configuration of small mhd generators that rely on inherent scaling properties of ppmhd devices for pulse shaping and power conditioning. The sizing, design configuration and performance estimate for a series of high power experiments will be addressed in phase I. This will include performance analyses using a unique mhd code which accurately models the ppmhd process. Experimental demonstration of a 50 gw .5mj generator will be proposed for phase II.
