MHD GENERATORS AS PULSE POWER SOURCES FOR ARE-DRIVEN RAILGUNS

In this paper the performances of an electromagnetic launch system con stituted by an are driven railgun powered by a MHD generator are inves tigated. A small bore plasma driven railgun for fusion fuel pellet inj ection is examined considering as pulse power source a MHD generator h aving characteristics taken from operating devices. The analysis of th e railgun and generator has been carried out by means of a lumped para meter equivalent network model that takes into account drag force and ablation effects and allows the evaluation of the main electrical and thermodynamic quantity distributions of the plasma arc.