Finite element analysis of thermal fields in the pulsed power magnetic field generator

Abstract

The paper presents a finite element analysis of thermal fields in a pulsed power magnetic field generator. The laboratory system developed at the Vilnius High Magnetic Field Centre generates half-period sinusshaped magnetic field pulses of 2 ms duration and with amplitudes up to 50 T. The peak power of the designed generator is up to 15 MW. Numerical analysis performed by the finite element method simulated the transient behaviour of magnetic fluxes, induced heat and thermal fields in the pulsed generator. The non-linear thermal analysis was performed considering temperature-dependent specific heat and conductivity. The numerical behaviour of magnetic fields was validated by comparison with experimental measurements, while thermal analysis served for prediction of the temperature-dependent material properties.