Sandia Labs FY22 Laboratory Directed Research & Development Annual Report

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING OF MAGNETICALLY INSULATED TRANSMISSION LINES.

A novel hybrid metalized polymer core (HMPC) concept was investigated for its limitations/ capabilities and efficacy. A notional process was developed, and up/down stream (with respect to the experimental region) hardware was designed, manufactured, and tested. Ultimately, four unique pieces of power flow hardware were manufactured with this technique with skin thicknesses between 200 μm to 1 mm. Results indicate no obvious power flow differences given an apples-to-apples

comparison to like-kind shot conditions and hardware topology. Further, the team’s HMPC hardware has propagated > 400 kV at > 600 kA, all while maintaining an ~ 3X reduction in overall mass. The Sandia team’s HMPC shot hardware works as intended and, with further development, is believed to be a viable candidate for next- generation pulsed-power debris mitigation among other applications. (PI: Charles Edgar Rose)

Figure 1: Series 3 shot loss data showing little to no obvious current perturbation. This data is for the thick Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) variant.

Figure 2: Series D shot loss data showing little to no obvious perturbation. Note: Shot 10 was the thin LPBF variant (no internal polymer) and 11 was the HMPC variant.

Polymer core

Add inserts

Metalize

Post-process

Figure 3: Notional HMPC manufacturing process.

Figure 4: Notational design highlights of up-stream cathode base.

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LABORATORY DIRECTED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT