On the possibility of using linear current generators for geophysical research

A procedure was developed to obtain analytical estimates of the operating modes of linear electric generators (LEGs) of the railgun type with current supply to active inductive loads. An analysis of the solutions obtained shows a low effectiveness of using generators of this type to power geophysical dipoles in electrical prospecting (the efficiency does not exceed 20%). Induction coil-type LEGs provide for much higher efficiency. Numerical modeling was performed of the operating modes of one design of such generators. Versions of nonlinear-inductance LEG circuits that produce quasirectangular load current pulses and are of interest for solving electrical prospecting problems were proposed and studied. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 175–184, September–October, 2006.