ENHANCED ELF COMPUTER CODES DEVELOPMENT

MANY OF THE SYSTEMS FOR SDI INVOLVE PULSE POWER AND HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEMS, INCLUDING LASERS, PARTICLE BEAM ACCELERATORS, AND RAILGUNS. ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS YET TO BE SOLVED IN DEVELOPING OPERATIONAL SDI SPACECRAFT IS THE MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRIC FIELDS WITHIN THE SPACECRAFT, THE PRIMARY WEAPON SYSTEM, AND ITS POWER SUPPLY AND CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT. THE ELF CODES UNIQUELY HAVE THE ABILITY TO ACCURATELY ANALYZE ELECTRIC FIELDS PRODUCED BY ARTITRATILY SHAPED CONDUCTORS IN THE PRESENCE OF NON-UNIFORM TIME VARYING PLASMAS, BUT MUST BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE DIELECTRICS. TRADITIONAL COMPUTER CODES DO NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF ACCURATELY ANALYZING ELECTRIC FIELDS NEAR CONDUCTORS, ESPECIALLY UNUSUALLY SHAPED CONDUCTORS. TETRA CORPORATION PROPOSES TO EXTEND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITS ELF (ELECTRIC FIELD ANALYSIS) COMPUTER CODES TO INCLUDE DIELECTRIC AND A NEW MULTIGRID GENERATOR FOR THE SOLUTION OF THESE AND SIMILAR PROBLEMS FOR THE STRATEGIC DEFENSE INITIATIVE. THE ELF CODES WITH DIELECTRICS REPRESENT A CRITICAL TOOL NEEDED BY THE OIST POWER CONSORTIUM. THE ELF CODES ARE UNIQUELY SUITED FOR THIS APPLICATION AND REPRESENT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SDIO TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENT IN THE CAPABILITY OF MODELING THE ELECTRIC FIELDS AND DESIGNING PULSE POWER SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT EQUIPMENT FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS.