Bitter coil design methodology for electromagnetic pulse metal processing techniques

• An industry orientated methodology for a simplified analytical calculation of a pulsed Bitter coil has been developed.
• An implementation of assymetry characteristic of the coil into the analytical calculation has improved its precision.
• Two FE models of the coil have been developed in order to complement and verify the analytical approach.
• The methodology has been experimentally verified by the impedance and the B-field measurement.

Electromagnetic pulse metal processing techniques (EPMPT) such as welding, forming and cutting have proven to be an effective solution to specific manufacturing problems. A high pulse magnetic field coil is a critical part of these technologies and its design is a challenging task. This paper describes a Bitter coil design using a newly developed methodology for a simplified analytical calculation of the coil and complementary finite element models (FE) of different complexity. Based on the methodology a Belgian Welding Institute (BWI) Bitter coil has been designed and tested by means of short circuit experiments, impedance and B-field measurements. A good agreement between the calculated and the experimental design parameters was found.