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.