Project Sherwood: Orientation Lectures presented at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, November-December, 1955 - VII. Pinch Devices

The lecturer first provides an introductory review of the pinch effect, then derives the relations between the pressure, magnetic field, and current in a steady state pinch. Next he examines the dynamics of the pinch, particularly the behavior of a pinch in time from the initial application of a driving electric potential. Further topics include the kink instability, stabilization of the pinch, economics of the pinch, and the Picket Fence (or Cusp) device and devices based on ion or electron streams. Experiments concerned with the pinch effect fall into two general categories. One is the class of toroidal pinches. The pinch currents are produced by inductive action, and the experimental emphasis is on the study of confinement and stabilization. The second type is the linear-pinch. Inductive techniques are not necessary here and the pinch current may be obtained by direct discharge through the tube.