ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the operational and design highlights of the basic self-saturating, two-core magnetic amplifier. The core material and configuration used in the design of a self-saturating magnetic amplifier controls the overall performance of the magnetic amplifier. The Mean Length Turn is required to calculate both winding resistance and weight for a given winding. Using the DU lamination in a magnetic amplifier design requires the calculation of the resistance of both control and gate windings. The Mean Length Turn for a toroidal magnetic amplifier is very difficult to obtain, because its shape is very nonlinear. The control winding must have enough amp-turns to pull the gates out of saturation to where the gates are supporting the total applied voltage. Each magnetic material type has its own electrical characteristic. The magnetic materials that are used in laminations and tape cores are supplied in different thicknesses, so the engineer can design and get best performance at the operating frequency.
