Improving sample preheating capabilities for dynamic loading on high-pulsed power drivers

The CEA operates several High-Pulsed Power (HPP) drivers for dynamic loading experiments. The aim of these experiments is to provide quantitative information about the response of various materials of interest, mainly under quasi-isentropic compression. In order to improve our ability to explore these materials' behavior over a wide range of thermodynamic paths and starting from various non-ambient conditions, we developed a device capable of pre-heating both metallic and nonmetallic samples up to several hundred degrees prior to loading. This device is based on conductive heating and on a configuration that allows homogeneous heating with unprecedented temperature stability on our HPP platforms. Moreover, it is designed to allow efficient sample heating, within extremely severe electromagnetic environments associated with such platforms. The main features of this preheating device, whose design was guided by extensive thermal simulations, are presented, along with various technical solutions that enabled its insertion in a reliable experimental configuration on our HPP drivers. The results obtained from preliminary experiments on a composite material (carbon fibers embedded in epoxy resin) and on a high purity copper sample preheated to 323 K and 573 K, respectively, are presented. The performance and robustness of this heating device are potentially valuable for extending the range of studies in dynamic loading experiments for various materials under ramp compression using HPP drivers.