Plasma armature formation in high-pressure, high-velocity hydrogen
The use of a two-stage light-gas gun (2SLGG) as a preaccelerator in combination with a railgun is expected to significantly reduce barrel ablation and improve overall performance. In particular, the use of a hydrogen 2SLGG provides injection velocities of 6 to 8 km/s and a pure hydrogen environment immediately behind the projectile as it enters a railgun. To continue acceleration of the projectile, a plasma armature must be formed. We explored two methods of converting a portion of the fast-moving hydrogen gas into a plasma armature capable of supporting currents exceeding 100 kA. We report on the results of these studies. This work is part of STARFIRE, the joint Sandia National Laboratories/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory project to develop a hypervelocity railgun. 11 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA); Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA); Ktech Corp., Albuquerque, NM (USA); EG and G, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 5127639
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-97385; CONF-880478-11; ON: DE88008347
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 4. symposium on electromagnetic launch technology, Austin, TX, USA, 12 Apr 1988
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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