Structural consequences of railgun augmentation
An augmented railgun can provide the same driving force on a projectile at a lower plasma arc current and thus less potential erosion and barrel damage as an unaugmented railgun. However, there are structural consequences to railgun augmentation which must be overcome before the advantages of lower plasma arc currents can be realized. To investigate these consequences, a bolted V-block supporting structure is considered with two cores; unaugmented (a single pair of conducting rails), and augmented (conducting rails augmented by a second tandem set of conductors). The mechanical load on the cores consist of the static bolt preload, the plasma pressure behind the projectile, and the magnetic pressure induced by currents flowing in the rails or augmenting conductors. Assuming no current diffusion into the conductors, the magnetic pressure distribution on the conductors is determined by solving the two-dimensional magnetostatic field equations using an analogy with heat transfer. These loads are then used in a dynamic finite element structural model. The maximum rail current is found at which the unaugmented railgun can be repetitively fired without detrimental gaps forming at the bore. For the augmented railgun, at the same projectile acceleration, large permanent deformations can occur. Thus successful implementation of rail gun augmentation will require improvement of the supporting structure.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 5364445
- Report Number(s):
- SAND-87-2123C; CONF-880478-4; ON: DE88007036
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 4. symposium on electromagnetic launch technology, Austin, TX, USA, 12 Apr 1988; Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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