Plasma armature railgun launcher simulations at the Univ. of Texas at Austin

Journal Article · Sat Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1988 · IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Transactions on Magnetics; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/20.22604· OSTI ID:5677287

Weeks, D A; Weldon, W F; Zowarka, Jr, R C ^[1]

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1. Texas Univ., Austin, TX (USA). Center for Electromechanics

The Center for Electromechanics at the University of Texas at Austin (CEM-UT) has developed, while performing research associated with several Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contracts, a velocity dependent friction model that accurately predicts the losses associated with a plasma armature railgun. Test results from CEM-UT's 1 m long, 1.27 cm square bore, plasma-armature railgun have been used to determine the validity of the model. Deviation between calculated and measured performance is typically less than 5% at railgun currents below 500 kA, however, at currents greater than 500 kA, the deviation increases. Experimental evidence suggests that the railguns lack of stiffness and subsequent venting of driving pressure rather than the electromechanical model is primarily responsible for the divergence between predicted and measured results. To test this theory a railgun was built using external preloading rings (Ringfeder) to increase its stiffness. On the first test of the Ringfeder railgun, 625 kA was discharged into the gun and the projectile was accelerated to 5.9 km/s. Test data indicates that the projectile accelerated through the entire length of the railgun and that a minimum amount of plasma leakage occurred during the test. An analysis of the 625-kA test was done to compare the results of CEM-UT's frictional loss model to ablation and viscous drag loss models.

• OSTI ID: 5677287
• Journal Information: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Transactions on Magnetics; (USA), Journal Name: IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Transactions on Magnetics; (USA) Vol. 25:1; ISSN IEMGA; ISSN 0018-9464
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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