Efficiency scaling for railgun armatures. Final report, October 1987-September 1988
Results of a numerical study on three hypervelocity railgun-armature options are presented. Considered are the plasma, the hybrid, and the transitioning armatures. Several scaling studies presented illustrate the sensitivity of armature performance to variations in various railgun parameters. Armature performance scaling with projectile velocity, bore size (projectile mass), and current per unit rail height are all examined. An interesting conclusion is that armature efficiency tends to improve with increasing bore size. Also, results are presented from studies that determine how armature performance scales with uncertain parameters such as the ablation entrainment fraction, the skin coefficient, and the contact potential. These studies indicate which parameters have the greatest impact on armature performance and, therefore, need to be determined more accurately to predict railgun performance.
- Research Organization:
- Science Applications International Corp., Marietta, GA (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6419202
- Report Number(s):
- AD-A-203286/0/XAB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
420200* -- Engineering-- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques
640430 -- Fluid Physics-- Magnetohydrodynamics
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ABLATION
ACCELERATION
ACCELERATORS
ARMATURES
DOCUMENT TYPES
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
FRICTION
POWER SUPPLIES
PROGRESS REPORT
PROJECTILES
PROPULSION SYSTEMS
RAILGUN ACCELERATORS
SENSITIVITY