Performance analysis of the two-stage light gas gun
A 1 1/2D Arbitrary Lagrange Eulerian (ALE) code was developed to analyse the dynamics of the two-stage light gas gun. Comparison of the resultant calculations with measured projectile velocities yielded very good agreement over a wide range of operating conditions and for two different test facilities. A parametric study was then performed to assess the optimum performance space. Design parameters included pump- and launch-tube geometry, transition section shape and length, piston mass and velocity, burst diaphragm release pressure, and initial gas pressure and temperature. For conventional designs, it was found that the maximum projectile velocity is limited primarily by the maximum pressure that can be tolerated in the transition section connecting pump- to launch-tube. Velocities in excess of 11 km/s appear feasible, but this requires the capability of dealing with peak pressures up to 1.5 GPa.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6474865
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-96021; CONF-870753-1; ON: DE87009745
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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