Use of a two-stage light-gas gun as an injector for electromagnetic railguns

Conference · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5250008

Shahinpoor, M; Asay, J R; Konrad, C H; Hall, C A

Ablation of wall materials is known to be a major factor limiting the performance of railguns. To minimize this effect, it is desirable to inject projectiles into railgun at velocities greater than the ablation threshold velocity (6 to 8 km/s for copper rails). Because two-stage light-gas guns are capable of achieving such velocities, a program was initiated to design, build and evaluate the performance of a two-stage light gas gun, utilizing hydrogen gas, for use as an injector to an electromagnetic railgun. This effort is part of a project to develop a hypervelocity electromagnetic launcher (HELEOS) for use in equation-of-state studies. In this paper, the specific design features that enhance compatibility of the injector with the railgun, including a slip-joint between the injector launch tube and the coupling section to the railgun are described. The operational capabilities for using all major projectile velocity measuring techniques, such as in-bore pressure gauges, laser and CW x-ray interrupt techniques, flash x-ray and continuous in-bore velocity measurements using VISAR interferometry are also discussed. Finally an internal ballistics code for optimizing gun performance has been utilized to interpret performance data of the gun.

• Research Organization: New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 5250008
• Report Number(s): SAND-87-2314C; CONF-880478-5; ON: DE88007200
• Resource Relation: Conference: 4. symposium on electromagnetic launch technology, Austin, TX, USA, 12 Apr 1988; Other Information: Paper copy only, copy does not permit microfiche production
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
PROJECTILES
EQUATIONS OF STATE
VELOCITY
RAILGUN ACCELERATORS
DAMAGE
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
HYDROGEN
I CODES
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATIONS
ACCELERATORS
COMPUTER CODES
DATA
ELEMENTS
EQUATIONS
INFORMATION
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
SIMULATION
420200* - Engineering- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques