Post-shot analysis of plasma/rail interaction in a small bore load driving EML

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1991 · IEEE Transactions on Magnetics (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States)

OSTI ID:5609745

Kolawolc, J O; Frierson, R V ^[1]; Clorhiaux, E J ^[2]; Gordon, C E ^[3]

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1. Science Application International Corp., Shalimar, FL (US)
2. Auburn Univ., AL (United States). Dept. of Physics
3. Air Force Armament Lab., Eglin AFB, FL (United States); Air Force Armament Lab., Eglin AFB, FL (United States)

This paper reports on the dynamics of an aluminum plasma armature in a small bore railgun at the Air Force Armament Laboratory (AFATL) Electromagnetic Launcher Research Facility which has been characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) (depth profiling and x-ray spectroscopy) techniques on rail samples exposed to a single passage of a plasma armature driving a load. These analyzes have for the first time suggested the existence of a thick layer of armature material (aluminum in this case) on all segments of the exposed rail surface with composition varying from pure metallic at the breech and oxidized aluminum (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) in other areas. The implications of the oxidized layer to railgun operation is yet to be established. However, the presence of oxidized aluminum on the rail surface would modify both the thermal and electrical characteristics of the rail surface in ways that degrade the performance of plasma armatures and may have implications on armature instability and the evolution of secondary arcs.

• OSTI ID: 5609745
• Report Number(s): CONF-9004136-; CODEN: IEMGA
• Journal Information: IEEE Transactions on Magnetics (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers); (United States), Vol. 27:1; Conference: 5. IEEE symposium on electromagnetic launcher technology, Destin, FL (United States), 1-5 Apr 1990; ISSN 0018-9464
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
PLASMA GUNS
MATERIALS TESTING
ELECTRODYNAMICS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
RAILGUN ACCELERATORS
TEST FACILITIES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
ACCELERATORS
ALUMINIUM COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
INSTABILITY
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
TESTING
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