DES 3 MJ-railgun experimental results at ISL

A 10 MJ DES railgun with 12 current inputs distributed along the 50-mm round bore launcher has been built at ISL. The power supply consists of 200 LCR Pulse Forming Units of 50 kJ each. The 6-m-long launcher tube containing the Cu-Cr rails is made of both wound glass fiber and wound carbon fiber reinforced plastic.This paper presents the facility and the first experimental results obtained by using projectiles made of Ti or equipped with metallic fiber-brush armatures. The triggering of the 12 DES stages is synchronized with the position of the projectile detected by -dot probes located along the launcher tube. The currents delivered by the stages are measured by means of Rogowski coils surrounding the injection slots. The maximum total current reaches 2 MA resulting from the addition of the 12 current profiles of 800 kA delivered by each stage of the DES energy supply. The launcher has proved to have an overall efficiency of about 30%. Projectiles with masses ranging from 300 g to 650 g have been accelerated up to velocities of 2300 m/s. The quality of the electrical contact between rails and armature has been analyzed by electrical measurements and flash radiographs.

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“…During the acceleration the wedge at the front of the projectile penetrates into the body and opens the projectile (Fig. 11) [9], [10].…”

Section: B Ti-projectilementioning

confidence: 99%

First experimental results with the ISL 10 MJ DES railgun PEGASUS

2001

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“…Several suggestions have been made to reduce the resistance of the system, for example, by cooling down the rails [4] or applying a distributed energy supply [5]. However, usually the resistance of the pulse-forming unit and the cables is accountable for the major part of the overall resistance rather than the resistance of the launcher itself.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Modular Augmented Staged Electromagnetic Launcher Operated in the Energy Storage Mode

Roch

Hundertmark

Loffler

et al. 2015

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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Railguns use electrical energy to accelerate projectiles to large velocities. The electrical energy for the launching process is provided by a pulsed power unit. A pulsed power unit usually consists of a capacitor, a switching device, a crowbar diode, and a pulse-forming inductance. The pulseforming inductance is necessary to generate an appropriate current pulselength and amplitude. The idea of the energy storage augmented electromagnetic launcher is to use the magnetic field produced by the pulse-forming inductance to augment the magnetic field between the rails of the launcher. To maximize the augmentation of the magnetic field, it is necessary to place the pulse-forming inductance as close as possible to the rails of the railgun. The additional magnetic field causes not only an increased acceleration of the projectile but also a larger mechanical load of the railgun structure. This requires a reinforced housing compared with conventional railgun housings. In this paper, the design and the experimental setup of a railgun using an energy storage augmentation scheme as well as the results of experiments are presented. The results are compared with the previous results of a nonaugmented railgun configuration. The comparison shows an improvement of the energy efficiency.

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“…Several suggestions have been made to reduce the resistance of the system for example by cooling down the rails [4] or applying a distributed energy supply [5]. But usually the main part in the systems resistance is contributed by the pulse forming network and the power transmission cables rather than by the launcher itself.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The modular augmented staged electromagnetic launcher operated in the energy storage mode

Roch

Hundertmark

Loffler

et al. 2014

2014 17th International Symposium on Electromagnetic Launch Technology

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Railguns use electrical energy to accelerate projectiles to large velocities. The electrical energy for the launching process is provided by a pulsed power unit.A pulsed power unit usually consists of a capacitor, a switching device, a crowbar diode and a pulse forming inductance. The pulse forming inductance is necessary to generate an appropriate current pulse length and amplitude.The idea of the energy storage augmented electromagnetic launcher is to use the magnetic field produced by the pulse forming inductance to augment the magnetic field between the rails of the launcher. To maximize the augmentation of the magnetic field, it is necessary to place the pulse forming inductance as close as possible to the rails of the railgun. The additional magnetic field causes not only an increased acceleration of the projectile, but also a larger mechanical load of the railgun structure. This requires a reinforced housing compared to conventional railgun housings.In this paper the design and the experimental setup of a railgun using an energy storage augmentation scheme are presented as well as the results of experiments. The results are compared with previous results of a non-augmented railgun configuration. The comparison shows an improvement of the energy efficiency.

show abstract

DES 3 MJ-railgun experimental results at ISL

Cited by 23 publications

References 4 publications

First experimental results with the ISL 10 MJ DES railgun PEGASUS

First experimental results with the ISL 10 MJ DES railgun PEGASUS

The Modular Augmented Staged Electromagnetic Launcher Operated in the Energy Storage Mode

The modular augmented staged electromagnetic launcher operated in the energy storage mode

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