Review of armature research (railguns)

Batteh, Jad H.

doi:10.1109/20.101030

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Thus, we are interested not only in the jet parameters as they exit the railgun, but also in the evolution of the plasma jet as it propagates a distance of ∼ 0.5 m, as this evolution will affect subsequent jet merging and ultimately the plasma liner formation and implosion processes. As such, our work constitutes a unique contribution to the large body of railgun research, 17 which has primarily focused on the dynamics and performance of the "armature" [18][19][20] within the railgun bore and the ability of railguns to launch solid projectiles or develop thrust for military 21 and space applications. [22][23][24] These jets, if injected into a tokamak plasma, may also find applications in core re-fueling or edge-localized-mode (ELM) pacing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental characterization of railgun-driven supersonic plasma jets motivated by high energy density physics applications

et al. 2012

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We report experimental results on the parameters, structure, and evolution of high-Mach-number (M) argon plasma jets formed and launched by a pulsed-power-driven railgun. The nominal initial average jet parameters in the data set analyzed are density ≈ 2×10 16 cm −3 , electron temperature ≈ 1.4 eV, velocity ≈ 30 km/s, M ≈ 14, ionization fraction ≈ 0.96, diameter ≈ 5 cm, and length ≈ 20 cm. These values approach the range needed by the Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX), which is designed to use merging plasma jets to form imploding spherical plasma liners that can reach peak pressures of 0.1-1 Mbar at stagnation. As these jets propagate a distance of approximately 40 cm, the average density drops by one order of magnitude, which is at the very low end of the 8-160 times drop predicted by ideal hydrodynamic theory of a constant-M jet.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental characterization of railgun-driven supersonic plasma jets motivated by high energy density physics applications

et al. 2012

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“…These experiments were done to help us understand and interpret planned, subsequent experiments based on the merging of two or more plasma jets, and also to provide accurate initial conditions for numerical modeling of experiments using these plasma jets. These experiments also contributed uniquely to the plasma railgun literature, most of which has focused on in-bore characterization of the plasma armature as a pusher for launching solid projectiles to high velocities (see Batteh 1991, for example). Table 2 summarizes the measured (or experimentally inferred) argon plasma jet parameters at the exit of the railgun nozzle (Z ≈ 2 cm) and downstream (Z ≈ 41 cm), as well as the expected range of values for some of the parameters, although the latter were not systematically measured in the single-jet studies.…”

Section: Summary Of Major Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laboratory plasma physics experiments using merging supersonic plasma jets

et al. 2014

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We describe a laboratory plasma physics experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory that uses two merging supersonic plasma jets formed and launched by pulsed-power-driven railguns. The jets can be formed using any atomic species or mixture available in a compressed-gas bottle and have the following nominal initial parameters at the railgun nozzle exit: n e ≈ n i ∼ 10 16 cm −3 , T e ≈ T i ≈ 1.4 eV, V jet ≈ 30-100 km/s, mean chargeZ ≈ 1, sonic Mach number M s ≡ V jet /C s > 10, jet diameter = 5 cm, and jet length ≈20 cm. Experiments to date have focused on the study of merging-jet dynamics and the shocks that form as a result of the interaction, in both collisional and collisionless regimes with respect to the inter-jet classical ion mean free path, and with and without an applied magnetic field. However, many other studies are also possible, as discussed in this paper.

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“…A linear railgun configuration was chosen for the plasma-jet source for its simple geometry, suitable for a modular design. The design process was informed by the existing body of work on plasma-armatures [13,14] and early versions of the railguns used by the Plasma Liner Experiment [6,9,15].…”

Section: Gun Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of plasma jets driven by a small linear railgun

Schneider¹,

Mohammed²,

Adams³

2020

Plasma Sources Sci. Technol.

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This paper reports measured and inferred characteristics of plasma jets produced by a 10 cm plasma-armature railgun designed to provide a platform to study phenomena associated with high-Mach-number plasma flows. This gas-fed accelerator is powered by an underdamped LC pulseforming network operated at charge voltages up to 15 kV and fired into a large cylindrical vacuum chamber, emitting a series of plasma jets which propagate into the chamber. Analysis of data captured by an interferometer and spectrometer at locations 10 and 40 cm away from the railgun's bore suggests jet velocities between 14.5 and -19.7 km s 1 , electron number densities between 3.4×10 14 and 2.5×10 16 cm −3 , a plasma temperature of approximately 2 eV, and Mach number between 5.1 and 7.0. These parameters fall in a parameter space conducive to the study of shock structures in multi-ion-species plasmas, as the ion stopping distances and consequently shock thicknesses are expected to be in the several millimeter to few-centimeter range.

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Review of armature research (railguns)

Cited by 9 publications

References 13 publications

Experimental characterization of railgun-driven supersonic plasma jets motivated by high energy density physics applications

Experimental characterization of railgun-driven supersonic plasma jets motivated by high energy density physics applications

Laboratory plasma physics experiments using merging supersonic plasma jets

Characterization of plasma jets driven by a small linear railgun

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