The Design and Testing of a Large-Caliber Railgun

Crawford, M.; Subramanian, R.; Watt, T.; Surls, D.; Motes, D.; Mallick, J.; Barnette, Darrel; Satapathy, S.; Campos, João V.

doi:10.1109/tmag.2008.2008608

Cited by 25 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…After the launch package has left the barrel, the projectile has to separate from the armature and sabot to embark on its free flight trajectory. Work at other research labs concerning the development and testing of electromagnetic gun launch packages is described in the recent literature [3]- [6]. The aim of the investigation described in this report is to demonstrate that close to realistic projectiles can be successfully launched with the existing railgun technology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a Launch Package for the PEGASUS Launcher

Hundertmark

Vincent

Simicic

2017

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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Abstract-Railguns are capable to far exceed the muzzle energies of current naval deck guns. Therefore one of the most promising scenario for the future application of railguns in naval warfare is the long range artillery. Hypervelocity projectiles being propelled to velocities above 2 km/s reach targets at distances of 200 km or more. At the French-German Research Institute the PEGASUS launcher is used for investigations with respect to this scenario. The 6 m long barrel has a square caliber of 40 mm. The power supply unit is able to deliver 10 MJ to the gun. Within this investigation, a complete launch package is being developed and experiments are performed that aim at showing that this package can be accelerated to velocities ranging from 2000 m/s to 2500 m/s. A launch package consists out of an armature, a sabot and the projectile. The armature ensures the electrical contact during launch and pushes the sabot with its payload through the barrel. The sabot guides and protects the payload during the acceleration. At the same time the accelerating forces generated at the armature needs to be transferred to the projectile. After the launch package has left the barrel, the sabot should open and release its payload, the projectile into free-flight. Here the the current status of the launch package development and results from Experiments with the PEGASUS railgun are presented. I. IntroductionThe PEGASUS railgun installation at the French-German Research Institute (ISL) is being used for experiments in support of research for a long range artillery scenario. In future and current modern naval ships, the electric power requirements for a large muzzle energy railgun can be meet [1], [2]. Compared to existing naval deck guns the large muzzle velocities of 2 km/s to 3 km/s require the development of new guided hypervelocity projectiles. In response to this, activities for the design of such a projectile have started at ISL. The sub-caliber projectile is embedded in a sabot when launched with a railgun. This sabot ensures the mechanical contact to the armature, guidance through the railgun barrel and mechanical protection. Depending on the sensitivity of the on-board electronics of the projectile the sabot might also need to incorporate a shielding function against electromagnetic interference from the electromagnetic fields during railgun operation. The assembly of the armature, the sabot and the projectile is termed launch package. After the launch package has left the barrel, the projectile has to separate from the armature and sabot to embark on its free flight trajectory. Work at other research labs concerning the development and testing of electromagnetic gun launch packages is described in the recent literature [3]- [6]. The aim of the investigation described in this report is to demonstrate that close to realistic projectiles can be successfully launched with the existing railgun

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing a Launch Package for the PEGASUS Launcher

Hundertmark

Vincent

Simicic

2017

IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci.

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Analysis of the Research Progress of Electromagnetic Railgun Based on CiteSpace

Mao,

Pang,

Guo

et al. 2024

IEEE Access

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An electromagnetic railgun is a new type of weapon with ultrahigh speed based on electromagnetic thrust. It is used in important military domains, such as long-range strikes, strategic air defense, and ballistic interception. It is also used in aerospace fields, such as space debris cleanup, microsatellite launch, and space station relay launch, so its future prospects are excellent. We analyzed 1324 publications on electromagnetic railgun using CiteSpace and identified information including authors, institutions, journals, and popular research topics and trends. Our analysis found that the University of Texas is the research institution that has published the most documents on electromagnetic railgun, and French researcher Markus Schneider has published the most documents. The journals of IEEE Transactions on Magnetics and IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science have played an important role in promoting the development of electromagnetic railgun. The research direction of electromagnetic railgun has a distinct multidisciplinary characteristic because it touches on physics, engineering science, mathematics, materials science, energy and fuel, communication technology, instrumentation, and computer science. The development process of electromagnetic railgun can be grouped into three stages: basic theoretical research, engineering research, and system optimization research. The major research topics include electromagnetic force, armature design, rail materials, pulsed power supply, armature-rail contact surface characteristics, and coupling analysis of multiple physical fields. Future electromagnetic railgun will be scalable in terms of armature-rail contact characteristics and life span, energy storage density of power supply, current-carrying capability and thermal management of launcher materials, optimization design of armature structure, and complex data processing of control systems.

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