Using the SR\3–60 Railgun in Augmented Mode

Abstract

Augmentation is a well-known method to increase the velocity of railgun projectiles, while at the same time keeping the driving currents down. At the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL), several experiments using augmented railguns were performed. Here we report on a study using the SR\3-60 as a augmented railgun. The SR\3-60 is a 2-m-long railgun composed of three identical pairs of rails that are rotated by an angle of 60°with respect to each other. This railgun offers flexibility in use. In earlier experiments, it was used to accelerate a single projectile using a serial or overlapping configuration of the rail pairs, to enable a fire rate of 400 Hz, or to accelerate a strongly segmented projectile. In this paper, a brush armature projectile with a 20-g payload is accelerated using one pair, while the other two pairs are connected in series to augment the magnetic field inside the railgun. A series of shots with and without augmentation is performed and discussed.Index Terms-Electromagnetic launching, railgun.

Characteristics simulations of the electrodynamic railgun different constructions and their measurement verification

“…One method of expanding EA systems is increasing the power in the accelerator power supply system. The second way of improving the systems is increasing the magnetic flux density value in the projectile area through a geometry modification [13][14][15]. Thus, the prediction of the projectile energy, based on the parameters of the power supply system, mass and geometry of the projectile, is very important.…”

Influence of the different capacitor configurations of the supply system on the efficiency of the rail accelerator

“…Increasing efficiency can be achieved by optimising the rail design, propulsion system, and railgun configuration. Optimal rail shapes and materials, an efficient propulsion system, and proper alignment and geometry of components can reduce energy losses, enhance energy transfer efficiency, and improve the overall effectiveness of the railgun [16,17]. Another one is changing the supply system.…”

Analysis of an iron-core and ironless railguns powered sequentially

“…Many studies have been carried out in terms of both military and industrial applications of the device (Hundertmark et al, 2014;Gieras et al, 2011;Domin and Kluszczy nski, 2013). A leading theme of these studies is constructional solutions for increasing value of the magnetic flux density in the area where the projectile is accelerating (Min et al, 2015;Vincent and Hundertmark, 2015). The main problems with rail accelerators are a power source that generates a very high current peak (one or more times) from kiloamperes to even megaamperes in some milliseconds and constructional materials of rails and projectiles, which are exposed to dynamic influence of current during the operation of the device (Tang et al, 2015).…”