Performance of the 52 MJ power supply at the Electric Armaments Research Center

Author

Chang, D.I. ; Kien Luu ; Leo Tran ; Coradeschi, T. ; Long, Brenda

Author_Institution

Electric Armament Div, US Army Res. Dev. & Eng. Center, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, USA

Volume

31

Issue

1

fYear

1995

Firstpage

22

Lastpage

25

Abstract

The US Army has begun testing railguns with the 52 MJ power supply at the Electric Armaments Research Center (EARC). The power supply consists of sixteen 3.25 MJ pulse forming network (PFN) modules. These modules are connected in parallel at the breech of the gun and can be discharged simultaneously, sequentially or in a combination of both. At the maximum operating voltage of 24 kV, each module is capable of delivering 320 kA into a railgun load for an available peak current of over 5 MA. Shot data from a 50 mm barrel are presented and the effect of the power supply configuration on overall system efficiency and performance is compared. Test results showed that system efficiency increases and the muzzle velocity increases as the number of modules used goes up, and vice versa, for given current level. This phenomena is directly related to the changes in the system impedance as modules are added or deleted. Also, the maintenance requirements for the system and the problem areas are discussed.<>

Keywords

electric impedance; maintenance engineering; power supplies to apparatus; pulse generators; pulsed power technology; railguns; weapons; 24 kV; 3.25 MJ; 320 kA; 5 MA; 50 mm; 52 MJ; Electric Armaments Research Center; US Army; barrel; breech; maintenance requirements; muzzle velocity; parallel connection; power supply; pulse forming network modules; railgun load; railguns testing; system efficiency; Capacitors; Diodes; Guns; Impedance; Power supplies; Railguns; Rails; Resistors; Testing; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.364735

Filename

364735