Numerical predictions of railgun performance including the effects of ablation and arc drag

Thermal radiation from plasma armatures in railguns may cause vaporization and partial ionization of the rail and insulator materials. This causes an increase in mass of the arc, which has an adverse effect on projectile velocity. Viscous drag on the arc also has a deleterious effect, particularly at high velocities. These loss mechanisms are modeled in the Los Alamos Railgun Estimator code. Simulations were performed and numerical results were compared with experimental data for a wide range of tests performed at the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, the Ling Temco Vought Aerospace and Defense Company, and the Center for Electromechanics at the University of Texas at Austin. The effects of ablation and arc drag on railgun performance are discussed. Parametric studies illustrate the effects of some design parameters on projectile velocity and launcher efficiency. Some strategies for reducing the effects of ablation are proposed.