The modular augmented staged electromagnetic launcher operated in the energy storage mode

Railguns use electrical energy to accelerate projectiles to large velocities. The electrical energy for the launching process is provided by a pulsed power unit. A pulsed power unit usually consists of a capacitor, a switching device, a crowbar diode and a pulse forming inductance. The pulse forming inductance is necessary to generate an appropriate current pulse length and amplitude. The idea of the energy storage augmented electromagnetic launcher is to use the magnetic field produced by the pulse forming inductance to augment the magnetic field between the rails of the launcher. To maximize the augmentation of the magnetic field, it is necessary to place the pulse forming inductance as close as possible to the rails of the railgun. The additional magnetic field causes not only an increased acceleration of the projectile, but also a larger mechanical load of the railgun structure. This requires a reinforced housing compared to conventional railgun housings. In this paper the design and the experimental setup of a railgun using an energy storage augmentation scheme are presented as well as the results of experiments. The results are compared with previous results of a non-augmented railgun configuration. The comparison shows an improvement of the energy efficiency.