Recent advances in electrothermal-chemical gun propulsion at United Defense, L.P

Author

Chaboki, A. ; Zelenak, S. ; Isle, B.

Author_Institution

Armament Syst. Div., United Defense, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Volume

33

Issue

1

fYear

1997

fDate

1/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

284

Lastpage

288

Abstract

Electrothermal-chemical (ETC) propulsion uses an electrical energy pulse as a means of initiating and, in some cases, controlling the combustion of propellant charges. The electrical energy pulse is generated by a pulse-forming network (PFN) and is dissipated within the gun in the form of a plasma. The high-energy density plasma resulting from the electrical energy dissipation has been demonstrated to be highly effective in ignition of solid and liquid propellant charges. Variations in electrical dissipation rate have been shown to affect propellant gasification rate and, therefore, pressurization throughout the ballistic cycle. This paper discusses recent development results at United Defense, L.P., in the areas of ETC solid propellant ignition and performance improvement, ETC temperature compensation, and a high-performance hybrid liquid/solid propellant ETC charge

Keywords

electrothermal launchers; ballistic cycle; combustion; electrical energy pulse; electrothermal-chemical gun propulsion; energy dissipation; gasification; hybrid liquid/solid propellant charge; plasma energy density; pressurization; pulse-forming network; solid propellant ignition; temperature compensation; Combustion; Electrothermal effects; Electrothermal launching; Energy dissipation; Ignition; Plasma density; Plasma temperature; Propulsion; Pulse generation; Solids;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.559970

Filename

559970