The CEM-UT rapid-fire compulsator railgun system-recent performance and development milestones

Author

Perkins, D.E. ; Pratap, S.B. ; Spann, M.L. ; Thelen, R.F. ; Werst, M.D.

Author_Institution

Center for Electromech., Texas Univ., Austin, TX, USA

Volume

27

Issue

1

fYear

1991

fDate

1/1/1991 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

74

Lastpage

79

Abstract

Twenty-seven compulsator-powered railgun experiments have been performed, including a 1.0 MJ discharge at 3510 r/min. In this test, a 724 kA current pulse accelerated an 80 g, aluminum armature to 2.05 km/s, thus exceeding the projectile velocity goal at 73%-rated machine speed. Furthermore, operation with a single gun barrel has been achieved using a parallel path, solid-state closing switch to deliver 132 kA to the railgun injector. The latest data are presented from the rapid-fire compulsator railgun facility. Included is a discussion of the energy transfer, power output, and system efficiency during a 1.0 MJ discharge. Also shown are the injector current, voltage, and di/dt curves for this test which were used in the design of the solid-state closing switch. Results of railgun experiments using the solid-state switch are analyzed

Keywords

alternators; electromagnetic launchers; power supplies to apparatus; 1 MJ; 724 kA; Al armature; CEM-UT; Center for Electromechanics; University of Texas; di/dt curves; energy transfer; injector current; injector voltage; power output; rapid-fire compulsator railgun system; solid-state closing switch; system efficiency; Alternators; Aluminum; Fires; Inductance; Projectiles; Railguns; Solid state circuits; Switches; System testing; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.100997

Filename

100997