High performance railgun barrels for laboratory use

High-performance low-cost laboratory railgun barrels have been developed. The barrel is composed of an inherently stiff containment structure, which surrounds the bore components machined from off-the-shelf materials. The shape of the containment structure was selected to make the barrel inherently stiff. The structure consists of stainless-steel laminations which do not compromise the electrical efficiency of the railgun. The modular design enhances the utility of the barrel, as it is easy to service between shots and can be recored to produce different configurations and sizes using the same structure. Barrels have been produced ranging from 15 mm to 90 mm square bore, a 30 mm round bore, and in lengths varying from 0.25 m to 10 m long. Successful tests with both plasma and solid metal armatures have demonstrated the versatility and performance of this design. The assembled barrel has a high inductance gradient (0.43 μH/m) and has proven to be an effective tool for conducting railgun component research and development