High transition velocities for solid armatures in the 10-mm MTR railgun

Author

Colon, N. ; Tran, L. ; Luu, K. ; Paul, L. ; Chang, D.I. ; Sink, D.A.

Author_Institution

US ARDEC, Picantinny Arsenal, NJ, USA

Volume

29

Issue

1

fYear

1993

fDate

1/1/1993 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

775

Lastpage

780

Abstract

The transitioning of a solid armature on the Materials Test Railgun (MTR) was studied, and data on high-velocity transitions were analyzed. The railgun has a 10-mm square bore, is 0.6-m long, and is designed with a bolted construction for experimental flexibility. Solid 7075-series Al alloy armatures were accelerated to 1.75 km/s, and transition was observed at approximately 1.3 km/s. These 3-g armatures were designed in a U-shaped configuration. The railgun was driven by a stored energy of 200 kJ from the USA ARDEC (Armament Research Development and Engineering Center) 10-kV capacitor bank power supply. The test configuration, armature design, and shot data are provided. The muzzle voltage data were analyzed using model equations for the transitioning of the solid armature to a hybrid armature with arcing contacts. The data clearly show the development of the voltage as a continuous process involving the various phases for the contacts and the model reflects this behavior

Keywords

aluminium alloys; electrical contacts; electromagnetic launchers; melting; test facilities; 0.6 m; 1.3 km/s; 1.75 km/s; 10 kV; 10 mm; 200 kJ; 3.0 g; 7075-series Al alloy armatures; ARDEC; AlZnMg; Armament Research Development and Engineering Center; Materials Test Railgun; U-shaped configuration; arcing contacts; armature design; bolted construction; continuous process; high-velocity transitions; hybrid armature; model equations; muzzle voltage data; phases; shot data; solid armature; solid armature transitioning; test configuration; transition velocities; Acceleration; Aluminum alloys; Boring; Materials testing; Power capacitors; Power engineering and energy; Railguns; Railway engineering; Solids; Voltage;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.195674

Filename

195674