Development of a confined plasma armature design (CPAD) [plasma-driven railguns]

Phase I and II SBIR programs were conducted to design, fabricate, and test a confined plasma armature design that would physically contain the high-pressure plasma in an area directly behind the EM projectile. The initial CPAD experiments demonstrated the ability to initiate a confined plasma and achieve some EM acceleration. The inability of the CPAD projectile to conform to the bore allowed the confined plasma to leak and form free-running precursor arcs. The attempt to quickly develop a more effective seal was unsuccessful due to the combination of high pressure and insufficient bond strength of the adhesive used to bond on the propylux seal. After the completion of the first test series, a new effort was initiated to develop a more robust seal design. The new seal design is held in place by the use of a mechanical dam