Electromagnetic coaxial railgun

Author

Schaaf, James C., Jr. ; Audeh, N.F.

Author_Institution

BDM Corp., Huntsville, AL, USA

Volume

25

Issue

5

fYear

1989

fDate

9/1/1989 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

3263

Lastpage

3265

Abstract

Key design parameters of railguns are examined, namely, the inductance gradient, current distribution, electromagnetic pulses distribution and rail separation forces. A comparison of coaxial and parallel railguns indicates that the coaxial system has some advantages and should be considered during system design tradeoffs for an orbiting space probe launcher. It is suggested that an orbiting launcher could be used to send small and relatively inexpensive probes towards the planets and asteroid belt. A small, low-energy capacitor-powered coaxial railgun designed and built to demonstrate the armature acceleration and absence of the electromagnetic pulse forward of the armature is described

Keywords

current distribution; electromagnetic launchers; inductance; armature acceleration; coaxial railgun; current distribution; design parameters; electromagnetic pulses distribution; inductance gradient; low energy capacitor powered railgun; orbiting space probe launcher; rail separation forces; Coaxial components; Current distribution; EMP radiation effects; Electromagnetic forces; Electromagnetic induction; Inductance; Planetary orbits; Probes; Railguns; Rails;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.42272

Filename

42272