Railgun performance with a two-stage light-gas gun injector

Results obtained with the HELEOS (hypervelocity experimental launcher for equation of state) railgun, which uses a two-stage light-gas gun (2SLGG) as an injector, are presented. The high-velocity 2SLGG injector preaccelerates projectiles up to ~7 km/s. The high injection velocity reduces the exposure duration of the railgun barrel to the passing high temperature plasma armature, thereby reducing the ablation and subsequent armature growth. The 2SLGG also provides a column of cool, high-pressure hydrogen gas to insulate the rails behind the projectile, thereby eliminating restrike. A means to form an armature behind the injected projectile has been developed. In preliminary tests, the third-stage railgun has successfully increased the projectile velocity by 1.35 km/s. Extensive diagnostics have been used to determine the behavior of the armature and track the launcher's performance. Insome cases, velocity increases in the railgun section have been achieved, which are in close agreement with theoretical predictions, whereas in other experiments deviations from theoretical have been observed. The reasons for and implications of these results are addressed. Recent tests are reported     

Particle launch to 19 km/s for micro-meteoroid simulation using enhanced three-stage light gas gun hypervelocity launcher techniques

Particle launch experiments were performed to study application of the enhanced hypervelocity launcher (EHVL), i.e. the third-stage addition to the two-stage gun, for launching micron to millimeter sized particulates at velocities unobtainable with a standard two-stage light gas gun launch. Three types of particles or fliers were tested along with several barrel designs. For micron scale particles fine-grain polycrystalline ceramics were impacted and fractured, launching particulate clouds at velocities of 15 km/s. Multiple titanium particles 400 μm diameter embedded in plastic were “shotgun” launched to velocities of 10 km/s. Flier plates of 3 mm diameter by 1 mm thick Ti6Al4V were launched to 19 km/s. All experiments used a second-stage projectile with graded density facing impacting a flier in an impact generated acceleration reservoir. This paper describes the modification and adaptation of the Sandia EHVL to provide micrometeoroid simulation capabilities.     

Mechanical design aspects of the HYVAX railgun

The hypervelocity experiment (HYVAX) railgun (Fig. 1) is designed to produce projectile velocities greater than 15 km/s in a 13-m-long, round bore gun. The HYVAX gun incorporates a modular design enabling it to operate in either a distributed energy-storage mode or a single-stage mode. The gun is composed of seven O.3-m-long power input modules and nine 1.2-m-long accelerating modules. The gun is designed for a 100-shot life. To accommodate this, the bore may be enlarged from an initial diameter of 10.8 mm to a final diameter of 12.7 mm. This will allow the bore to be refinished several times during the life of the gun. To minimize mechanical and arc damage to the gun between bore refinishing operations, the gun will incorporate a low pressure helium projectile injector. Projectiles will be injected under vacuum at 350 m/s. The gun will be operated at a peak current and voltage of 600 kA and 6 kV respectively. The gun will undergo three phases of testing. The first phase will be the characterization of the gun's performance using a 3.0-m-long section of the gun comprising two power modules and two accelerating modules. This testing will be accomplished using two of the seven capacitor bank modules shown in Fig. 1. The second test phase will use a distributed power configuration and seven capacitor bank modules, as shown in Fig. 1, to demonstrate a velocity of 15 km/s with a 1-g projectile. The predicted performance of the gun for this test phase is illustrated in Fig. 2. In the third phase of testing we will use a magnetic flux compression generator (MFCG) to power the gun with a goal of demonstrating a velocity of 25 km/s.     

A second generation EMET railgun for secondary arc studies

Since 1985 GT-Devices has been operating a pair of railguns with lengths of 0.9 m and 3.6 m, respectively. A new second-generation railgun is now being constructed to improve straightness, stiffness, sealing, and diagnostic access. The basic design consists of a steel tube with a thin lengthwise slit forming two halves in cross section with bolt preloading. The internal structure consists of split tubular G-10 compression blocks with Glidcop AL-15 rails and polycarbonate insulators formed from 90 degree tube sections. A new 0.9 m launcher of the same design is now under construction, with a 3.6 m version to follow. An upgraded electrothermal injector has been developed using modified armature injection module (AIM) hardware. Injection velocities of 2500 m/s have been attained with 1.1 gram polycarbonate projectiles for stored bank energies of 65 kJ. Injection velocities of 3000 m/s may be possible. The design details of the new railgun, injector, and diagnostics are discussed, and some initial experimental results are presented     

Shock deformation of coarse grain alumina above Hugoniot elastic limit

Symmetric shock experiments were conducted on a 10 μm grain size coarse alumina ceramic with a gas gun to identify its Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL). To understand the damage initiation and their subsequent growth mechanisms in coarse grain alumina subjected to shock impact at levels much above the HEL, additional asymmetric shock recovery experiments with the same gas gun were then deliberately conducted on the same alumina at shock pressure levels more than three times as high as the HEL and the fragments collected by a dedicated catcher system. Detailed characterization of the shock recovered alumina fragments by X-ray diffraction, nanoindentation, scanning electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were utilized to understand the nature and process of failure initiation, incubational growth, coalescence and propagation leading to fragmentation. Based on these data a new qualitative damage model was developed to explain the deformation mechanism.     

亲水性高分子-陶瓷复合膜的制备与表征

采用均质的氧化铝支撑体和不同表面层孔径的非对称氧化铝支撑体直接接枝聚丙烯酸(PAA)制备亲水性PAA-Al2O3复合膜。对所制备出复合膜的红外光谱(IR)分析、光电子能谱(XPS)分析、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)分析和表面的水接触角分析表明,成功地制备出了PAA-Al2O3复合膜。在相同实验条件下对所制备的复合膜进行纯水和纯乙醇的通量实验以及质量分数95%乙醇的脱水分离试验表明,最适合用于制备PAA-Al2O3复合膜的陶瓷膜支撑体是孔径为2～3μm的均质氧化铝支撑体,用其制备的复合膜的分离因子为139.33,通量为0.61kg/(m2.h),可以达到分离效率高、通量较大的效果.     

Processing of Ceramic Rifled Gun Barrel

Ceramic gun barrels have the potential to provide a significant increase in barrel life as well as reduction in weight for small caliber systems. The potential use of ceramic tubes as gun barrels may be severely limited due to the difficulty in introducing the rifling on the inner diameter. The processing of ceramic gun barrels with internal rifling pattern poses a tremendous processing challenge to the materials community. The rifling lands and grooves and desired twist rate, coupled with the difficulty of machining ceramics, makes the economic manufacturing of such gun barrels extremely difficult. The current paper describes the preliminary efforts of fabricating an alumina gun barrel tube that was around 100-mm long with a 25-mm inner diameter (ID), a 33-mm outer diameter, and eight lands and eight grooves. Over and above the lands and grooves in the ID, the barrel had to have a 10:1 twist (one complete twist in 250-mm) incorporated into it. The paper will describes our preliminary attempts at processing such a rifled gun barrel tube made of alumina.     

Development of a three-stage, light-gas gun at the University of Dayton Research Institute

An elusive goal of the hypervelocity impact community has been the evaluation of the ballistic response of space hardware to impact velocities ranging from 8 to 11 km/s using projectiles with known properties. The design, development, and use, during the 1960s, of a three-stage, light-gas gun at McGill University is reviewed. The developers of this gun claim that they were able to launch cylindrical, 12.7-mm-diameter Lexan disks with masses of 1.5 and 1.1 g to velocities of 9.6 and 10.5 km/s, respectively. This paper presents the results of an internally funded program at the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) to duplicate the published performance of the McGill University launcher. A support structure and various components of a third stage which used an 8.1-mm-diameter launch tube were added to the UDRI 75/30-mm, two-stage, light-gas gun, making the arrangement of the components similar to the one used by McGill University. Work on the development of the UDRI three-stage, light-gas gun is a continuing effort, with the goal of successfully launching small diameter (3 mm or less) aluminum spheres to velocities in excess of 9 km/s. To date, the highest projectile velocity achieved with the UDRI three-stage, light-gas gun has been 8.65 km/s.     

An ultrasonically levitated noncontact stage using traveling vibrations on precision ceramic guide rails

This paper presents a noncontact sliding table design and measurements of its performance via ultrasonic levitation. A slider placed atop two vibrating guide rails is levitated by an acoustic radiation force emitted from the rails. A flexural traveling wave propagating along the guide rails allows noncontact transportation of the slider. Permitting a transport mechanism that reduces abrasion and dust generation with an inexpensive and simple structure. The profile of the sliding table was designed using the finite-element analysis (FEA) for high levitation and transportation efficiency. The prototype sliding table was made of alumina ceramic (Al2O3) to increase machining accuracy and rigidity using a structure composed of a pair of guide rails with a triangular cross section and piezoelectric transducers. Two types of transducers were used: bolt-clamped Langevin transducers and bimorph transducers. A 40-mm long slider was designed to fit atop the two rail guides. Flexural standing waves and torsional standing waves were observed along the guide rails at resonance, and the levitation of the slider was obtained using the flexural mode even while the levitation distance was less than 10 microm. The levitation distance of the slider was measured while increasing the slider's weight. The levitation pressure, rigidity, and vertical displacement amplitude of the levitating slider thus were measured to be 6.7 kN/m2, 3.0 kN/microm/m2, and less than 1 microm, respectively. Noncontact transport of the slider was achieved using phased drive of the two transducers at either end of the vibrating guide rail. By controlling the phase difference, the slider transportation direction could be switched, and a maximum thrust of 13 mN was obtained.     

Experimental launcher facility - ELF-I: Design and operation

The ELF-I system has recently become fully operational and the experimental program begun. This system uses a 36 kJ, 5 kV capacitor bank as a primary pulse power source. When used in conjunction with a 5 μH pulse conditioning coil, a 100 kA peak current and ∼10 ms wide pulse is obtained. The launcher barrel is 2 m long with a 12.7 mm square bore. With the launched mass in the range of 3 to 7 g velocities in excess of 1 km/s have been obtained. An extensive array of diagnostic instruments have been installed on the system to obtain measurements of current, breech and muzzle voltage, in-bore velocity profiles, and terminal velocity. Problems associated with electromagnetic interference and high common-mode voltages have been addressed and solved. A three station, 150 kV, flash x-ray system is operational for obtaining in-bore photographs of the projectiles. Details of the mechanical and electrical design and the instrumentation system will be presented. The experimental program, now underway, is directed towards obtaining information on armature-rail interactions at sliding velocities up to 1 km/s for both metallic and plasma armatures. One particular problem being addressed is that of current transfer in the breech where the sliding velocity is very low. Experimental results and their analysis are presented.     

Explosive foil injection (EFI) pre-accelerator for electromagneticlaunchers

The use of an explosive foil injection system (EFI) for imparting an initial velocity on a projectile prior to its entering the breech of a railgun is demonstrated. This will substantially reduce the dwell time of the main arc at the breech end of the rails, which will greatly reduce the rail and dielectric ablation of the bore when compared to standing start systems. The preinjection system uses a small capacitor bank (6 kJ at 15 kV) to explode a fine nickel chrome wire and a disk of aluminum foil. The explosive energy produced is harnessed in a 99.5% pure aluminum driving plate assembly, which is free to move in the direction of the projectile only. The projectile (9.9 mm cube of Lexan) is in contact with the driving plate via a driving slug and is thus propelled along a flight tube into the breech of the main railgun. Preinjection velocities of up to 300 m/s have been obtained with a stored energy of only 2.7 kJ     

Continuous measurements of in-bore projectile velocity

The application of velocity interferometry to the continuous measurement of in-bore projectile velocity in a small-bore three-stage railgun is described. These measurements are useful for determining projectile acceleration and for evaluating gun performance. The launcher used in these studies consists of a two-stage light gas gun used to inject projectiles into a railgun for additional acceleration. Results obtained for projectile velocities to 7.4 km/s with the two-stage injector are reported, and potential improvements for railgun applications are discussed     

Lateral confinement effects in long-rod penetration of ceramics at hypervelocity

Reverse ballistic experiments were conducted using gold long rods impacting cylinders of silicon carbide to study the effect of failure kinetics in ceramic penetration. Some of the early experiments impacted off-centered due to the dynamics of the barrel and sabot. Nevertheless, the data appeared to be in good agreement with centered impact, although conventional wisdom suggested that penetration resistance should decrease due to lateral confinement effects. Numerical simulations of the experiments were conducted to investigate and to quantify the influence of lateral confinement as a function of impact velocity for the ceramic targets. Above 3.0 km/s, close proximity to a lateral boundary results in less than a 2% increase in the penetration velocity.     

复相烧结助剂中MnO2对α-Al2O3陶瓷支撑体性能的影响

采用挤压成型法和固态粒子烧结法制备α-Al2O3陶瓷支撑体,主要研究复相烧结助剂MgO-MnO2-TiO2中MnO2添加量(质量分数)对陶瓷支撑体性能的影响。通过压汞法、内外加压法、三点弯曲法、质量损失法、扫描电镜和X射线衍射等方法对α-Al2O3陶瓷支撑体的孔隙率、纯水通量、抗折强度、酸碱腐蚀、微观结构及晶体类型和晶相成分进行分析表征。研究结果表明:MnO2能够和Al2O3形成固溶体Mn2AlO4,使晶格畸化,增加晶体的结构缺陷,从而降低烧结温度,促进α-Al2O3陶瓷支撑体的烧结。当MnO2添加量少于0. 5%时,烧结不完全;MnO2添加量大于2%时,晶粒出现异常生长;MnO2的添加量为1. 5%时,制备的α-Al2O3陶瓷支撑体样品性能最佳,孔隙率为38. 25%,抗折强度为80. 3 MPa,纯水通量达6579. 52 L/(m2·h·MPa),酸/碱腐蚀重量损失率为1. 22%/0. 90%。     

The preparation of laminated ceramic composites using paint technology

Ceramic paints comprising ceramic powder, dispersant, resin and solvent were prepared by high speed mixing. The powders were alumina and alumina with 20 vol% zirconia. Alternate layers of paint having thicknesses of 20–30 m were deposited by the random deposition of droplets from a conventional paint spray gun operating on compressed air. Laminates of up to 1 mm were produced. The microstructure of the multilayer ceramic wafers produced by drying, thermolysis and sintering is reported. The method avoids the thermolamination step associated with tape casting and allows laminates to be prepared on contoured fugitive substrates.     

Hypervelocity impact testing using an electromagnetic railgun launcher

An electromagnetic (EM) railgun launcher facility has been developed to routinely conduct hypervelocity impact tests. Two types of completely reusable EM launchers have launched sabot/impactor packages between 2 and 43 grams to velocities between 1.5 and 8.5 km/s. The highly reliable railguns have conducted over 250 projectile launchings and have established a projectile/launcer data base covering interior as well as exterior ballistic considerations. A conventional type instrumented ballistics range is compatible with the EM launcher and can be used to conduct anti-armor and lethality experiments at hypervelocities.     

Influence of the critical velocity on deformation of launcher components

This paper is related to the dynamics of hypervelocity electromagnetic launchers. A projectile accelerating along launcher rails may cross a range of critical velocities and induce structural resonance. As a result, the rails and other components exhibit increased displacements and stress that may affect launcher performance and lead to premature launcher failure. This work is a continuation of our previous studies of the critical velocity and resulting transient resonance that was performed for a notional hypervelocity launcher [Nechitailo NV, Lewis KB. Critical velocity for rails in hypervelocity launchers. In: Proceedings of the 2005 hypervelocity impact symposium. International Journal of Impact Engineering Dec. 2006; 33: 485–495; Lewis KB, Nechitailo NV. Transient resonance in hypervelocity launchers at critical velocities [Selected papers from the 13th Electromagnetic Launch Technology (EML) Symposium, Potsdam, Germany, May 22–25, 2006]. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics Jan. 2007; 43 (No. 1, Part II): 157–162 [1,2]]. Analytical models including Bernoulli–Euler model of a beam resting on an elastic foundation and the Timoshenko and Flügge tube models as well as finite element tools helped to better understand the transient resonant regimes in launcher components and offered insight on how to alter the launching device materials and geometry to reduce the critical-velocity effects. Analysis showed that the various components of a launcher can have different critical velocities and there is a possibility of enhanced group resonance in the assemblies. The resonance in the launcher assembly can be reduced by controlling the bending stiffness of the individual components. Finite element models were used to illustrate the influence of variations in materials of launcher components on the resulting critical velocities, intensity of the group resonance, and resulting maximum displacements and stress.     

Development of alumina ceramics vacuum duct for the 3 GeV-RCS of the J-PARC project

An alumina ceramics vacuum duct has been developed for the 3 GeV-RCS of J-PARC project at JAERI. There are two types of alumina ceramics vacuum ducts needed, one being 1.5 m long with a circular cross-section for use in the quadrupole magnet, the other being 3.5 m long with a 15°, bend with a race-track cross-section for use in the dipole magnet. These ducts could be manufactured by joining several duct segments of 0.5-0.8 m in length by brazing. The alumina ceramic ducts have copper stripes on the outside surface to reduce the duct impedance. One of the ends of each stripe is connected to a titanium flange by way of a capacitor so to interrupt an eddy current circuit. The copper stripes are produced by an electroforming method in which a stripe pattern formed by Mo-Mn metallization is first sintered on the exterior surface and then overlaid by PR-electroformed copper (periodic current reversal electroforming method). In order to reduce emission of secondary electrons when protons or electrons strike the surface, TiN film is coated on the inside surface of the ducts.     

Electromagnetic gun/projectile interface considerations

Projectile/electromagnetic-gun interface design considerations for electromagnetic gun weapon system (EMGWS) area D1 projectiles, area B-guns, and area C-guns are presented. Projectile/EM gun interfaces are primary considerations in the projectile structural design and the design of the sabot obturator/bore rider, pusher plate, and armature. Acceleration profile, armature type and mass, preinjector characteristics, bore pressure, magnetic fields, and plasma temperature are all key issues in the ultimate projectile performance. Armature design is a critical technical issue for both the projectile and EM gun design because of the high masses involved. Solid armatures are heavier than plasma armatures, but operate at higher electrical efficiencies. Plasma armatures are both being considered for the B-guns and C-guns. Performance tradeoffs are presented for penetration versus peak acceleration and armature mass. Contributors to projectile dispersion such as in-bore balloting, projectile spin, and EM launcher muzzle arc effects are assessed     

Dynamic behavior of selected ceramic powders

An experimental setup has been developed on the continuous recording of the stress profiles in ceramic powders subject to shock loading with manganin gauges. A series of plate impact experiments on highly porous ceramic powders such as Al₂O₃, SiC and B₄C were conducted at the laboratory's single stage powder gun facility. The relationship between shock wave velocity and particle velocity was measured to obtain the Hugoniot data. Plate impact onto powder sample experiments were conducted at loading stresses ranging from 1.6 to 4.2 GPa. The experimental results show that the shock wave speeds in various ceramic powders vary between 1 and 2 km/s. Linear Hugoniot relations between shock velocity (D) and particle velocity (u) are observed. The loading stress–specific volume form of Hugoniot relations (P–V) was constructed using the data from quasistatic compression test results, Hopkinson bar dynamic compression test results and powder gun plate impact experiment results. The P–V diagram shows that the crush strength of ceramic powders is comparable to the loading stress level. The B₄C and SiC powders with bigger particle size more easily reach the solid state Hugoniot than the powders with smaller particle size at the same loading condition. In the case of Al₂O₃, the material shows less sensitivity to particle size difference at the same level of loading rate as compared to B₄C and SiC.