An Interferometric Measurement Technique for Railgun Structures.

Abstract

A technique to measure the expansion of a railgun under conditions of high magnetic stress has been developed. Bore deflections are detected by a Michelson interferometer arrangement during the application of a current pulse which produced repulsive forces similar to those in an actual projectile launch. This technique has been successfully used with two different barrel set-ups whose rails were electrically connected outside the bore at the muzzle. The method should prove valuable for testing a wide variety of electromagnetic launcher structures owing to the small loading of the optics on the structure itself. Keywords: Interferometry; Bore expansion; Pulsed power; Railgun; Magnetic pressure; Electric gun.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1988
Accession Number
ADA192851

Entities

People

  • Alex Zielinski
  • Jeffrey Kezerian
  • Joseph Beno

Organizations

  • Ballistic Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Armatures
  • Capacitors
  • Classification
  • Defense Systems
  • Detectors
  • Electric Guns
  • Electromagnetic Guns
  • Engineering
  • Frequency
  • Interferometers
  • Measurement
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Military Research
  • Optical Equipment
  • Security
  • United States
  • Vibration

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • ballistics.