An Experimental Study of Plasma Structure in a Small Railgun

Abstract

Miniature B-dot coils were used to probe the current in the plasma boundaries at both the positive and negative rails in a small railgun. Waveforms from a row of three coils at each rail were examined for evidence of the existence of time-ordered fine structure effects within the plasma boundary. No such order was detected. However, spatially correlated effects were observed and these were attributed to rapidly changing filamentary structure in the plasma. The polarity-reversal, or cross-over characteristics, of the B-dot waveforms showed anomalous features. Possible explanations are discussed. Evidence from rail damage is presented supporting the view that the rail-plasma boundary is associated with a number of complex processes and that localized irregularities in the B-dot waveforms should be expected.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1990
Accession Number
ADA230873

Entities

People

  • D. F. Stainsby

Organizations

  • Defence Science and Technology Group

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amplitude
  • Armatures
  • Assembly
  • Base Lines
  • Boundaries
  • Connectors
  • Construction
  • Data Sets
  • Electrical Properties
  • Frequency
  • High Speed Photography
  • Instrumentation
  • Materials
  • Photographs
  • Photography
  • Power Supplies
  • Security

Readers

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Plasma Physics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design