Rail Circuit Augmentation

Abstract

A concept for an augmented railgun barrel and integrated projectile/ armature system is presented. The system makes use of the rail geometry to expose the augmenting rails to the bore, and incorporates dual tandem armatures in the launch package. Benefits include reduced current and power required to launch a given mass and a modest reduction in sabot mass due to creation of multiple tension and compression regions resulting from the use of dual armatures. Radial and axial plasma confinement techniques may be required to take advantage to system benefits. Application to an antiarmor mission is proposed.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1991
Accession Number
ADA234944

Entities

People

  • William H. Davis

Organizations

  • United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Armatures
  • Compression
  • Electric Guns
  • Electromagnetic Guns
  • Engineering
  • Fire Support
  • Guns
  • Low Temperature
  • Materials
  • Munitions
  • Projectiles
  • Resistance
  • Standards
  • Systems Analysis
  • Technical Information Centers
  • Weapon Systems
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design
  • ballistics.