A Single-Stage Reconnection Gun

Abstract

A magnetic coil with a square air core was constructed to launch metal plates in the edge-on orientation. The interaction between the magnetic field produced by a current through the coil and the induced currents In the plate accelerates the plate in a direction parallel to its plane. This induction launcher, called a reconnection gun, was used to launch a variety of aluminum, copper, and iron plates of varying thicknesses. The maximum velocity achieved was 250 m/s for a 96-g aluminum plate. An equation of motion for the plate was derived from the total energy of the reconnection gun circuit and the kinetic energy of the plate. Final velocities from this equation of motion are within an error range of -.0.09 to + 0.21 of the measured velocities for a wide variety of experimental conditions. The equation is being used to help design another reconnection gun to launch heavier plates to higher velocities.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 01, 1992
Accession Number
ADA258457

Entities

People

  • C. E. Hollandsworth
  • C. R. Hummer

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aluminum
  • Artillery
  • Circuits
  • Energy
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Frequency
  • Kinetic Energy
  • Launchers
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Magnetic Properties
  • Metal Plates
  • Metals
  • Military Research
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Thickness
  • Two Dimensional

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics