Research on High Power Railguns at the Naval Research Laboratory

Abstract

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has initiated a program focusing on railgun bore materials science. The objective of the program is to study the conditions in a high power railgun barrel during launch. An 11-MJ prime energy, 6-m long, 5-cm bore diameter railgun is being built for testing. This laboratory launcher will be used to study sliding contacts under the extreme current, temperature, and pressure conditions found in a high power railgun. Real time diagnostics coupled with extensive post-shot materials analysis will be used to understand railgun operation. Results will be compared with other high power railguns.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA477050

Entities

People

  • B. M. Huhman
  • C. N. Boyer
  • Harry Jones
  • J. Neri
  • J. Sprague
  • K. P. Cooper
  • R. B. Hoffman
  • Raymond J. Allen
  • Robert A. Meger
  • S. B. Qadri

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Buildings And Structures
  • Dielectrics
  • Electron Microscopes
  • Energy
  • Energy Storage
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Materials
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Testing
  • Microscopy
  • Military Research
  • Scanning Electron Microscopes
  • Simulations
  • Stainless Steel
  • Waveforms
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.
  • ballistics.