Stefan Model of the Post-Transition Plasma Environment Encountered in Solid Armature Railguns

Abstract

Presented is a model for plasma generation in the post-transition interface for solid armature railguns. The model assumes that the plasma in the post-transition interface is generated by vaporization of armature material via thermal contact with the high temperature plasma, which is maintaining electrical conductivity. The model indicates that it is possible to generate sufficiently high mass loss rates from this method under the existing experimental conditions. However, the model results in armature wear patterns that are contradictory to what is seen in experiments. A brief look forward to arcing contact ablation models and the unique difficulties they face is also presented.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA538246

Entities

People

  • Andrew J. Porwitzky

Organizations

  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ablation
  • Ablative Materials
  • Armatures
  • Conductivity
  • Demographic Cohorts
  • Electric Arcs
  • Electrical Conductivity
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Equations
  • High Temperature
  • Materials
  • Phase Transformations
  • Temperature Gradients
  • Thermal Conductivity
  • Transitions
  • Vaporization

Readers

  • Plasma Physics.
  • Thermal Physics or Thermal Science.
  • Tribology (the study of the boundary interaction between sliding surfaces, lubrication, wear and friction).