TY - JOUR
T1 - Theoretical and experimental analysis of breech fed and 40-distributed energy stage plasma arc railguns
AU - Karhi, Ryan W.
AU - Wetz, David A.
AU - Mankowski, John J.
AU - Giesselmann, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
R ESEARCHERS from the Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics at Texas Tech University and the Institute for Advanced Technology (IAT) at the University of Texas at Austin have concluded a research effort investigating the feasibility of using a plasma armature electromagnetic launcher to launch small microsatellites into low earth orbit. The research was performed with the support of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) as part of a Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) from 2005 to 2010. Over
Funding Information:
Manuscript received August 29, 2011; revised December 20, 2011; accepted February 21, 2012. Date of publication May 9, 2012; date of current version October 5, 2012. This work was supported by the AFOSR MURI 05 for research on multistage electromagnetic launchers for affordable access to space (Award# FA9550-05-1-0341).
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - The design and experimental results of a 40-stage distributed energy store (DES) plasma arc railgun are presented. The railgun drives a free running hypervelocity plasma arc, one that is not pushing a payload, to velocities in excess of 10 km/s. These high velocities are of interest as they are required to successfully launch payloads into low earth orbit (LEO). The ability to launch payloads into LEO using a hypervelocity electromagnetic launcher has many financial benefits over the more conventional chemical combustion launchers. In collaboration with an Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative project, the Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas has been responsible for developing and investigating a functional scale model of a multistage DES railgun to determine its effectiveness to suppress restrike phenomenon and increase plasma armature railgun performance. The distributed energy scheme is theorized to suppress restrike arc formation because the back emf voltage is localized to active stage regions where high gas density and low temperature inhibits breakdown. B-dot sensors positioned along the length of the launcher provide data to measure the plasma arc velocity and detect restrike, arc splitting, or additional secondary arc formation phenomena.
AB - The design and experimental results of a 40-stage distributed energy store (DES) plasma arc railgun are presented. The railgun drives a free running hypervelocity plasma arc, one that is not pushing a payload, to velocities in excess of 10 km/s. These high velocities are of interest as they are required to successfully launch payloads into low earth orbit (LEO). The ability to launch payloads into LEO using a hypervelocity electromagnetic launcher has many financial benefits over the more conventional chemical combustion launchers. In collaboration with an Air Force Office of Scientific Research funded Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative project, the Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas has been responsible for developing and investigating a functional scale model of a multistage DES railgun to determine its effectiveness to suppress restrike phenomenon and increase plasma armature railgun performance. The distributed energy scheme is theorized to suppress restrike arc formation because the back emf voltage is localized to active stage regions where high gas density and low temperature inhibits breakdown. B-dot sensors positioned along the length of the launcher provide data to measure the plasma arc velocity and detect restrike, arc splitting, or additional secondary arc formation phenomena.
KW - Distributed energy railgun
KW - Plasma armature railgun
KW - Railgun
KW - Railgun power supplies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84867574324&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TPS.2012.2189416
DO - 10.1109/TPS.2012.2189416
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84867574324
VL - 40
SP - 2637
EP - 2645
JO - IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science
JF - IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science
SN - 0093-3813
IS - 10 PART 1
M1 - 6197742
ER -