CONFINED PLASMA ARMATURE DESIGN FOR IMPROVED RAILGUN PERFORMANCE

THE ARMATURE IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF THE RAILGUN HYPERVELOCITY ELECTROMAGNETIC SYSTEM AND PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN DETERMINING ITS PERFORMANCE, EFFICIENCY AND LIFETIME. CONFINED PLASMA ARMATURES APPEAR TO HAVE SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES WITH RESPECT TO REDUCING BOREDAMAGE AND INCREASING SYSTEM EFFICIENCY COMPARED TO THE CURRENTLY STUDIED UNCONFINED PLASMA, SOLID, TRANSITIONING AND HYBRID ARMATURE CONCEPTS. THE FASIBILITY IS BEING INVESTIGATED USING A CONFINED PLASMA ARMATURE DESIGN (CPAD). THE CONCEPT IS BASED ON THE DESIGN OF A VERY HIGH STRENGTH TO WEIGHT RATIO ADVANCED COMPOSITE STRUCTURE TAILORED TO MEET THE COMPLEX THERMAL/STRUCTURAL LOADING CONDITIONS OF THE CONFINED PLASMA AND ACCELERATION FORCES. THIS PROGRAM INCLUDES MODELING THE CONFINED PLASMA TO DEFINE THE DESIGN ENVIRONMENTS; ADVANCED COMPOSITE MATERIALS EVALUATION AND SELECTION; THERMAL ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF THE CONFINING STRUCTURE; CPAD PROTOTYPE FABRICATION; ANDAN ANALYSIS OR THE PERFORMANCE PAYOFFS OF THE CPAD CONCEPT. WHEN SUCCESSFUL, THIS RESEARCH WOULD LEAD TO HYPERVELOCITY RAILGUNS THAT OPERATE AT HIGH EFFICIENCY WITH MUCH IMPROVED BARREL LIFETIME. POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF CONFINED ARMATURES ARE FOUND IN IMPROVED PERFORMANCE ELECTROMAGNETIC RAILGUNS FOR STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL DEFENSE WITH COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS FOR LAUNCHING PAYLOADS INTO SPACE AND FOR MATERIALS PROCESSING.