Abstract
A 1.2-m long electromagnetic railgun with separate augmentation was designed, fabricated, and tested for the purpose of injecting hypervelocity hydrogen pellets into magnetic fusion devices for refueling. A compact configuration of two pairs of coaxial rails insulated by thin Kapton film was employed. Two pulse-forming networks were used to separately control the duration, amplitude, and overlap of the current pulses. Copper sulphate resistors were employed as impedance-matching resistors and bank short resistors. The magnetic field inside the gun bore was boosted by the high current on the augmentation rails, which in turn increased the J × B force without increasing the armature current, resulting in less ablation of the gun bore and pellet. Higher acceleration was achieved due to reduced inertial and viscous drag. Using a 1.2-m augmented railgun, hydrogen pellet velocities in excess of 2.5 km/s were achieved. Hydrogen pellet accelerations as high as 4.4×106 m/s2 were achieved at a railgun current of 13.5 kA while the acceleration obtained on a conventional railgun was 2.2×106 m/s2 at 14.1 kA. Computer simulations have been performed using the finite element code MSC/EMAS to analyze the current density, magnetic field, Lorentz force, and inductance gradient of the conventional and augmented railguns.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 382-387 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | IEEE Transactions on Magnetics |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1995 |
Fingerprint
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Cite this
Acceleration of Solid Hydrogen Pellet using Augmented Railgun for Magnetic Fusion Reactor Refueling. / Zhang, J.; Kim, Kyekyoon; King, T. L.
In: IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 31, No. 1, 01.1995, p. 382-387.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Acceleration of Solid Hydrogen Pellet using Augmented Railgun for Magnetic Fusion Reactor Refueling
AU - Zhang, J.
AU - Kim, Kyekyoon
AU - King, T. L.
PY - 1995/1
Y1 - 1995/1
N2 - A 1.2-m long electromagnetic railgun with separate augmentation was designed, fabricated, and tested for the purpose of injecting hypervelocity hydrogen pellets into magnetic fusion devices for refueling. A compact configuration of two pairs of coaxial rails insulated by thin Kapton film was employed. Two pulse-forming networks were used to separately control the duration, amplitude, and overlap of the current pulses. Copper sulphate resistors were employed as impedance-matching resistors and bank short resistors. The magnetic field inside the gun bore was boosted by the high current on the augmentation rails, which in turn increased the J × B force without increasing the armature current, resulting in less ablation of the gun bore and pellet. Higher acceleration was achieved due to reduced inertial and viscous drag. Using a 1.2-m augmented railgun, hydrogen pellet velocities in excess of 2.5 km/s were achieved. Hydrogen pellet accelerations as high as 4.4×106 m/s2 were achieved at a railgun current of 13.5 kA while the acceleration obtained on a conventional railgun was 2.2×106 m/s2 at 14.1 kA. Computer simulations have been performed using the finite element code MSC/EMAS to analyze the current density, magnetic field, Lorentz force, and inductance gradient of the conventional and augmented railguns.
AB - A 1.2-m long electromagnetic railgun with separate augmentation was designed, fabricated, and tested for the purpose of injecting hypervelocity hydrogen pellets into magnetic fusion devices for refueling. A compact configuration of two pairs of coaxial rails insulated by thin Kapton film was employed. Two pulse-forming networks were used to separately control the duration, amplitude, and overlap of the current pulses. Copper sulphate resistors were employed as impedance-matching resistors and bank short resistors. The magnetic field inside the gun bore was boosted by the high current on the augmentation rails, which in turn increased the J × B force without increasing the armature current, resulting in less ablation of the gun bore and pellet. Higher acceleration was achieved due to reduced inertial and viscous drag. Using a 1.2-m augmented railgun, hydrogen pellet velocities in excess of 2.5 km/s were achieved. Hydrogen pellet accelerations as high as 4.4×106 m/s2 were achieved at a railgun current of 13.5 kA while the acceleration obtained on a conventional railgun was 2.2×106 m/s2 at 14.1 kA. Computer simulations have been performed using the finite element code MSC/EMAS to analyze the current density, magnetic field, Lorentz force, and inductance gradient of the conventional and augmented railguns.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0029208194&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0029208194&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/20.364657
DO - 10.1109/20.364657
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0029208194
VL - 31
SP - 382
EP - 387
JO - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
JF - IEEE Transactions on Magnetics
SN - 0018-9464
IS - 1
ER -