Electromagnetic railgun calculations physics forums. Be very careful, this is dangerous due to high voltages and the danger of electrocution. An electromagnetic railgun design and realization for. Navy made history at the naval surface warfare centerdahlgren division with our laboratory railgun. The rails include a first layer comprising a highly conductive material and a second layer comprising a highly resistive layer. Design and optimization of a 600kj railgun power supply dtic. A railgun apparatus for accelerating a projectile having a conductive region.
Laboratory experiments with railguns have demonstrated muzzle velocities of 23 kms and muzzle energies 8 mj. The original railgun design was completely experimental. The railgun uses a pair of parallel conductors rails, along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects. Design, fabrication, and testing of an electromagnetic rail gun for the repeated testing and simulation of orbital debris impacts. A look into railgun physics and design senior honors thesis scott harmon april 2011 railguns promise to make space travel and weapons systems much more efficient for the future. Pdf design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun to be. Railguns can reach higher muzzle velocities and fire rates than conventional guns. When all wired up, the railguns 20 lbs of capacitors3 pairs of 300j, 350v, 5500uf unitscan electrify the guns rails to fire tiny aluminum rounds like this. From the capabilities point of view, a railgun can do all what a conventional gun. Electromagnetic em railgun bae systems united states. Currently, the navy is pursuing a proofofconcept effort to demonstrate the feasibility of this notional naval railgun design, and a poc facility is a key element in these demonstrations. Muzzle velocities up to 2400 ms and fire rates of 50 hz have already been demonstrated with projectiles having a mass of 140 g and a square caliber of 25 mm2. These rail guns will fire a projectile away from the shi. Navys highly touted electromagnetic railgun weapon system, which can fire a projectile traveling 4,800 miles an hour at distances of up to.
It can be a solid piece of conductive metal or a conductive sabot a carrier that houses a dart or other projectile. A lumped circuit model which was verified with a sophisticated performance program serves as the core of the code. A railgun is an electrically powered electromagnetic projectile launcher based on similar principles to the homopolar motor. For permission to reproduce, please write a letter to. Launch to space with an electromagnetic railgun ian r. A typical armature design has a c shape with the sliding contacts following the body of the armature see fig. The railgun comprises a power supply for providing a current impulse and at least two elongate generally parallel rails. The rails are lengths of conductive metal, such as copper. General info overviewgoals schematics railgun prototype rail. Design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun firing. Naval sea systems command directed energyelectric weapons pms405 875 n. Mcnab, senior member, ieee abstract many advances in electromagnetic em railgun and power supply technology have been made in recent years.
Oct 17, 2015 when all wired up, the railguns 20 lbs of capacitors3 pairs of 300j, 350v, 5500uf unitscan electrify the guns rails to fire tiny aluminum rounds like this. The result is a 140% additional performance boost for website visitors. The power system also defines a capability function across the interface space. I first started by constructing a small railgun as a proofofconcept. Muzzle velocities up to 2400 ms and fire rates of 50. Below is a schematic view of the rail gun from the top. May 03, 2017 a rail gun is an electromagnetic projectile launcher. Navy lasers, railgun, and gunlaunched guided projectile. Launch to space with an electromagnetic railgun magnetics. My research into the railgun also led me to the development of several high. Nov, 2017 hi forum can anyone explain where the energy is consider a railigun, a voltage is put across the two parallel rails, a current starts building up, whille some energy is stored in the magnetic field inside the current loop.
I conducted a project to skim the surface of railgun physics and design. With the catastrophic failure of the injector casing and the injectorrail assembly during a full power shot, i found. The most important gauge of power supply effectiveness is the energy it can deliver. Development of an induction type railgun, ieee transactions on magnetics, vol. Theoretical design and modeling of an infantry railgun projectile james a. Rail gun a seminar report submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of bachelor of technology in department of mechanical engineering submitted to. For a sheet conductor, the force density per unit area or pressure is. You will see my errors, thought process and workflow. Oct 03, 20 this video shows how to build your own homemade railgun experimental prototype. The circuit is broken, which ends the flow of current. Design, fabrication, and testing of an electromagnetic rail gun for. This system was designed with the goal of increasing the energy density of an.
Design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun to be used against antiship missiles. Contemporary discussions of magnetic forces tend to assume as valid the lorentz force. These design parameters are rotor radius, rotor length, armature conductor thickness, banding thickness, number of conductors per pole. Arvind kumar singh alok prakash singh assistant professor roll no. Pdf design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun firing. O ne of the first activities that should be performed at a project site is a site assessment of resource issues.
However, in the high velocity section of the gun we are free to pursue an aggressive magnetic design. Design considerations in a 60 caliber electromagnetic railgun system. Us navy has adopted a notional railgun design that delivers approximately 63 mj of projectile muzzle energy 1,2,3. Design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun firing intelligent bursts to be used against antiship missiles article pdf available in ieee transactions on plasma science 435. A railgun is a device, typically designed as a weapon, that uses electromagnetic force to launch high velocity projectiles. However, we think it hit the wall at a height of 15 inches, giving it a speed of 140 fts. General design considerations the development of a complete plant design requires consideration of many different factors such as. The rails are in a vertical magnetic field intensity b.
Design and testing of a 2000 joule electromagnetic railgun. Pdf design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun. Design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun to be used against antiship m issiles johan gallant, eline vanderbeke, farid alouahabi, and markus schn eider. This will represent the end of the theory effort for the railgun and we will then proceed to design considerations and begin construction. A military payload might be sensitive to changes in acceleration and therefore it is of importance to aim for a constant current amplitude during the launch. Not content with just merely building the launch platform, we are also pursuing the development of a hyper velocity projectile hvp. Pdf railguns can reach higher muzzle velocities and fire rates than conventional guns. Efficiency of the rail gun is defined as the ratio of projectile energy to input energy. A design code has been developed to aid in the development of a compact 60caliber em electromagnetic launcher system, based on a standard multivariable optimization technique.
Abstract affordably integrating an electromagnetic railgun emrg into a surface combatant of less than 10,000 mt requires a new approach to shipboard power system design. As a railgun uses constant acceleration over the barrel length it can achieve higher muzzle velocities than conventional guns of the same length. This function provides a value in the interval 0 1 0 pulse load has no capability 1 pulse load has full capability 0 1 pulse load has reduced capability. Schematic function of a railgun1 in the next step i am going to show how the force is calculated. The power supply must be able to deliver large currents, sustained and controlled over a useful amount of time. Railgun works in conjunction with cloudflares other performance technologies including automatic network. We put a barrier 24 ft away and it went over it, giving it a min speed of about 70 fts. Introduction an electromagnetic railgun is a device designed to launch a projectile at high speeds. Design of the compulsator began with research through conference and research papers. A one meter electromagnetic railgun was designed and constructed to serve as a test bed for research into. Baum university of new mexico department of electrical and computer engineering albuquerque new mexico 871 abstract this paper explores some alternate design concepts for electromagnetic projectile launchers. The development of the railgun required a lot of timei invested well over 2000 hours in the project, although if id limited myself to fewer design options i could have reduced that time considerably. This brilliant maniac built his own homemade railgun. Design, fabrication, and testing of an electromagnetic rail.
This design proposal will outline the principles behind designing a lowvelocity railgun for educational use in a high school classroom. In the high velocity section of the railgun, struc. Armature design a critical component of a railgun is the armature that serves as the current path between the two rails. The railguns ability to defend against enemy threats from distances greater than ever before improves the capabilities of our armed forces. A railgun comprises a pair of parallel conducting rails, along which a sliding armature is accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the armature and then back along the other rail. Development of railgun pellet injector using a laser. The rail gun was fired from a height of 25 inches with an angle of 110 inch 6 inches so 1 degree. Table 42 lists the statutory requirements for the design considerations covered in dag chapter 3 design considerations, as well as applicable policy and guidance related to those design considerations.
A conventional cannon has some type of shell in a tube. With practical railgun geometries, much more accurate two or three dimensional models of the rail and armature current distributions and the associated forces can be computed, e. Because long rails pose design challenges, most rail guns use strong currents on the order of a million amps to generate tremendous force. General info overviewgoals schematics railgun prototype. Theoretical design and modeling of an infantry railgun. Metals with tensile strengths in excess of 3 gpa are available and under the proper conditions, a projectile can be over stressed while it is confined in the bore. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the design options for a 1. The acceleration force and l could be investigated instead of efficiency asghar. Some electromagnetic considerations for design of railgun electromagnetic projectile launchers carl e. The design considerations listed in table 42 below should be assessed for applicability to the system, as they may not all be appropriate.
Parametric tradeoff studies were conducted to evaluate and select the railgun parameters to achieve a system that can accelerate a 120 gm launch. Navy railgun contacts capt michael ziv, pms405 program manager, navsea 05tdcto. In this setup a thin metal foil is placed on the back of a nonconducting. The requirements of pellet injection vary accord ing to the plasma parameters and the op erating conditions of the devices.
Railgun build advanced railgun design theory part 1. An electromagnetic railgun design and realization for an electrical engi. The physics of the railgun this demo is safe for you to try at home if you have an actual magnetic compass. Pdf a design code has been developed to aid in the development of a compact 60caliber em electromagnetic launcher system, based on a standard. This design freedom results from two considerations. Design considerations in a 60 caliber electromagnetic railgun. This video shows how to build your own homemade railgun experimental prototype. Mvdc shipboard power system considerations for electromagnetic railguns. Homework statement electromagnetic railgun consists of two parallel, distant from the horizontal, very long rails, after which moves perpendicular to the rails, linking them to the metal bar of mass m. Launch to space with an electromagnetic railgun pdf. Some electromagnetic considerations for design of railgun. Design and construction of a one meter electromagnetic railgun. The us navy is working on a few railgun projects that will eventually replace the largest guns on the fleets cruisers and destroyers. In this video ill go into advanced railgun design theory, mostly about stray inductance and discharge.
The projectile, under the influence of the lorentz force, accelerates to the end of the rails opposite the power supply and exits through an aperture. Navy lasers, railgun, and gunlaunched guided projectile congressional research service 1 introduction issue for congress this report provides background information and issues for congress on three new shipbased weapons being developed by the navysolid state lasers ssls, the electromagnetic railgun. Design considerations in a 60 caliber electromagnetic. While original specifications were not met, all fabricated. General considerations for the pps a railgun uses electric current to drive the armature through the acceleration volume.
Therefore, the pellet should have sufficient speed to penetrate the plasma deeply. The projectile normally does not contain explosives, instead relying on the projectiles high speed and kinetic energy to inflict damage. This higher velocity, in combination with a hypersonic projectile design, translates into a greatly extended range. Magnetic fields generated by this current then drive the armature along the rails due to the lorentz force. This design was changed throughout the project as system analysis and component testing exposed unforeseen system limitations. An electromagnetic railgun emrg was designed, built, and tested, capable of firing a projectile a 1 gram. Navys highly touted electromagnetic railgun weapon system, which can fire a projectile traveling 4,800 miles an hour at distances of up to 100 miles away, will likely never see combat. Theoretical design and modeling of an infantry railgun projectile. To improve the efficiency of the rail gun, various geometry and dimensions of rails and armature are used. This involves considerations of projectile geometry including the pusher plate, as well as the geometry of the currentcarrying rails. Hi forum can anyone explain where the energy is consider a railigun, a voltage is put across the two parallel rails, a current starts building up, whille some energy is stored in the magnetic field inside the current loop. Many people have requested real time display so here it is. Pdf design considerations for an electromagnetic railgun to. Materials handling will be discussed in the next chapters.
This process includes inventory and data collection of the resources that are associated with the project site. The inductance and resistance of the rails and power supply limit the efficiency of a railgun design. The second layer has a resistivity that varies along the length of. Railgun build advanced railgun design theory part 1 youtube.
Us5297468a railgun with advanced rail and barrel design. Jeff maniglia, jordan smiroldo, alex westfall, and guy zohar 1 california polytechnic state university, san luis obispo, ca 93401 an electromagnetic railgun emrg was designed, built, and tested, capable of firing a. Oct 24, 2017 in this video ill go into advanced railgun design theory, mostly about stray inductance and discharge. Which are absolutely essential in the understanding of electromagnetic propulsion. Design, fabrication, and testing of an electromagnetic. The current rise time is also a consideration when selecting switches for pulsed. Mvdc shipboard power system considerations for electromagnetic railgun 6th dod em railgun workshop 1516 september 2015 laurel, md dr. Nov 09, 2015 the us navy is working on a few railgun projects that will eventually replace the largest guns on the fleets cruisers and destroyers.
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