Title :
Achieving high efficiency with conventional railgun launchers
Author_Institution :
IAP Res. Inc., Dayton, OH, USA
Abstract :
Railgun launchers must be energy efficient to realize use in practical systems, especially mobile applications which require compact power supplies. This paper shows that railgun launcher efficiency has already been demonstrated at 47 percent at launch kinetic energies up to 8 MJ. Improvements in armature performance have made this performance level possible. Foreseeable improvements in armatures and power supply-launcher integration will push launcher efficiencies to at least 66 percent.<>
Keywords :
magnetic flux; magnetic leakage; railguns; 47 percent; 66 percent; 8 MJ; armature loss; armature performance; compact power supplies; high efficiency; launch kinetic energies; mobile applications; power supply-launcher integration; rail resistive losses; railgun launchers; residual magnetic energy; Boring; Kinetic energy; Magnetic flux; Packaging; Plasma applications; Power supplies; Railguns; Rails; Testing; Thermal management;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
