Solid armature coaxial railgun experiment results

A solid armature coaxial railgun was built to demonstrate theoretical performance and reduction of the electromagnetic pulse forward of the armature. The experimental results demonstrated that the coaxial railgun barrel geometry provides an electromagnetic accelerating force on the armature, and that the magnetic field forward of the armature is less by an order of magnitude than that of an equivalent parallel conductor geometry. There appears to be no electromagnetic pulse forward of the armature other than that leaked past the armature contact points which form breaks in the closed barrel armature surfaces. This feature eliminates or reduces the need for shielding to protect payload electronics