Determination of jerk, acceleration, and magnetic field loadings on a projectile launched from an electromagnetic railgun

The development of the numerical procedures that provide a first-order estimate of the jerk, acceleration, and magnetic field loadings are presented. Various power schemes, including inductively driven, distributed energy system (DES), and compulsator driven railguns, are studied. The development and use of nondimensional profiles that may be used to scale the loadings for various performance levels are described. The most severe loads on the projectile are likely to occur while the projectile is in one of the three transition regions in the launcher (preinjector breech, railgun breech, and muzzle). Determination of these loads is dependent on launcher design; schemes for estimating the exit loadings at the muzzle are presented