Monolithic Backbone Railgun

The vast majority of all operational railguns in the world employ a metallic containment housing. Often composed of thousands of precision sheet metal laminates to prevent induced eddy currents, the launchers are labor intensive to build. The backbone railgun provides a monolithic metallic containment structure. Induced eddy currents are inhibited by the introduction of a large number of slits along the length of the launcher that achieve an effect analogous to traditional laminates. It is anticipated that the machining of slits from a monolithic launcher will lend itself to factory automation far more so than assembling a full length launcher from thousands of individual metal laminates. The principal advantages are: 1) elimination of stack-up tolerances; 2) producibility; and 3) stiffness. This paper will refine the concept and include an assessment of its ability to achieve magnetic transparency relative to traditional designs