Title :
Study of a railgun plasma armature
Author :
Lehmann, Pascale ; Wey, Joseph ; Mach, Hans ; Eichhorn, Alfred ; Darée, Karl
Author_Institution :
French-German Res. Inst. of Saint-Louis, France
fDate :
6/1/1989 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
An experimental and theoretical study of a railgun plasma is presented. The experimental results have been obtained by recording the voltage and current variations as well as the spectral emission of the plasma. The gas pressure, helium, or air in contact with the exploding foil has been varied from 0.1 to 2 MPa. The apparatus consisted of a test chamber simulating a railgun facility. To complete the study, some measurements of the plasma characteristics in the 500-kJ EMA 1 railgun system have been recorded. It is shown that the resistance of the plasma, which is 15 mΩ at 10 kA, decreases to 0.2 mΩ at 500 kA. These results indicate the effect of the energy flow to the walls and that of the ionization potential of the gas in contact with the exploding foil at lower currents
Keywords :
electric resistance; electromagnetic launchers; ionisation potential; plasma diagnostics; plasma transport processes; plasma-wall interactions; 0.1 to 2 MPa; 0.2 mohm; 10 kA; 15 mohm; 500 kA; 500-kJ EMA 1 railgun system; He; current variations; energy flow; exploding foil; gas pressure; ionization potential; plasma characteristics; railgun plasma armature; resistance; spectral emission; test chamber; voltage; walls; Capacitors; Electrical resistance measurement; Helium; Plasma accelerators; Plasma measurements; Plasma properties; Plasma simulation; Railguns; System testing; Voltage;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
