Hypervelocity projectile design and fabrication

The authors present the design and fabrication techniques that have been used to increase the strength of the projectiles used in the STARFIRE Project. In addition, various diagnostics that have been used to guide the projectile development and monitor projectile integrity are reviewed. Stronger projectile designs have been fabricated with a concurrent reduction in precision machining time. The improvements in projectile strength have allowed increases in reliable projectile injection velocities from 6 km/s to 7 km/s. In addition, the molded projectile fabrication technique offers additional flexibility for the fabrication of complex projectile designs. One of these advanced projectile concepts which uses a base sealing design offers the potential for further increases in injection velocity