The ram accelerator is a University of Washington (UW) developed hypervelocity mass driver system that was originally designed to accelerate finned-projectiles to orbital velocities in a smooth bored tube. To improve performance and extend its operability limits, the baffled tube ram accelerator (BTRA) was developed, utilizing axisymmetric projectiles. To accommodate the axisymmetric projectiles in the original smooth bore tube, rail systems were implemented, thus creating the railed tube ram accelerator (RTRA). The work presented herein includes one of the first comprehensive experimental studies of the RTRA, including preliminary CFD analysis. This UW developed RTRA was successfully tested, showing good qualitative agreement with theory while achieving about 70% of its theoretical thrust. Additionally, new low-Mach starting capabilities were demonstrated in the BTRA, achieving ram starts as low as Mach 1.85 (650 m/s) in a methane and enriched air mixture. While a new BTRA design doubled its previous performance, the RTRA proved to operate with twice the efficiency of the BTRA.
展开▼
