Commissioning Tests of the Medium Caliber Railgun Launcher

摘要

Checkout tests and initial test firings of the IAT-HVL, seven meter long, 40 mmsquare-bore railgun were conducted in October 1995. This report details the initial performance of the Medium Caliber Launcher (MCL) and gives performance data for a simple 'C' shaped solid armature. The commissioning tests in-dude electrical data from tests with a fixed shorting block at the muzzle and very low energy tests for armature friction where the armature was either static or moved only part way down the barrel. The firing data consists of a six shot sequence devised to proof test the capacitor power supply, characterize the gun performance, and establish an armature behavior baseline set in terms of two critical issues, rail gouging and contact transition. Briefly, the power supply performed flawlessly, the railgun functioned well but with a slightly lower than expected inductance gradient, the onset of gouging was observed at 1350 m/s and the highest velocity observed before contact transition was 1970 m/s. The complete laboratory system of railgun, diagnostics, data acquisition, and pulsed power form a good test arena for the study of solid armature behavior.