Thermal Analysis of Electromagnetic Launcher Rails

摘要

A numerical technique has been developed to analyze the combined thermal and electric field diffusion in electromagnetic launcher rails. TOPAZ2D, a two-dimensional finite-element thermal analysis code, has been adapted for this purpose. The resulting code, TOPAZRG, was used to predict the temperature field in the rails of the Lethality Test System being constructed at Los Alamos. Results of those calculations indicate the possibility of localized melting at the rail corners under full-power conditions. A parametric study was made to determine the effect of using tungsten coatings to prevent the melting of rail surfaces. The results of those computations show that the time to melt for a given surface heat flux can be increased by a factor of 2.8. Optimum coating thicknesses were determined for a range of heat fluxes. 11 refs. (ERA citation 12:050021)