Testing of a Homopolar Generator, Energy Storage Inductor, Opening-Switch Railgun System

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Date

1986-11

Authors

Zowarka, R.C.
Rech, B.M.
Nalty, K.E.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

IEEE

Abstract

The first homopolar-fired railgun system was operated in Canberra in 1972 [1,2]. Since that time two additional systems have been tested, the EMACK homopolar generator (HPG) built by Westinghouse and operated by Army Research and Development Center (ARDC) [3] and the joint effort by The Center for Electromechanics of The University of Texas (CEM-UT) and General Dynamics in 1982 [4]. This paper describes the homopolar railgun system operated by CEM-UT in 1985. The aspect that makes this system different from the previous experiments is the design of a fast opening switch (10 to 20 µs) that will allow operation of the HPG into hypervelocity launchers.

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Citation

R.C. Zowarka, B.M. Rech, and K.E. Nalty, “Testing of a homopolar generator, energy storage inductor, opening-switch railgun system,” IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, vol. Mag-22, no. 6, November 1986, pp. 1826-1832.

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