DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF SANDIAS CONTACTLESS COILGUN FOR 50 MM PROJECTILES

A multi-stage, contactless coilgun is being designed to demonstrate the applicability of this technology to accelerate nominal 50 mm (2 inch) diameter projectiles to velocities of 3 km/s. Forty stages of this design (Phase 1 coilgun) will provide a testbed for coil designs and system components while accelerating 200 to 400 gram projectiles to 1 km/s. We have successfully qualified the Phase 1 gun by operating 40 stages at half energy (10 kJ stored/stage) accelerating 340 gram, room-temperature, aluminum-armature projectiles to 406 m/s. We expect to accelerate 200 gram projectiles cooled to -196-degrees-C to three times this velocity when operating at full energy. This paper describes the design and performance of the Phase 1 coilgun and includes discussion of coil development, projectile design, capacitor banks, firing system, and integration.