THE INTERNAL STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE RAILGUN PLASMA ARMATURE BETWEEN INFINITELY WIDE ABLATING RAILS

Computer simulations of the plasma flow in two-dimensionally symmetric railgun plasma arcs were performed. The direction of symmetry is normal to the insulator surface, so that the rails are effectively infinite in width. The rail surface ablates according to one of two ablation models, in which either all absorbed energy flux, or only the excess over that which the rail material can conduct away, ablates mass. A number of combinations of initial conditions, boundary conditions and resistivity models were explored. The full ablation model produces an arc of continuously growing mass and length, in which the current distribution reaches from the projectile half-way to the breech. The conduction limited ablation model produces a compact arc approximately eight times the bore height in length, which ceases to ablate material from the rails before the projectile reaches a velocity of 1 km/s. There is need for further study in several areas. These include the arc initiation process, the ablation of the insulators, and three-dimensional effects.