Since January 1980, The Center for Electromechanics at The University of Texas at Austin (CEM-UT), funded by the U.S. Army Armament Research and Developmet Command (ARRADCOM) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has been developing a high-energy-density, high-current power supply to drive an electromagnetic (EM) railgun. Achieving high energy density, which implies a compact, lightweight device, is required if EM accelerators are to become practical, field-portable systems. The initial step in developing the power supply was to design, fabricate and test a prototype homopolar generator, attempting to improve the state of the art in energy and power density. This step was completed in August 1982. Utilizing the All-Iron-Rotating (A-I-R) configuration, which eliminates the back-iron of previous machines, the prototype compact HPG inertially stores 6.2 MJ and weights 3400 lbm,m a state-of-the-art gain in energy density of a factor of two. During initial tests, the HPG generated a 1.02 MA current pulse. Analysis indicates that one compact HPG will drive an 85-g projectile to 3 km/s in a 4-m gun or a 10-g projectile to 10 km/s in a 5.5-m gun. The machine is currently being upgraded, and a compact inductor is being built to provide a load. This paper summarizes the machine design, presents results of the initial test sequence, and briefly discusses the continuing CEM-UT program to develop a high-energy-density, high-current EM railgun power supply.


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    Title :

    Assembly and testing of a compact, lightweight homopolar generator power supply


    Additional title:

    Aufbau und Erprobung eines kompakten, transportablen 750kVA-Gleichpol-Schwungrad-Stromstossgenerators fuer militaerische Zwecke (elektromagnetische Kanone)


    Contributors:
    Gully, J.H. (author)


    Publication date :

    1983


    Size :

    4 Seiten, 6 Bilder, 3 Quellen


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English





    ARRADCOM/DARPA Compact homopolar generator

    Gully, J.H. | Tema Archive | 1982


    Compact homopolar generator developed at CEM-UT

    Gully, J.H. | Tema Archive | 1984


    Design of a compact inductor matched to a homopolar generator

    Weldon, W.F. / Woodson, H.H. / Gully, J.H. et al. | Tema Archive | 1983


    Homopolar generator charged inductors

    Driga, M.D. / Nalty, K.E. / Zowarka, R.C. et al. | Tema Archive | 1985