Electromagnetic rail launchers are already known to be capable of accelerating objects to speeds in excess of 2000 m/s with an overall efficiency of greater than 30 %. Electromagnetic rail launchers are already finding numerous applications including the acceleration of small particles with a mass of around 1 g to speeds of over 12 km/s, the application of surface treatments, and the injection of solid deuterium pellets into the plasma in Tokamak fusion reactors. Future applications are expected to include the launching of small Earth orbiting satellites and as an alternative to traditional propellants in armaments. The current research at the St Louis Institute is concentrating on high-speed high-current sliding contacts and the electrical circuits needed to generate the powerful current pulses needed by this type of launcher. Researchers are developing multi-filament metal brushes capable of carrying a peak current of 700 kA when moving at 2000 m/s with no arcing at the interface between the rail and the projectile. The new launcher has an overall efficiency of around 30 % and projectiles with a mass of between 350 g and 650 g have been acclerated to speeds of 2300 m/s.
Les lanceurs electromagnetiques a rails de l-Institut franco-allemand de recherches de Saint-Louis
Am französisch-deutschem Institut St. Louis entwickelter elektromagnetischer Schienen-Beschleuniger
Electromagnetic rail launchers developed by the Franco-German St Louis Research Institute
2000
6 Seiten, 14 Bilder, 12 Quellen
Article (Journal)
French
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