CRITICAL-CURRENT DENSITY IN RAILGUNS WITH COMPOSITE ELECTRODES

The critical current density in railguns with plasma armatures is one of the basic parameters determining their efficiency and kinematic cha racteristics. The possibility to increase the critical current density when using bimetallic or composite (particles of different metals) el ectrodes is analyzed in the paper. The scaling ratios relating the val ues of critical current density, projectile velocity and acceleration time and the basic physical properties of the electrode material in '' non-erosion'' regime are obtained. Using these ratios, the coefficient of the relative heat resistance is introduced which makes it possible to compare the composites with reference to a standard material, for example, copper. The results of numerical calculations of this coeffic ient for a number of composites of different structure are presented.