AUGMENTED RAILGUN USING A PERMANENT-MAGNET

The use of a permanent magnet instead of an electromagnet has been pro posed for the augmentation of the magnetic field of a railgun driven b y a current of approximately 20 kA. A permanent magnet has the followi ng advantages in comparison with conventional augmentations using addi tional turns: (1) simple configuration of the system, (2) temporally a nd spatially constant magnetic fields, and (3) high efficiency. Here, the operation of a conventional railgun and that of an augmented railg un using a permanent magnet are compared experimentally, and the usefu lness of the permanent magnet is described. (C) 1995 American Institut e of Physics.