Th. Sobota et al., DEVELOPMENT OF A SCRAM ACCELERATOR BASED HYPERVELOCITY LAUNCHER, International journal of impact engineering, 14(1-4), 1993, pp. 695-706
The Scramaccelerator, a novel type of supersonic-combustion, tube-base
d launcher has been developed that can accelerate projectiles to veloc
ities of 3 to over 7 km/sec. Extremely flexible in application, the Sc
ramaccelerator could launch impact specimens, wind tunnel specimens, p
rojectiles, satellites, or spacecraft. This paper describes the techno
logy demonstration of the concept by firing 120 gram projectiles into
a 38 mm barrel at 2-8 to 3.2 km/sec at the Titan/CRT Impact Research L
aboratory in Albuquerque. This technology promises an upward scalabili
ty beyond that of any conventional ballistic guns and electromagnetic
launchers for high mass hypervelocity applications. It is the objectiv
e of this program to demonstrate the practical application of detonati
on physics to hypervelocity launchers. Critical test issues discussed
include sabot separation, venting requirements, Scramaccelerator tube
requirements, and test performance. The current data indicate projecti
le accelerations were achieved in excess of 5,000 g's. Hence, these te
sts finally demonstrate that oblique detonation/supersonic combustion
can be harnessed as a useful mechanism for hypervelocity propulsion. I
n addition, these tests demonstrate hypersonic propulsion at Mach numb
ers above 9, acceleration at greater than 3 kilometers per second, and
system integration technology sufficient to accomplish this success.
Scalability of the device allows for the hypervelocity launch of large
masses.