Some remarks concerning the optimization of a railgun system

Abstract

Energy storage systems are still encumbering, therefore it is useful to think about the optimization of a railgun system in order to achieve the best performance with the lowest energy input. The important parameters in lowering electrical input energy are: the ratio of the projectile mass and the payload mass which has to be near unity, the inductance gradient L' of the rails which has to be high, the resistive losses in the rails and in the pulse forming network which have to be minimal. In this paper we present an overview of what can be done to enhance the efficiency of a rail launcher fed by capacitor banks adjusting the rails design, the launcher caliber and length with a view to accelerate payloads of several kilograms up to velocities of a few km/s with the minimum of charged electrical energy. >