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CONTENTS

Introduction
History
Components
How Does It Work ?
Application
Current R & D
Advantages
Limitations
Reference

INTRODUCTION

A rail gun is an electrically powered electromagnetic projectile launcher.

A rail gun comprises a pair of parallel conducting rails, along which a sliding armature is
accelerated by the electromagnetic effects of a current that flows down one rail, into the
armature and then back along the other rail.

HISTROY

In 1918, French inventor Louis Octave Fauchon-Villeplee invented an electric

cannon which is an early form of railgun.

In 1944, during World War II, Joachim Hansler of Germany's Ordnance Office built
the first working railgun. By late 1944 enough theory had been worked due to which
demanded a muzzle velocity of 2,000 m/s and a projectile containing 0.5 kg of
explosive. The guns were to be mounted in batteries of six firing twelve rounds per
minute. It was never built.

When details were discovered after the war it aroused much interest and a more
detailed study was done, culminating with a 1947 report which concluded that it was
theoretically feasible, but that each gun would need enough power to illuminate half
of Chicago (300 km).

COMPONENTS

How Does It Work ?

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Force Generated = .05 * L * I(t) ,

L = Inductance per unit length of the launcher
I(t) = Current

Generally ,

through the launcher at time

Force = I * L * B ,
I = Current (Ampere)
L = Length of Rail (Meter)
B = Magnetic Field (Weber)

Applications

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Military uses:

First military rail guns will be produced for next generation of cruisers.

Projectiles using kinetic energy to destroy target.

Range of rail gun 2-3 times bigger than standard technologies (Medium Range
missiles) and 10 times bigger than naval cannons.

Other Uses

Trigger for Inertial Confinement Fusion.

Launch or launch assist of spacecraft.

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Current R & D
U.S. Navy has achieved a speed of Mach 7
with the rail gun.
Current range is capable of reaching 100
nautical miles in several minutes
Maximum speed which achieved by a rail gun
is 3.2 km/sec of 3.6 kg projectile.
U.S researchers are going to launch a
spacecraft using rail gun technology.

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Advantages

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Limitations

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One of the biggest problems is with maintaining the structural integrity of the rails as
they undergo such stressful conditions.

The thermal management of the entire system, especially as the rails increase in size
needs to improve.

The pulsed power unit and supply could be compact and decreased in size, as it
encompasses most of the system.

The system is bulky.

Charging time of capacitors is high.

Risk of welding of projectile, which could lead to serious damage of system.

Reference

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Rail gun (Defence Science Journal, Vol 44, No 3, July 1994)

S.G. Tatake, K.J. Daniel, K.R. Rao, A.A. Ghosh, and I.I. Khan
Armament Research & Development Establishment, Pune-41012 1

ANALYSIS OF THE PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS OF A NOVEL PLASMA

LAUNCHER IN RAILGUN (ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences vol.
10, NO. 7, APRIL 2015 ISSN 1819-6608)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/railgun

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