The Center for Electromechanics a t the The University of Texas at Austin (CEM-UT) has completed final assembly and is currently testing a laboratory based, small caliber, electromagnetic launcher and compensated pulsed alternator power supply. The objective of the program is to develop a compact, lightweight test bed capable of accelerating a salvo of three, 32-g masses to 2 km/s at a rate of 10 Hz. The 0.60 caliber, augmented railgun is powered by an 850 kg selfexcited, air-core compulsator which develops 674 MW peak power delivered through a solid state, silicon controlled rectifier closing switch. The incremental test plan is scheduled to bring the system to full power levels during the summer of 1992. This paper presents critical component fabrication and assembly details of the compulsator and supporting subsystems Early system commissioning and test data is presented including low speed (8,000 rpm) tests of the compulsator involving external excltation of the field coil.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.