Coil gun scaling relationships

Abstract

Sub-scale system's test results and the experiences gained during the fabrication and testing can be extremely valuable for success with the full scale system. This publication focuses on the Coilgun scaling relationships between the full and sub-scaled systems' variables. Derivations of the scaling relationships presented are based upon the current filament model and momentum differential equations. A numerical study based on current filament model was then undertaken to assess whether the variables characteristics can be examined through a subscale experiment. It is shown that if the scale factors of the gun dimensions, the capacitance initial voltage are chosen properly the variables of the two systems can be scaled linearly. The peak values are scaled and their distribution characteristics are unchanged. With the proposed linear scaling method a wide range of different scalings is possible. A detailed derivation and numerical validation are presented in this paper.