Mathematical modeling of rail gun

The exit velocity of the launch object along with the values of electric and thermal conductivity at the interfaces between the rails and the armature of a rail gun are critical issues. This thesis, using finite element method, estimates the former by solving the proper multiphysics governing equations, along with exploiting the contact theory between flat surfaces. A parametric analysis in the vicinity of the standard deviation of the normalized distance between the references planes of the rough surfaces was made for a variety of materials and textures at the interfaces. Furthermore, the amount of ohmic heat that is generated due to the application of the electric potential and the resistance of materials is estimated along with the average temperature at the interfaces. Finally, thermal stresses were also studied.

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE)

Grantor dc:publisher

Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Pratikakis, Nikolaos

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Young, Kwon

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10945/2604

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:calhoun.nps.edu:10945/2604