Conceptual Literature

One of the most practical ways to create a controlled magnetic field is to construct a
solenoid. A solenoid is a long cylinder upon which is wound a uniform coil of wire. When a current is sent
through the wire, a magnetic field is created inside the cylinder. The usual solenoid has a length several
times its diameter. The wire is closely wound around the outside of a long cylinder in the form of a helix with
a small pitch. The magnetic field created inside the cylinder is quite uniform, especially far from the ends of
the solenoid. The larger the ratio of the length to the diameter, the more uniform the field near the middle.
The approximate value of the magnetic field is given by B = u0nI, where B is the magnetic
field, u0 the permeability of free space, n is the number of turns of wire per unit length, and I the current
through the wire. This relationship would hold exactly if the solenoid were infinitely long. A more precise
calculation shows that the above relationship is within 2 percent of the correct value at the center of a
solenoid if the ratio of the length to the diameter is five or greater. This equation shows that one way to
increase B is to increase I. But, because all wire has resistance, this procedure requires an increase in
voltage across the solenoid and results in more heat being generated by the resistance of the wire. Another
way to increase B is to increase n. But this increase can only be accomplished by decreasing the wire size
(if the solenoid, as is usually the case, has turns wound as closely as possible), resulting in an increase in
resistance and an increase in the voltage required for a given current, as well as an increase in heat
generated by the resistance of the wire. An alternative way to increase n is to wind several layers of wire.
This procedure increases the resistance of the wire, adds insulation problems, and decreases the length to
diameter ratio. The selection of the appropriate trade-off is the principle problem that must be solved by the
solenoid designer.

If a soft iron rod is placed partly inside a solenoid and the current turned on, the rod will
be drawn into solenoid by the resulting magnetic field. This motion can be used to actuate a lever, unlock a
door, or operate a relay. In this way the operation of a small electric switch can produce a large mechanical
action at a remote location. It is worth noting that the iron core has to be placed at the end of the solenoid
where the field is non-uniform for it to move. Furthermore, it is not necessary for the current to flow in one
direction only. An alternating current will work also.

The classic railgun is the simplest and also the most high perfected accelerator. It
consists of two parallel rails connected to a source of dc current, the projectile consisting of a short-circuit
slide propelled between the rails by the Lorentz force F = BLI/2 newton, where B is the magnetic field
instensity between the rails in tesla, L is the length of the current path through the slide, or the gap between
rails in meters, and I is the current in amperes. The factor of 1/2 accounts for the fact that the field is B
behind the slide and zero in front of it, the average being B/2. The classic railgun has been studied
extensively by Brast and Sawle of the MB Associates in the mid-sixties under NASA contract, and more
recently by Marshall and Barber using the world's largest homopolar generator at the Australian National
University in Canberra; it is capable of storing 500 MJ. Railguns can operate in two distinct modes. In the
metallic conduction mode, current flows through the sliding projectile itself, and this mode has been
demonstrated to a performance level of about 1 kg mass and 2,000 g (20,000 m/s2) acceleration by the
switching gun used in the Canberra installation to feed the main gun. Marshall and Barber tound that if the
railgun is driven very hard, a plasma arc tends to bypass the projectile, leaving it behind. By using a nonconducting lexan projectile and confining the arc behind it they were able to achieve a performance level of
16 gram accelerated at 250,000 g along a 5 m barrel to a final velocity of 5.9 km/s.

As railguns are extrapolated to large projectile sizes, the distinction brush conduction mode and plasma
mode is likely to vanish: brush conduction will be supplemented by arc conduction as the limit of brush
current is exceeded.

The practical limit of railgun performance in regard to projectile size, acceleration, length
and velocity will have to be explored by progressive refinement of material and engineering details, as in
the case of any new technology. The Canberra work has provided sufficient information to justify the first
attempt in this direction. Westinghouse[18], with support from DARPA, will construct a practical railgun
system including the first pulse-rated homopolar generator designed with attention to overall weight. The
objective is to demonstrate feasibility of accelerating a 0.33 kg (.73 pound) projectile to a velocity of 3 km/s
(9.8 ft/s), corresponding to a muzzle energy of 1.5 MJ.
To a great extent, the practical limit of rail guns will depend on acceptable cost and service
life. The problems relate to mechanical containment of the percussive expansion force which tends to blow
the rails apart, the electromagnetic analog of barrel pressure in a chemical gun, with the important
difference that the railgun maintains more or less constant pressure throughout the acceleration. Instead of
chemical corrosion, there is the destructive effect of high brush current density and the related metal vapor
arc. The body of knowledge available from the study of brushes and circuit breakers does not extend to the
current densities and velocities in question.
In addition to these limits, the classic railgun also faces certain fundamental lmimits which
are not related to acceleration, but to maximum possible length or maximum muzzle velocity. As a railgun is
lengthened, the resistance and inductance of the rails eventually absorb a dominant fraction of the energy.

The effect is seen to begin at about five meters in the Canberra tests. Increasing velocity also causes an
increasing back-emf