IMPROVEMENT OF BALLISTIC LAUNCHER CHARACTERISTICS FOR SOLID MACROPARTICLES ACCELERATION

Several models of discharge chambers used in an erosive plasma generator are considered in this article. The chambers differed from each other in size and position of the electrodes. Oscillograms of the discharge current and voltage were obtained during the operation of the plasmatron. Based on the measurements made, the amount of electric energy delivered to the discharge was calculated. In addition, the discharge chambers were compared by the pressure inside them. The analysis revealed that Type III discharge chamber has the highest efficiency of energy conversion from the capacitor bank to plasma. It was found that the use of a hybrid ballistic launcher with an upgraded pulsed plasma generator led to an increase in the speed of a projectile over 3 km/s. Experimental study of the high-speed interaction between a chrome steel projectile and an Al2024-T3 alloy thick target plate was carried out in the velocity range of 0.5–3 km/s. It was shown that the crater shape changes with increasing impact velocity. There are at least three distinct types of impact craters in the studied velocity range. The dependences of the crater depth on the impact velocity were obtained for projectiles with diameters of 2.5, 4, and 5 mm.