Electromagnetic modeling of complex railgun geometries

A model is developed to simulate the electro-magnetic behavior of arbitrarily shaped long parallel conductors in the high frequency limit. Specifically, the model solves the Laplace equation in a two-dimensional domain using discrete current sheets and a least square minimization solution technique. The model calculates the inductive current distribution on the surfaces of the conductors and the vector potential and B-fields in the space external to the conductors. This model (LAPLAC) is used to analyze a number of different conductor geometries typically found in railgun systems. A system of rails within a conducting coaxial cylinder is modeled and compared with a similar system without the conducting cylinder. A similar comparison is made between a simple rail system and one which contains an augumenting turn connected in series with the main rails. Performance of these configurations is compared based on the inductive and resistive characteristics associated with the high-frequency current distribution predicted by the LAPLAC model.