Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Conducting Elevated Temperature Normal and Combined Pressure-Shear Plate Impact Experiments Via a Breech-end Sabot Heater System
Published on: August 7, 2018
A 200 kJ electrical gun for hypervelocity launch
Binqiang Luo1, Jianjun Mo1, Chao Xu1
1Institute of Fluid Physics, CAEP, Mianyang, Sichuan 621999, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
In order to meet the requirements of hypervelocity launch in the context of defending against space debris and deflecting asteroids, an electrical gun with 200 kJ of storage energy was recently built. The electrical gun is composed of 16 gas spark switch-capacitor modules, and pulse current is transmitted by parallel aluminum plates that are insulated by polyester foils. The capacitance, inductance, and resistance of the RLC circuit of the 200 kJ electrical gun are 80 µF, 10.3 nH, and 2.6 mΩ, respectively. It can generate pulse current with a rise time of 1.33 µs and an amplitude of 5.2 MA when short-circuited at a charging voltage of 70 kV. Hypervelocity flyer launch experiments were carried out on the 200 kJ electrical gun, in which a ϕ20 × 0.5 mm2 Mylar flyer (0.22 g) was accelerated to 10 km/s.
Related Concept Videos
Conservation of Momentum: Problem Solving
Rocket Propulsion in Gravitational Field - I
The motion of a rocket in space changes its velocity (and hence its...
Rocket Propulsion in Gravitational Field - II
A rocket's acceleration depends on three major factors, consistent with the equation for the...
Van de Graaff Generator
Van de Graaff uses both smooth and pointed surfaces, conductors, and insulators to generate large static charges and, hence, large voltages. A substantial excess charge can be deposited on the sphere because it moves...
Energy Stored in a Capacitor: Problem Solving
Capacitor-discharge ignition is a type of ignition system commonly found in small engines where the energy released from a capacitor ignites an induction coil that, in turn, fires the spark plug.
To calculate the energy stored in a capacitor of...
Instantaneous Power

