United Press International February 23, 2001, Friday
Researchers build 'world's fastest gun'
By KELLY HEARN, UPI Technology WriterALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Feb. 22
Using a powerful device that generates enormous magnetic fields, researchers have shot dime-sized pellets of aluminum at speeds three times that needed to escape the gravitational pull of the earth.
Dubbing it "the fastest gun in the world," Marcus Knudson, a physicist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., told United Press International that the device, known as a Z accelerator, can launch materials at speeds of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) per second. A rifle bullet travels at speeds of roughly 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) per second. At that speed, a pellet could travel the distance between New York and Boston in half a minute, researchers said.
The Z accelerator is the most powerful producer of electrical discharge on earth, capable of generating 20 million amps. A household coffeepot uses approximately 10 amps.
Measuring 110 feet in diameter and standing 20 feet tall, the accelerator is filled with water and oil. When the charge is unleashed, it generates a vast magnetic field that propels small objects much like a surfboarder is propelled by enormous waves, researchers said. Originally, researchers used the device to shoot short X-ray bursts at materials to monitor their psychical behavior under extreme stress. "But one day we came across the idea of using the magnetic fields generated by the accelerator to launch plates," said Knudson. The high-speed accelerator offers researchers a cheaper means of testing how materials react under extreme pressure and temperature, a boom to officials charged with monitoring the nation's nuclear stockpile.
Researchers said they are also using the device to simulate the effect of flying debris in space. The tests may help engineers develop lighter, more durable materials for satellites and on-orbit telescopes. The accelerator could also feed a new generation of hypervelocity, or "kinetic kill" weapons. Theoretically, if designers could produce an accelerator that is smaller but similarly powerful, projectiles could be shot at speeds that would pierce heavy armor.
But certain problems remain vexing. "The military has looked into hypervelocity launchers before," said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a Washington-based defense policy organization. "Originally they were considered for the Star Wars program in the eighties but the accelerators were too large to launch into space and the barrels would have worn out too quickly." Having nixed the idea of using hypervelocity weapons in space, Pike said, military planners considered using them for ground combat. "They thought about making them small enough to put on the back of a truck or tank, but the problems of size and the issues with the barrels were still there."
Another problem is finding a metal that will not liquefy or vaporize once shot from a hypervelocity weapon. The aluminum pellets for example will liquefy after reaching a velocity over 20 kilometers per second. But Knudson said his team is trying to solve the problem by reconfiguring launch speeds. He is also experimenting with copper and titanium, which may not vaporize as quickly.
Copyright 2001 U.P.I.
