High quality railgun HYPAC for hypervelocity impact experiments

Abstract The characteristic of a very high quality railgun HYPAC (10 kV, 6,000 μ F, 300 kJ) at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) which is capable of accelerating a 1–2 gram projectile of 10–20 mm diameter made of polycarbonate to a hypervelocity of 7.8 km/sec and its utilization in hypervelocity impact experiments are reviewed. Also shown are further efforts to increase the velocity, to improve the quality of the projectile such as the acceleration of metal powder and to explore a new application of this facility.