Electric gun: a versatile tool for high-pressure shock-wave research

Abstract

We have developed a versatile tool for generating planar shock waves. This system, which we call the electric gun, is capable of projecting thin flyer plates with velocities in the range 1–20 km/s. It is presently being used in high-explosives-initiation experiments and is being developed for equation-of-state measurements in the 1–5 TPa range. We describe the electric gun facilities that are operational at Lawerence Livermore Laboratory and discuss applications of electric gun technology to problems of interest to shock-wave researchers.