Preliminary Study of Two-Stage Light Gas GunUsing Reactive Gas as Driving Energy

The two-stage light gas gun is a conventional device for accelerating a projectile commonly chosen for research owing to its wide range of launching velocities, good repeatability and flexible work environment, and is widely used in studies of high pressure physics, space debris protection, and mechanical properties and dynamic responses of materials.However, as the traditional light gas gun uses explosive as the energy source, it suffers from the disadvantages of comparatively heavy molecular weight and low sound velocity, poisonous products, requirement of special conditions for transportation and storage.In this work we developed a novel two-stage light gas gun, whose driving energy is supplied by the gaseous chemical reaction, and whose highest velocity in projectile-launching reaches 5.6 km/s.This novel technology is inexpensive, free from use of explosive and environment-friendly.