Joint Seminar of the IEEE Tallahassee PES Chapter and FSU-CAPS
Title: Technology Challenges from Railgun Pulsed Power Charging Loads
Presenter: Benjamin McGlasson, Ph.D., Electric Weapons Advisor, Department of Physics, Naval Postgraduate School
Time: 3:00 – 4:00 PM, Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Location: Center for Advanced Power Systems, Research Foundation Building A, Seminar Room 120, 2000 Levy Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida 32310
Refreshments will be served
at the NPS Electric Weapons Research Lab
Screenshots from high-speed video of the muzzle energy record setting experiment (32MJ with 10 kg at 2.5 km/s)
Dr. McGlasson
Topic:
Technology Challenges from Railgun Pulsed Power Charging Loads
Abstract
Following the trend toward electrification in many other industries, the US Navy is evolving from mechanical drive to electric drive propulsion systems. This transformation liberates 10’s of MW of power to be redirected to large electrical loads in all but flank speed conditions and enables new systems to be considered for future Naval ship designs, such as directed energy and electric weapons. Integrating these large electrical systems in a way that maintains balanced and clean power throughout the ships electrical bus is an active area of Navy-sponsored research, including at FSU-CAPS. This seminar will review the most extreme electrical load currently being considered for shipboard use, the electromagnetic railgun, and the challenges associated with transient bus loading during charging of the capacitor-based pulsed power technology.
Biography:
Dr. McGlasson leads the NPS Electric Weapons research group at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), which recently established the largest railgun experimental facility of any US academic institution. This facility includes an 18 mega-joule pulse forming network and a medium caliber railgun capable of hypersonic launch (Mach 5+). Prior to his assignment to NPS, Ben McGlasson led the research effort for the US Navy Railgun program, the largest S&T program in the Navy, overcoming technical challenges to achieve the highest muzzle energy and bore life ever recorded for railgun launch.
Dr. McGlasson earned his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, Masters of Material Science and Engineering from the University of Virginia, and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. His technical contributions have been recognized by awards from senior Navy leadership as well as peer researchers. These include the Dr. James E. Colvard Award (2015), Assistant Secretary of the Navy (RDA) – Top Navy Scientists and Engineers of the Year Award (2011), Dahlgren Technical Excellence Award – Electromagnetic Railgun Projectile Armature Design (2009), Peer Recognition Award for Teaming Contributions – NIRF IED Defeat Program (2005), and the Award of Merit for Group Achievement – NIRF IED Defeat Program (2004)
Mrs. McGlasson is his secret weapon in life. In addition to enabling his contributions to the US military, she also homeschools their five children, ages 11 through 19, with the oldest successfully launched into military service as a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy.