Fault Mechanism and Improvement in the Augmented Railgun Excitation Circuit

Abstract

The augmented electromagnetic railgun has demonstrated more potent electromagnetic force, a low excitation current, and less rail thermal damage, showing good potential in heavy load launch. However, the augmented railgun’s load characteristics differ from the conventional double-rail railgun. In the augmented railgun launching experiment, it was found that the fly-wheel diode was damaged, and the capacitive power supply could not discharge fully, which led to residual energy and lower energy utilization. This paper began with the characteristics of the sequential trigger circuit, followed by the causes of the above faults, as well as the corresponding solutions. Based on the conventional excitation circuit, fault detection experiments were carried out first, and the fault mechanism was clarified. Furthermore, according to the solutions proposed, the conventional excitation circuit was improved so that it can work normally when a heavy inductance was loaded. Finally, the sequential trigger experiment was carried out again with the same circuit parameters. The research results showed that the fly-wheel diode could work normally after the circuit was improved, and the problem of residual energy could also be solved effectively. Moreover, the output performance was almost unaffected.