Research on Melting Erosion Law of a Multiturn Series–Parallel Railgun During Launching Period

Abstract

The melting erosion law of the contact interface between armature and rails on the electromagnetic (EM) railgun is one of the key factors affecting the launching performance. In order to study the melting erosion law on the contact interface of a multiturn series-parallel (MSP) railgun, an EM structure thermal multiphysical field coupling model is built, and the armature velocity, contact force, and temperature of contact interface under different current peak values and shrink ranges are analyzed. Besides, the related verification experiments are carried out, and the melting erosion law of the contact interface is obtained. The results of simulations and experiments show the following conclusions: First, during the launching, the contact force between armature and rails varies with current fluctuation. Second, the friction heat power varies directly with the contact force, but Joule thermal power caused by contact resistance varies inversely with the contact force. Third, the ambient temperature of the sliding contact interface can be further improved by reasonable design of armature shrink range. Fourth, due to the inevitable wear during sliding, the melting area of the armature contact surface gradually transfers from the initial contact area to the tail. The above-mentioned conclusions can provide a technical reference for the high-speed experimental study of MSP railgun.