A b s t r a c t -An e x p e r i m e n t a l a r m a t u r e p r o g r a m at t h e US Army Armament R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t E n g i n e e r i ng Center is in-place and on-going.The goal of the program is to design and develop a 50 mm solid trailing a r m armature that is capable of operating efficiently in the 800 kA to 1,500 kA c u r r e n t range.An iterative design a n d test methodology was created to optimize the a r m a t u r e electrical e f f i c i e n c y .A six p a r t test p l a n investigates t h e effect of a r m a t u r e compliance, c u r r e n t pulse s h a p e , c o n t a c t size a n d c o n t a c t material on the magnitude of the muzzle voltage a n d the time of transition. The a r m a t u r e design a n d test plan seek to v a l i d a t e a c a n d i d a t e e l e c t r i c a l c o n t a c t wear model a n d establish t h e required r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n c o m p l i a n c e a n d optimum contact normal force for a given launch current.Currently, the affect of a r m a t u r e compliance a n d c u r r e n t pulse s h a p e o n the a r m a t u r e performance a r e being investigated a t velocities in excess of 2.0 km/sec. As a n outcome of the test program Armature Quality Factor has been defined a s a new figure of m e r i t for a r m a t u r e performance.T h e test results a n d analysis of t h e muzzle voltage a r e p r e s e n t e d .
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