Design and testing a novel armature on railgun

Abstract

Based on understanding the characteristics of the impulse force generated by pulsed current of the armature, it is valuable to explore effective ways to improve the armature structure in order to enhance the stability and prevent from the transition and erosion during launching. This paper firstly lists a series of conversional armature and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages. A C-shape armature is simulated based on the electrical-magnetic-mechanical coupled analysis method. The simulation shows that the stress is mainly distributed in the area between the cross member and arm. A novel concave armature is proposed and the simulation results indicate that the stress is mainly distributed near the front of armature. It is beneficial to push heavy load and avoid deformation and fracture. A device is built to validate the feasibility of armature. The armature is staying still to simulate pushing the infinite heavy load. The experimental results show that the concave armature endures higher current and has the stronger capability of pushing load compared with the Cshaped armature. This type of armature provides a valuable reference for future armature design.

A review of static/quasi-static calculations of Electromagnetic-thermal coupling sliding electrical contact characteristics of armature and rails

“…The simulation results show that the contact efficiency of curved armature and rail is greatly improved. Other scholars have proposed concave armature and saddle-shaped armature as shown in Figure 4 [43], which can effectively improve the concentration of current in the throat to obtain the ability to carry more current and improve the contact performance. The U.S. Navy has studied round-bore electromagnetic rail guns with ring armatures for firing, and the paper [44] compared the contact performance of C-shaped armatures and ring armatures, and studied the effect of rail temperature rise on contact performance during rapid repeated firing.…”