Experimental Studies on Melt Erosion at Rail-Armature Contact of Rail Launcher in Current Range of 10–20 kA/mm

Sliding electrical contact between rail and armature in rail launchers is characterized by high speed and large current. Melt erosion is caused by the current concentration on the contact surface of armature. Because the current melt erosion (CME) was considered to be a main mechanism of armature-rail contact failure, it was experimentally and theoretically studied in the early years using current density of 30–40 kA/mm, which is the exact driving current of rail launches. However, the critical behavior at the onset of CME cannot be observed due to the serious melt erosion at such high current densities. In this paper, the CME of armatures has been experimentally studied in the current range of 10–20 kA/mm with a lab-scale rail launcher. A payload separated method was used to keep the recovered armatures intact. The critical process for the onset of melting was observed and the erosion spreading patterns on the contact surface was analyzed. It is found that the current melt-wave model postulated in early years cannot describe the development of CME in our experiments. The result shows that current erosion mostly occurs at the static and the low-velocity stage of armature. The CME begins at the point of maximum contact pressure provided by armature-rail interference fit, and then, the melt erosion spreads longitudinally and transversely. The current erosion is affected by both current distribution and the movement of liquid aluminum. In longitudinal direction, the flow of liquid aluminum results in erosion propagation to leading edges. The transverse width of erosion zone expands with increasing current magnitude along the edge of interference fit.