Research on the Armature–Rail Dynamic Contact Characteristics of the Series Enhanced Electromagnetic Rail Launcher

To study the dynamic contact characteristics of the armature–rail of the series-enhanced electromagnetic rail launcher, the electrical connection of the launcher is divided into an armature circuit, an arc suppression circuit, and a vice rail circuit to construct an effective electrical model that considers the actual motion of the armature. The mathematical relationship model of the armature–rail contact resistance and outlet voltage, rail current, armature speed–displacement, and device parameters (inductance gradient, resistance gradient, mutual inductance gradient) and other physical quantities is obtained, and the change curve of the contact resistance of the armature–rail is measured through experiments and finite element/boundary element simulation calculations. The results show that the contact state of the armature–rail can be divided into three stages by the change curve, which is consistent with the rail damage state obtained by the actual measurement. The work done in this article can provide an effective reference for predicting the rail damage and armature thermal load design of the series-enhanced electromagnetic rail launcher.