Analysis of Melt Erosion and Deposition at Contact Interface in Convex Rail Launcher

In railgun, the melting erosion and deposition at the interface between the armature and rail have severe influences on the bore life and the launch performance. In this article, using a payload-separated method, experiments at a small-caliber rail launcher were performed to study the melting erosion and deposition on the convex rails. The erosion pattern of the armature surface, the mass loss of the armature, and the distribution of the deposition were measured. The results show that central erosion occurs, and edge erosion is significantly mitigated on armatures for convex rails, whereas flat rail presents an obvious edge erosion pattern. Moreover, convex rails reduce material losses of armatures and homogenize depositions. It is found that the initial contact pressure on the contact interface of the convex rail is less concentrated on edges, contributing to the mitigation of edge erosion, which not only allows the molten aluminum to be deposited more evenly but also prevents it from ejecting and damaging the bore insulator.