Performance Analysis of Electromagnetic Railgun Launch System Based on Multiple Experimental Data

As an emerging kinetic damage weapon system, railgun has attracted much attention due to its remarkable advantages such as high initial speed, high kinetic energy, high shooting speed, high emission density, low cost, and antijamming. However, there are currently degradations of electromagnetic railgun launch performance and reliability, the limited service life as well, resulting from rail damage such as the transition erosion and grooving damage. Based on 24 consecutive shots, this paper presents the statistical analysis of B-dot probe data, aiming to show the working stability and reliability of the electromagnetic rail launch system when consecutive firing. On the basis of current data and B-dot probe data, the speed-displacement curve was obtained by simulation, through which it is easy to get the movement state of the armature in the launch track. Finally, by checking the disassembly of the launch rail, this paper analyses the damage states of launching rail after the 24 consecutive launch experiments. Through the above three aspects of research and analysis, this paper could be the reference for the further research and analysis on the performance and lifetime of railgun.