Salvo Performance Analysis of Triple-Projectile Railgun

A triple-projectile railgun´s rail pairs are stacked with each pair facing the bore and owning its own projectile. It can launch three projectiles per shot. In order to analyze its salvo performance, the self- and mutual-inductance gradient (L^´ and M^´) of each rail pair through a 3-D harmonic electromagnetic finite-element analysis is investigated, and the circuit simulation is established for assessing the salvo performance in the launching process. The results show that the mutual-inductance gradients of the three rail pairs are different (M₁^´ ≠ M₂^´ ≠ M₃^´) when the three armatures are at different positions, and the force acting on the front armature is less than that on the rear armature. Meanwhile, it indicates that the configuration of the railgun should facilitate the synchronization during the launching process. To validate the results of simulation, a triple-projectile railgun prototype with one meter in length is built. It provides a reference for the design of multiprojectile railguns.