Modeling of Electromagnetic Rail Launcher System Based on Multifactor Effects

In this paper, circuit simulation was chosen as the main methodology to analyze the characteristics of an electromagnetic (EM) rail launcher (or EM railgun) system, and a complex simulation model was proposed, which was not merely built on the static electrical parameters. Moreover, practical physical processes contributed to the system have also been taken into consideration and expressed as electrical parameters. Thus, the description of a relatively complex system could be realized by a comparatively simple manner, and the simulation result is more accurate and reliable compared with the traditional circuit simulation ones with the static electrical parameters. A circuit simulation model of an EM launch system based on PSpice software was built, in consideration of multifactor effects, such as current skin effect, contact pressure, and contact resistance on the contact surface of the armature and the barrel, velocity skin effect, friction drag, and temperature coefficient of electrical resistivity. Simulations were made based on the proposed model as well as the traditional one. Last but not the least, a comparison between the simulation results and the experimental ones was made to verify the accuracy and effectivity of the improved model.