New Carbon–Copper Composite Material Applied in Rail-Type Launching System

During the operation of a rail-type electromagnetic launching system, the state of the sliding friction between armature and rail, friction drag, contact resistance, etc., directly affect the system operation and performance. Carbon-copper composite material can be used on the parts of the armature which contacts the rails. It should not only provide good conductivity, but lubrication, as well; thus, the performance is improved compared with using metal sliders. The carbon-copper composite material introduced in this paper uses improved material preparation and composite material molding crafts. It is possible to make a composite material in which a 3-D metal net is obtained: something that cannot be obtained by conventional copper-graphite powder metallurgy or by metal impregnation. Graphite particles are distributed uniformly within the net, improving abrasion resistance and voltage drop over common carbon-copper composite material. The static tests showed that this new type of composite material has better electrical performance than former brush material in the same conditions, and the dynamic tests showed that the temperature rise is not big when the brush with this new composite material is switched on with big current and the surface abrasion is smaller during sliding. The good conductivity and sliding contact performance are important for application in electromagnetic launching systems