Dynamic response of rails due to armature movement for electromagnetic railguns

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Jin, Longwen^{a; *} | Lei, Bin^a | Li, Zhiyuan^a | Zhang, Qian^a

Affiliations: [a] Shijiazhuang Mechanical Engineering College, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Longwen Jin, Shijiazhuang Mechanical Engineering College, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050003, China. E-mail: longwen@mail.ustc.edu.cn

Abstract: An analytical model is proposed to investigate the dynamic behavior of rail under the effect of both the rail repulsive force and the armature contact force. The rail is modeled as a Bernoulli – Euler beam resting on a continuous elastic foundation with simply support at both ends of the rail. Numerical simulations are carried out using the analytical model at below, near and above the critical velocities respectively. The results show that the dynamic response of the rail under the effect of both the repulsive force and contact force is more intensive and complicated than the case in which only the repulsive force acted. The additional oscillations caused by the contact force may increase the possibility of electrical contact failure between the armature and the rails. For more detailed analysis, the analytical model is needed to take into account the varying elastic stiffness and damping effect of practical railgun structure.

Keywords: Dynamic response, critical velocity, armature movement, railgun

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-130168

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 75-82, 2015