Comparison of dynamic behaviour of EMA-3 railgun under differently induced loadings

Abstract

Comparison of dynamic behaviour of EMA-3railgun of the French-German Research institute of Saint-Louis (ISL) under differently induced loadings is presented.Both magnetic pressure loads are generated by twocurrent injections and lead to identical projectile velocitiesreaching up to 1200 m/s. The main difference between theloads lays in different locations of the injection points.FE simulation results presented in terms of deflectionsof the sliding rail surface illustrate, that loading differencesresult into different dynamic behaviours of therailgun. The breech-feed loading, where both injections areinduced in the start position of the rail, leads to higher oscillationamplitudes of rail deflections. It was found, thatthe railgun structure is dynamically less sensitive to thedistributed (DES) loading, induced in two different points.