The transient behavior of rails used in electromagnetic railguns: numerical investigations at constant loading velocities

Electromagnetic railguns are mechatronic systems working at very high power levels (in the range of GW). Here, one important issue, namely, the dynamical reaction of the rails and their supporting structure to the moving (due to the projectile) magnetic pressure loads is still not sufficiently described. In this paper the above described problem is investigated using a purely mechanical 2D finite element model. The aim is to describe the displacement of the rail surfaces because of its importance for the electrical performance of the system. The boundary conditions correspond to the moving electromagnetic pressure repelling the rails one from each other. The oscillation profiles under several loading histories with constant velocities ranging between 0.6 and 1.4 km/s are examined