Metallurgical analysis of multiple launch railgun materials

Railgun materials play an important role in electromagnetic launch,and its performance has great effect on the shot-efficiency and lifetime of the launcher.In this paper,the effect of shots number on the performance of multiple launch railgun material under high current conditions is studied by metallurgical analysis.The metallographys of kinds of rails’surface at various locations are observed,and the details of damage zones at different positions are analyzed.The results indicate that molten aluminum from the armature deposits on the rail surface to form a thin film.The deposited film becomes thicker and multi-layered with the increase of shots number.When the velocity is greater than 2 km /s,the gouge phenomenon always appears.The gouge volume of material is measured by 3D laser image and the qualitative observations of the damage are obtained.The evidences show that gouge phenomenon mainly causes by the kinetic energy of the armature and it is related to the shear strength of rail materials closely.By the addition of nano-sized ceramic powders,the shear strength of rail materials increases,the volume of gouge decreases during multiple launches.