Deformation analysis of railgun cross-section

This paper presents the first results in a series of research efforts aiming to perform numerical modelling of the electromagnetic gun RAFIRA (RApid Fire RAilgun) of the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL). It deals with the understanding and the illustration of cross-sectional deformation behaviour. The structure consists of the three-dimensional composite bars and connection bolts. In our approach the structure cross-section is considered as plane strain problem numerically solved by the finite element method. The influence of bolts elongation, transversal bending of bars and the rail-bar interaction is studied by solving the problem under static load and dynamic impulsive loads. It was found that the biggest vertical displacement of the railgun is produced by bolt elongation. In case of dynamic analysis, the results are approximately two times higher than the static analysis. The obtained results serve as the base for the future developments.