Research on Elastic Design About Filament Wound Barrel of Railgun

The weight of an electromagnetic railgun can be minimized and pretightening of rails can be realized by using a carbon fiber to reinforce a railgun barrel. In this paper, an elastic design method for the composite material railgun barrel based on the compound theory is introduced. Simple formulas for stress distribution in the fiber laminate are derived in a cylindrical helical coordinate system. A basic flow of elastic design for fiber reinforced layers is established. Ply thickness is first derived according to the limit pressure of the barrel. Second, the initial stress distribution of the fiber is calculated in accordance with the requirements of rail prestressing. Finally, fiber-winding tension for each layer can be designed, considering that the tension of the inner layer was released to a certain extent by the outer layer with a specific tension system. This paper analyzes some additional factors for the design parameters of fiber wraps. Simulation results show heat and dynamic response must be considered in order to control the caliber deformation within a reasonable range.