Multifield and Multiscale Modeling of Armature Wear in Electromagnetic Railgun

A multifield and multiscale coupling model was developed to simulate the wear process of solid armature in an electromagnetic railgun. The finite element method was used to solve the electromagnetic-thermal coupled field to obtain the 3-D distribution of temperature and Lorentz force in the railgun. Taking the temperature and Lorentz force as the input, the transient mechanical response described by a material point model was calculated on a finer scale than the finite element model. By tracing the movement of the material particles that compose the armature, the evolution details of the armature contact interface were obtained and the whole wear process was shown. The results suggested that both the melting erosion and the mechanical wear played important roles in the armature wear issue.