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Sliding electrical contact between rail and armature in rail launchers is characterized by high speed and large current. Melt erosion is caused by the current concentration on the contact surface of armature. Because the current melt erosion (CME) was considered to be a main mechanism of armature-rail contact failure, it was experimentally and theoretically studied in the early years using current density of 30–40 kA/mm, which is the exact driving current of rail launches. However, the critical behavior at the onset of CME cannot be observed due to the serious melt erosion at such high current densities. In this paper, the CME of armatures has been experimentally studied in the current range of 10–20 kA/mm with a lab-scale rail launcher. A payload separated method was used to keep the recovered armatures intact. The critical process for the onset of melting was observed and the erosion spreading patterns on the contact surface was analyzed. It is found that the current melt-wave model postulated in early years cannot describe the development of CME in our experiments. The result shows that current erosion mostly occurs at the static and the low-velocity stage of armature. The CME begins at the point of maximum contact pressure provided by armature-rail interference fit, and then, the melt erosion spreads longitudinally and transversely. The current erosion is affected by both current distribution and the movement of liquid aluminum. In longitudinal direction, the flow of liquid aluminum results in erosion propagation to leading edges. The transverse width of erosion zone expands with increasing current magnitude along the edge of interference fit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Monolithic C-type armature is one of the most important armatures in electromagnetic railgun. Some key parameters of monolithic C-type armature in rectangular caliber railgun system—width of armature X, height of armature Y, thickness of armature’s throat d0 , length of armature’s tail d1 , thickness of trailing edge of armature’s tail d2 , and angle of armature’s tail $\theta $ —are studied in this paper. By introducing current carrier margin coefficient named $\alpha $ , ratio of armature thickness to armature width named $\beta $ , ratio of armature height to armature width named $\gamma $ , and ratio of length of armature’s tail to armature height named $\kappa $ , equations of some key parameters of monolithic C-type armature in rectangular caliber railgun system are proposed. Based on analysis of mass of armature, electromagnetic contact force between armature and rail, mechanical strength of armature’s tail, and inductance gradient, relationship of some key parameters of monolithic C-type armature in rectangular caliber railgun system are proposed. Conclusion can be drawn that increase of $\theta $ can reduce mass of armature and improve mechanical strength of armature’s tail, but electromagnetic contact pressure between armature and rail will be decreased. Decrease of $\gamma $ could be a considerable way to remarkably increase inductance gradient, and then increase launch system efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By introducing current carrier margin coefficient named $\alpha $ , ratio of armature thickness to armature width named $\beta $ , and ratio of armature height to armature width named $\gamma $ , equations of some key parameters of rectangular caliber railgun system, which is related to linear current density, are proposed. Then, some key parameters for different caliber railgun system are studied. Based on the analysis of electromagnetic contact pressure between armature and rail, $+ di/dt$ skin effect, velocity skin effect, and melt wear of armature, it can be obtained that current density of rail/armature interface is directly proportional to the linear current density. Thus, in order to decrease rail/armature interface current density, it is necessary to reduce linear current density. It can also be obtained that current density of rail/armature interface in current ramp-up is inversely proportional to the root of current rise time. Thus, it is necessary to increase current rise time to decrease rail/armature interface current density. Average melt wear rate of armature is directly proportional to the square of linear current density. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the effect of the corona space charge on the leader initiation is experimentally and theoretically investigated. The critical corona charge for the stem–leader transition is reviewed and a more proper charge criterion is recommended based on the experimental measurements and theoretical analysis. It is shown that the chocking effect of the corona space charge for the second corona inception should not be ignored, which decreases the electric field strength of the stem tip and hinders the initiation of the leader. A simple physical model is proposed to calculate the leader initiation time, which can consider the thermodynamic mechanism for stem–leader transition and the chocking effect of the corona space charge, and a good agreement with the experimental results was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the variation of the development of positive first corona space charge in long air gaps is investigated. A 1-m rod-plane air gap under different rising rates dU/dt of impulse voltages is reported. The current signals and still photographs are recorded during the first corona development. The relationship between the first corona charge Qi and the inception voltage Ui is presented. The physical mechanism of the influence of the first corona is provided. With the experiments and the single branch propagation model, a semi-empirical calcultion method for positive first corona charge under impulse in long air gaps is obtained through the calculation of the number of branches Nb. Using this method, the variations between Qi and Ui for different dU/dt and electric field distributions are calculated and compared with the reported experimental results. Reasonable agreement between the calculated and experimental results is obtained. It shows that this calculation method is suitable for predicting the positive first corona charge Qi and the discharge current at a given dU/dt and Ui. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research on the attachment processes in competition tests can provide insights into the influencing factors involved in the selection process that determines the lightning strike point. In this paper, a series of competition tests with a rod–rod gap configuration are designed and carried out. The test results indicate that the strike mechanism is decided by two discharge processes, namely the free development of the downward-propagating discharge and the interception process of the upward and downward discharges. If the first process prevails, the strike probabilities for different grounded rods will tend to be equal. For the second process, the strike probabilities reflect the different performances of the grounded rods for intercepting downward discharges. As the scale of the discharge gap increases, the development of the downward leader becomes more and more dominant in selecting the strike point. In natural lightning strikes, the scale of the downward leader is normally more than 90% of the discharge gap, hence the protective effect of lightning rods with different tips will not be significant for low rod heights and small lightning currents. To reflect the effect of the downward leader development on the choice of the strike point, a minimum discharge air gap of 10 m is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In order to investigate the different features of the positive leader propagation in the rod–plane and inverted rod–plane gaps, the discharge experiments in a 3-m rod–plane gap and a 3-m inverted rod–plane gap were carried out under switching impulse voltage. The positive leader propagation process was recorded by using a high-speed CCD camera. Some aspects to describe the positive leader propagation characteristics of the rod–plane and inverted rod–plane gaps are obtained and compared in this paper, including the critical corona radius, the average continuous leader inception voltage, the axial leader velocity, and the final jump length. The possible reason resulting in those differences is also discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A novel observation method is proposed to study the streamer-leader propagation processes of long air-gap positive discharges. Experiments of 3-12 m air-gap discharges have been conducted in this paper. The observed images could clearly and particularly describe the characteristics of the positive streamer-leader propagation processes. Some important phenomena of the propagation processes are indicated and discussed, such as the leader's velocity that varied with the time, the different lengths of inception leaders, the leader's branching phenomena, the continuous streamer-leader propagation processes simultaneously with the voltage's descent, and the upward leader's propagation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]