The study of the simple breech-fed railgun recoil force

Railgun recoil force is critical for efficient development and design. Several theoretical and experimental researchers have produced multiple published papers characterizing railgun recoil force. But these papers are not definitive and often conflict, so cannot explain the problem well. Simple breech-fed railgun is the simplest rail guns, and its mechanical properties are representative. Traditional theory suggests that recoil force of simple breech-fed railgun is caused by the breechblock conductor. It can not explain the fact that the measured recoil force is far less than the theoretical recoil. In this paper, the recoil force of simple breech-fed railgun is studied, in both cases of the breechblock conductor completely fixed with the rails and the breechblock conductor free movement. Based on the above two cases, authors propose a new theory that the breechblock conductor should be divided into two parts based on the state of motion: the fixed part and the free part. The force of the fixed part is the railgun recoil, and the force of the free is not the railgun recoil at all. Therefore the actual railgun recoil force is both of the two parts. The theory successfully explains why the measured recoil force is far less than the theoretical recoil forces, and it is useful to feed in the design of the breech-fed and recoil.