Dynamic strength of armature materials under pulsed current conditions [railguns]

A technique for generating tensile strength versus electrical action curves for railgun armature materials under pulsed current conditions is presented. This technique is capable of imposing high strain rates (>10³ sec^-1) under pulse current conditions by electromagnetically expanding a wire formed from a candidate armature material. The strain rate is derived by determining the change in mutual inductance between the expanding test wire and fixed reference wire. The experimental technique and results obtained for aluminum and copper armature materials are described. The results indicate that aluminum and copper armature materials maintain a high percentage of room-temperature tensile strength under actual railgun conditions