Current Distribution in Railgun Rails Through Barycenter Filament Model

In this article, we present a novel measurement method to estimate the current distribution in electromagnetic rail launchers. A loop array is magnetically coupled with the railgun to reconstruct the current barycenter position, from which we can argue on the current distribution through the rail cross section. After describing the adopted measurement procedure, we present the results of an experimental analysis performed using the NGL60 rail launcher at the laboratories of the French-German Research Institute of Saint-Louis (ISL). We also compare the experimental results with finite-element simulations, and we show the agreement during the current pulse transient. Finally, we provide a measurement uncertainty analysis performed using Monte Carlo method.