Rarefaction wave gun (RAVEN) propulsion has renewed interest in the fundamental limits of recoil reductions attainable by redirecting propellant gases rearward from a gun without compromising the projectile propulsion. Compared with a conventional gun there is a great difference in the launch process and launch structure. This paper is concerned with an analysis of the dynamic characteristics of this high performance weapon system by numerical simulation. Based on its launch mechanism and launch structure, the vibration equation describing the vibration characteristics of RAVEN was established by vibration theory, which considered the actual movement of the projectile and inertial breech by coupling the interior ballistic equations of the rarefaction wave gun. A rigid-flexible dynamic model, which considered the coupling effect between the elastic vibration of the launch barrel and the dynamic behaviors of the other parts of the RAVEN, is established via a subsystem method. The vibration response of RAVEN during the launch is analyzed by numerical simulation. Comparisons are presented based on the conventional gun, as well as the rules of how the different parameters affect the vibration response. During the launching of RAVEN, the launch barrel shows significant vibration due to the effect of the propellant gases, the inertial breech, and the projectile, and there is some reduction in the vibration amplitude compared with that observed in a conventional closed chamber gun. The vibration amplitude and duration of the launch barrel, which increased with a decrease in the loading density, an increase in the mass of the inertial breech and projectile, and a delay of the venting time, is affected in a more significant manner by changes in loading density and the mass of projectile. The coupled effect between the launch barrel and the other parts of RAVEN are most prevalent in the z-direction. The vibration amplitude along the z-direction is higher than that of the y-direction. When the coupled effect is considered, the transverse vibration response of the flexible barrel has some reduction compared with the one that does not exhibit the coupling effect.
