Rails and armatures are critical components in electromagnetic rail launchers that convert electrical energy into kinetic energy. Due to high current, powerful magnetic fields, high relative speeds, intense heat, and immense pressure, these components inevitably experience material loss. This article provides a comprehensive review of domestic and international research conducted over the past few decades on surface damage to rails in electromagnetic rail launchers. The surface damage is mainly categorized into four types: grooving, gouging, transition ablation, and erosion wear. Each type exhibits distinct characteristics and occurs at different locations, resulting in varying degrees of material loss. Based on this, scientists put forward theories and models to explain and confirm the observed damage through experiments. To mitigate rail damage, structure, material and drive current waveform are modified. However, due to the deeply coupled system, extreme working conditions, limited measurements and the lack of valid experiments, few research about wear erosion has been reported. To understand the damage mechanism better, develop effective optimization strategies and unravel the process of damage evolution, the measurement and modeling methods should be improved.
