Coupled-field analysis of a new hybrid electromagnetic coil launcher

Electromagnetic coil launcher (EMCL) is a special launch device which utilizes coaxial arrangement helix coils (HC) to generate electromagnetic forces acting on the armature. A new hybrid electromagnetic coil launcher (NHEMCL) is designed in this paper, in which a pancake coil (PC) is added to the bottom of barrel, and a disk armature is added to the tail of the sleeve armature. Such the armature is pushed by two drive-coils in the first stage at the same time, and greater force is produced. The structure composition and working principle of the launcher are introduced. Composite of two drive-coils in the first stage, the field-circuit coupling analysis of NHEMCL is set up. The current of drive-coils, the accelerative force and speed of the armature are obtained through simulation. In order to analyze the structure intensity of the NHEMCL, 3-D finite element model is built, and the magnetic-structure coupling analysis is made. The stress and strain in drive-coils are obtained. The results show that greater forces produced in the first stage.