Design of a single stage supersonic reluctance coilgun (RCG)

This paper presents a simple technique to design a single stage supersonic electromagnetic reluctance coilgun (RCG) for use in defense applications. Using a hybrid technique for coil optimization based on analytical, finite element analysis (FEA) and circuit simulation, the design parameters are determined and analyzed. Further, the characteristics of the selected key components such as power supply and switching devices are presented. The RCG circuit is also presented and results obtained from Pspice model are interpreted to optimize the pulse shape through the appropriate selection of the circuit components. The RCG is tested at several power supply voltages and performance characteristics of the RCG are also presented.