Parameter studies for traveling wave coaxial launchers

The results of very extensive air-core coaxial launcher parameter studies performed using computers are reported. In the course of studying the feasibility of accelerating a 1 kg projectile to 10 km/s with an 18 m air-core multiphase coaxial launcher powered by rising frequency generators (RFGs), a complete simulation code based on the current filament method was developed. Results from the simulation code indicate rather chaotic behavior of an arbitrary coaxial launcher design. More fundamental studies were then conducted using various computer codes based on the current filament method. An extensive study was performed to analyze the variation of coaxial launcher behavior due to perturbations in launcher geometry such as pole pitch, coil, stator-coil thickness number of phases in the stator, and armature thickness, armature injection velocity, armature material properties, and stator current frequencies. A study using dimensionless parameters was performed on the relationship among stator-coil length, stator and armature radii, mutual inductance, and its gradient