Design of a reluctance accelerator

The design of a reluctance accelerator is described, and the methods used in its design are discussed. The methods of control of the accelerator and its predicted performance are also discussed. Because this device contains iron, and is therefore very nonlinear, it was necessary to use a finite element (FEA) code (TEXMAP) in order to determine the forces developed by the accelerator and to determine the inductance of the windings at various stroke positions. Results of the analysis show that the true performance of a reluctance launcher varies considerable from that predicted by classical closed-form flux analysis. It is shown that although the reluctance accelerator has some limitations in maximum force for a given bore area, predicted efficiency is relatively good when compared with air-core induction machines