Analysis of Force Distribution Acting Upon the Rails and the Armature and Prediction of Velocity With Time in an Electromagnetic Launcher With New Method

An advanced high-power electromagnetic launcher (EML) improves performance by as much as 30% over a conventional launcher. Electrical energy is the main driving source for the electromagnetic launcher. In recent years, much effort has been focused on the improvement of EML technology. To date, most studies involving electromagnetic launchers assume an estimated velocity profiles and calculate the force acting upon the armature with an approximation. The purpose of this study is to calculate the force distribution (thrusting and vertical forces) acting upon the armature. In addition, a more accurate method is utilized to determine the velocity variation with respect to time and position. In our formulation of governing, nonlinear differential equations, Maxwell equations are applied to the rails and the armature. The current field distribution of the rails and the armature as well as the total force distribution acting upon the armature are calculated while temperature and thermophysical properties of the armature and the rails are varying. Finally at different time the velocity variation is determined. A finite-difference code based on the alternative directional implicit method is utilized to solve the nonlinear governing differential equations. As a result of this method we can predicate a more precise velocity, acceleration, and gradient induction (L´) at different time steps