Induction coil guns for hypervelocities

The tubular linear induction motor is seen as an alternative to railguns, whose maximum speed is limited by current collection problems. By reducing the task of determining the maximum speeds attainable by induction to first-order approximations, the author shows that the ultimate limitations are set by the physical properties of copper: specific heat, resistivity, density, melting point and yield stress. The speeds attainable under these constraints are then calculated in terms of track length and missile mass