Multiphase railgun systems: a new concept

Murthy, S.K.; Weldon, W.F.

doi:10.1109/20.195621

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The investigations both in the context of this work and by Murthy and Weldon show that a structure with an even number of phases is better in practice, because the distribution of forces within the armature is more even (Murthy and Weldon, 1993; Zellmer et al , 2022).…”

Section: Design Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…In the original paper by Murthy and Weldon (1993), it was pointed out that the current curves would show a transient direct current offset immediately after switching on. This would not subside in time and because of the nonexisting phase relationship between the currents, a constant force would not be feasible.…”

Section: Setup and First Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the original paper by Murthy and Weldon (1993), the idea to build such an accelerator was dismissed because the authors were convinced that certain technical challenges arising from the specific power supply they intended to use could not be overcome. In contrast, by carefully reanalyzing the whole system comprising of power supply and launcher, the idea to build a modular launcher which could be connected to the power grid was born (Zellmer et al , 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this work, an idea first published by Murthy and Weldon (1993) is taken seriously: the realization of a multiphase railgun. This is the only paper known to the authors on this topic, with the exception of this current research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As can be seen, the sliding armature becomes more complex. As already pointed out in Murthy and Weldon (1993), a stationary force may be realized; if multiphase alternating current (AC) is used, in general, the propulsive force F of a railgun depicted in Figure 1 can be calculated as follows: …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

An augmented multiphase rail launcher with a modular design: theoretical considerations and development

Zellmer

Loffler

Schneider

et al. 2023

COMPEL

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate a novel approach toward electromagnetic launch. Design/methodology/approach The field of linear electromagnetic acceleration aims at accelerating macroscopic masses (up to several kg) to speeds in excess of 2 km/s. This can be achieved using accelerators of the railgun type. The innovation of this work lies in the use of multiphase current instead of the classically used quasi-direct current (DC). The approach taken is to work out in a first step the potential performance of such a configuration, for example, by showing that a constant propulsive force can be realized. Next, the necessary changes for the system setup were carefully analyzed. Both the accelerator and the power supply have to be considerably modified with regard to the classical approach. Findings Thorough analysis of the electromagnetic behavior of the launcher including nonlinear effects lead to an innovative system design which is considered to be the main finding of the work presented here. Moreover, a prototype was build. The preliminary experimental results obtained are in very good agreement with corresponding simulations validating the underlying modeling approach. Research limitations/implications For the purpose of this paper, power levels of only 450 kVA are considered. However, this research can be used to design more powerful devices in the future. Originality/value While DC powered railguns are modeled very well in a variety of papers, the use of multiphase alternating current is not very well discussed yet. It could be of value for launch scenarios, for which very high speeds are required such as the launch of micro satellites to space.

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Section: Design Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Setup and First Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%