Optimal Switching Scheme for Multistage Reluctance Coilgun

Multistage reluctance coilgun has been developed greatly in modern military acceleration systems. Optimal switching of drive coils is of great importance from the efficiency and muzzle speed viewpoint. Performance characteristics of a reluctance coilgun is improved in this article using a new switching scheme. The basic idea is that the drive coil should be energized only when it can apply the maximum force on the projectile. The proposed algorithm is investigated using the finite-element method (FEM) and experiment. The coilgun prototype is designed to accelerate an 11-g 10-mm caliber projectile. Both the experimental and FEM results verify the advantages of the proposed switching scheme.