Coilgun Acceleration Model Containing Multiple Interacting Coils

Abstract: A coilgun operates by pulsing current through an axially-arranged series of independently-controlled coils inductively interacting with a small, electrically-conductive, azimuthally-symmetric projectile to accelerate it to high velocities. The electrical circuits are programmed to pulse current through the coils in such a way so as to impart further electromagnetic acceleration in each stage. A method is developed to calculate the mutual inductance between the coils and between each coil and …