A New Electromagnetic Launcher by Sextupole Rails: Electromagnetic Propulsion and Shielding Numerical Validation

A novel sextupole rails electromagnetic launcher has been designed and validated with numerical simulations of electromagnetic propulsion and shielding. The sextupole rails and club-shaped projectile are proposed as that the club-shaped projectile carrying the sextupole toroidal currents is surrounded by the sextupole toroidal field created from the sextupole rails. The interaction between the toroidal magnetic field and the orthogonal toroidal currents results in the generation of axial acceleration force. The sextupole rails electromagnetic launcher can solve the problems of magnetic shielding without shielding coils or materials. The theoretical assessment of the propulsion force and magnetic shielding is performed by corresponding numerical validation based on finite-element simulations. The numerical simulation results demonstrate that the sextupole rails electromagnetic launcher represents high thrust/current ratios and productive magnetic shielding effect.