Discharge Process of the Multiphase Air-Core Compulsator-Based Railgun Systems

Along with the ever-increasing requirement of power and energy density in the electromagnetic launch field, the air-core compulsator has been the research focus for the last two decades. However, when considering the multiphase air-core compulsators designed for railguns, no existing published papers have investigated the different discharge processes and different performances caused by different phase numbers. This paper has investigated the different performances influenced by the phase number of the air-core compulsator. The current commutation is of great importance especially in the fast electromechanical energy conversion. The current commutation and pulse regulation in the discharge process of the multiphase air-core compulsator have been studied in detail. Three different railgun systems have been discussed in which a three-phase, a four-phase, and a novel five-phase compulsator are adopted. Besides, three sets of corresponding parameters have been designed and proposed for simulation under the premise that all compulsators have the same volume and weight. Different from the traditional applications in which the current commutation is always avoided, the key point in this paper is the utilization of the current commutation process. A new idea for the design of the phase number of the air-core compulsator is presented. The conclusion is pioneering and instructive to the design of the multiphase compulsator for railgun systems.