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A passive compulsator is being designed and developed in this article to drive a railgun which has been built and tested earlier using a capacitor bank in the author’s laboratory. In this article, the analysis has been done for various machine parameters for a self-excited passive compulsator. A secondary armature on the stator has been used as a source for the self-excitation of the field winding as the primary armature is being optimized for the main discharge current pulse. The field excitation of the compulsator is assumed to be transient in nature. The main parameters to be analyzed in the compulsator design in this case are as follows: 1) the time required for the air gap flux density to reach the rated value; 2) the power loss in the compulsator during self-excitation; and 3) the maximum field current. During the self-excitation, currents induced in the compensation shield slow down the overall process of field excitation and also result in high field current affecting the design of the field circuit converter (FCC). A number of probable designs were modeled and simulated for different diameters of the rotor, the number of field winding turns, nominal field current density, and compensation shield thickness, and the above-mentioned parameters were compared. The same analysis has also been compared with the performance of the compulsator in the main operation, that is, driving the railgun, so as to decide the range for some of the design parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the ironless structure of the toroidal winding in the tubular linear voice coil motor (TLVCM), the winding thickness is one of the critical parameters that have an impact on air-gap flux density, and hence affects the copper loss at rated thrust. This paper investigates and determines the thickness of the ironless toroidal winding of the TLVCM for the purpose of a minimum copper loss. Magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) method is used to analyze the air-gap flux density with respect to winding thickness, and the corresponding copper loss at the rated thrust is assessed by considering the slot fill factor. The optimal solution is obtained according to the U-shaped curve of the copper loss. Moreover, the finite-element analysis is combined to validate the results of MEC method, and a good agreement is reached. Two prototypes of TLVCMs having similar slot fill factor are made, one of which is with the optimal winding thickness. The expected current at the rated thrust is obtained by a test platform of static thrust, so as to obtain the corresponding copper loss for each prototype. The experimental results show that the TLVCM with optimal winding thickness features a lower copper loss. Hence, the attempt to minimize the copper loss by designing the thickness of the ironless winding is highly effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The compensated pulsed alternators (CPAs) have good applications in high-energy lasers, electromagnetic rail guns, and other electromagnetic launch devices. Among various electrical machine topologies, homopolar inductor alternators (HIAs) have attracted interest as CPAs due to their merits of simple and reliable structure, brushless excitation, and high-speed operation. However, the length of the conventional HIA is difficult to expand because it is limited by the rotor diameter, and the rotor diameter is restricted by the maximum speed of rotor tip, which results in low-energy storage capacity of a single machine. Besides, HIA suffers from the relatively low-power density due to its unipolar air-gap flux density (UAFD). To solve these problems, two novel HIAs with multistage stator cores (HIA-MSCs) are proposed in this paper. One is HIA with UAFD (HIA-UAFD) and the other is HIA with unipolar and bipolar air-gap flux density (HIA-UBAFD). First, the structure and operation principle of HIA-MSCs are illustrated. Then, the key parameters of HIA-MSCs are derived, and the corresponding models are built. Finally, the electromagnetic performances of HIA-MSCs are investigated by 3-D finite-element analysis method. Compared with HIA-UAFD, HIA-UBAFD has relatively higher discharge current and output power, which indicates that HIA-UBAFD is a better candidate for the pulsed alternator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compulsators are popular choices for various high-power electromagnetic launch applications, especially for the electromagnetic railgun. A two-axis-compensated compulsator with lower internal impedance and higher power density was proposed in the authors’ previous paper. The field windings and compensating windings are allocated electrical orthogonally, providing the opportunity to design the direct-axis and quadrature-axis compensations independently. Due to the excitation function of the field windings, as well as field windings and compensating windings at the same rotor periphery, the ratio between $d$ -axis and $q$ -axis compensation is determined not only by the waveform of the air-gap flux density but also by the occupied space of windings, electromagnetic force during discharge and temperature rise and cooling condition. All these aspects mentioned above were analyzed in this paper. Furthermore, the output performance for single pulse discharge of a 2-m railgun with 100-g armature and multiple pulses discharge of a 5-m railgun with 300-g armature was simulated and compared. The results indicated that the two-axis compensation could obtain benefits by introducing more sinusoidal discharge currents for single pulse mission comparing to traditional compensation structure, whereas no obvious advantages for a flat-topped current waveform for multiple pulses mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pulsed alternator (PA) is a kind of high-power pulsed supplies widely applied in the field of electromagnetic (EM) launch. Over the past decades, the self-excited air-core PA is widely studied, but it has the disadvantages of poor heat transfer and high electric field loss. The hybrid excitation PA combined with the advantages of electric excitation and permanent magnet excitation PA, and the output voltage of armature winding can be adjusted by the electric field current. This paper presents double-electric-excitation hybrid excitation compensated PA (DEE-HECPA). In order to improve the adjustable performance for the output voltage of HECPA, the rotor structure is changed and double excitation coils are used in PA. In this paper, the equivalent magnetic circuit model for hybrid excitation region is established and the air-gap flux density is calculated. The dimensional parameters are calculated by the special EM design method for PA, the characteristics of electric excitation are verified by finite-element analysis, and the characteristics of output current for DEE-HECPA are analyzed. The research results demonstrate that DEE-HECPA is a feasible topology for PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air-core compensated pulsed alternator (ACPA) has been applied to the field of pulsed power technology, especially electromagnetic launch. The high-field current and the rotating speed of the ACPA bring the benefits of high power and energy density, but also make it suffer from low reliability and poor performance due to the serious heat and wear in the slip rings and brushes. To solve this problem, a novel brushless self-excited ACPA (BSACPA) is presented in this paper. It consists of two submachines in cascade, namely, an exciter and a generator, for which the air-gap flux rotation directions are opposite. The rotor windings are specially arranged and adopt the principle of negative sequence alternate current excitation, thus eliminating brushes and slip rings, and no rotary rectifier diode is needed. First, the structure and the operation principle of the BSACPA are described. Second, the magnetic field distribution and the coupling between the two submachines are analyzed. Third, the mathematical model of BSACPA is established. Finally, the validity of its operation principle is verified by finite-element and circuit analyses. In conclusion, BSACPA achieves the brushless structure and provides a new solution to improve the performance and the reliability of a conventional ACPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The length of the air gap in a negative corona discharge, which affects many corresponding parameters in the discharge process, is of vital importance for the physical investigations. A hydrodynamic drift–diffusion approximation model considering photoionization utilizing the finite-element method has been used in needle-to-plane air gaps. Trichel pulses, pulse frequency, electron, and electric field distribution, and surface current density distribution on the anode plate were presented to study the effect of the gap length. An approximate exponential relationship was found to exist between the corona current and the gap length, and also a linear function was found between the pulse frequency and the gap length. The analysis shows that the characteristics of the Trichel pulse are strongly dominated by the length of the air gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC arc evolution is a complicated and rapid time-dependent process. To better demonstrate the mechanism of the dc arc without external interference factors, a test circuit was built for the entire process of arc generation, maintenance, and extinction. Two different adjustment models were adopted. The macroscopic performance and characteristics of the arc were analyzed. The discharging and extinguishing conditions were measured and compared to the results of a burning candle located under a rod–rod air gap. This paper shows that the dc arc’s color changes from blue to purple and then yellow, finally forming a flame as the current increases. The macroscopic performance can be divided into eight periods in the first adjustment model, while only three periods are included in the second model. The arc discharging condition only depends on the applied high voltage, but the extinguishing condition may depend on either the limiting current or the drop-down voltage. Dynamic volt–ampere characteristics appear only if adjusted by the first model. The arc-root voltage is constant to 0.32 kV. The degradation of the ground electrode is far worse than that of the high-voltage electrode. This paper can be regarded as the first-step research for further studies on large-current dc arcs in arcing horns used in dc transmission grounding lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linear permanent-magnet brushless dc motor (LPMBLDCM) has the advantages of high flux density, high energy efficiency, simple structure, and other characteristics, which are suitable for high speed and high thrust applications. It is also used as an electromagnetic catapult to be applied to small- and medium-sized aircraft launches. This paper focuses on the influence of magnetic structure on electromagnetic and dynamic performance of a moving magnet type LPMBLDCM. Three magnetic structure candidates are presented, including the serial magnetic structure, parallel magnetic structure, and the Halbach magnetic structure. The dynamic process of LPMBLDCM is analyzed by a Maxwell-2-D transient solver for each magnetic structure. The influences of magnetic structure on the air-gap flux density, on the back electromotive force, and on the mover velocity and thrust output are analyzed. The electromagnetic characteristics and dynamic performance for three magnetic structure LPMBLDCMs are contrasted. This paper follows previous works in which some relevant experiments were also executed. Simulated and measured results can provide useful references to optimized design and prototype matching for an electromagnetic catapult. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the direct-axis ( $d$ -axis) and quadrature-axis ( $q$ -axis) synchronous reactances of homopolar inductor alternator (HIA) are calculated. First, an approximate 2-D model of HIA is developed and its relative air-gap permeance function is described. Then, the analytical expressions for the synchronous reactances in the $d$ -axis and $q$ -axis are derived from magnetomotive force-relative air-gap permeance function theory, including armature reaction reactance and armature leakage reactance. Finally, theoretical results are compared with the simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a stair-step-shaped magnetic pole structure is proposed to use in a permanent-magnet linear synchronous motor (PMLSM) for its application in an electromagnetic launch system. The aim of this configuration is to shape the air-gap flux density distribution produced by poles to be as close to a sine waveform as possible for the reduction of thrust ripple and the increase of motor controllability. An analytical model is derived for the PMLSMs by solving Maxwell equations and applying the superposition theorem for calculating the magnetic field, electromotive force, and thrust/torque of the motor. Magnet dimensions are then optimized using the analytical method and genetic algorithm, where the reduction of air-gap flux density harmonics is considered as the optimization target. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed technique to enhance the motor performance is investigated by a time-stepping transient finite-element method. The results show an improvement in the optimal motor performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]