Design and Implementation of Electromagnetic Pulse Propulsion System: Electromagnetic Propulsion System

In this work, optimized design and implementation of small sized portable capacitor driven pulse EMP system is demonstrated. The EMP system of single and double stages is mathematically modeled and simulated with finite element model to analyze relationships of; excitation coil current, exerted force on the projectile and relative projectile position. The simulation is used to identify optimized triggering instant for the second stage. An experimental portable single and double stage capacitor driven pulse EMP system hardware prototype is developed. The experimental setup is used for validation of simulation results, optimization of system design parameters and identifying optimized triggering instant of the second stage. For the given parameters of the developed experimental prototype, highest recorded velocity was 25 m/s; which is significantly higher than recently reported results for a fixed design of a capacitor driven coilgun.

Ahmed L. Elrefai graduated in June 2011 from Electric Power and Machines department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt. In July 2013, he received the M.Sc. degree in Power Electronics from the same department, where he is currently appointed as an assistant lecturer.