Analysis on the Projectile Speed for Different Initial Voltage and Projectile Position for 6-Stage and 10-Stage Reluctance Accelerators

Abstract

A reluctance accelerator shoots ferromagnetic projectiles through a magnetic field formed by a solenoid’s current pulse. With the aid of discharged current from capacitor banks, ferromagnetic armatures are propelled at a specific velocity. The initial supplied voltage, the number of stage coils in the reluctance accelerator, and the initial projectile starting position are the tested variables this experiment to find their effects on projectile exit velocity and reluctance accelerator efficiency. An experiment was conducted to see if these parameters influenced the projectile exit velocity and efficiency. The maximum value efficiency of the accelerator was found 4.19% with 200 V being supplied at 6-stage coil accelerator and 4.18% with 150 V being supplied at 10-stage coil accelerator. The starting position that produces maximum exit velocity of 48.48 m/s is found at 7.5 mm, 250 V being supplied at 10-stage accelerator. For 6-stage and 10-stage accelerator, the efficiency of the accelerator decreases as the voltage increases. As the voltage and number of stage coil accelerator increase, the speed increases. Generally, the best starting position for the projectile is at range of 3.0 to 17.5 mm according to 80% of maximum speed for both accelerators.