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A Compulsator Driven Reluctance Coilgun-Type
Electromagnetic Launcher
Bofeng Zhu, Junyong Lu, Jie Wang, and Shicheng Xiong
Abstract— Reluctance coilgun (RCG) is a special coilgun which
uses solid ferromagnetic material instead of induction coil as
projectile. RCG has shown great advantages and potential in
the application of antiterrorism weaponry due to its simplicity,
reliability, and excellent controllability. As a compact lightweight
pulsed-power supply (PPS), the compensated pulsed alternator
(Compulsator) will play a key role in promoting this kind of
electromagnetic weapon into practical applications. Focused on
a specific RCG which has conductive rails and brushes, this
paper deduced the electromagnetic force analytical formula by
using the virtual displacement principle and researched the
feasibility of the electromagnetic launch design scheme which
uses compulsator as the PPS of the RCG system by co-simulation
method. Finally, this paper finished tests of the system by taking
advantages of a small demonstrative RCG and a scale-model
prototype of the compulsator. The results indicate that the design
scheme is completely feasible.
Index Terms— Compulsator, electromagnetic launch (EML),
pulsed-power supply (PPS), reluctance coilgun (RCG).
I. I NTRODUCTION
C OMPARED with railgun, coilgun has no sliding electri-
cal contact, arc, and erosion, thus it has higher efficiency
and reusability and is suitable for launching large-to-massive
and low-velocity projectiles. Coilgun mainly contains two
types, reluctance coilgun (RCG) and induction coilgun. The
biggest difference between RCG and induction coilgun is
whether the projectile is a solid ferromagnetic material or an
induction coil. For RCG, the electrical transformation only
occurs at the stator, so there is almost no eddy current in
the projectile. Thus, its energy conversion efficiency is higher
than the inductance coilgun. However, the nonlinear magnetic
permeability of ferromagnetic material projectile leads to the
complexity of inductance calculation. Actually, the inductance
of RCG is a function of both current and position which
all change dramatically with time. Fortunately, the induc-
tance can be calculated precisely by means of numerical
Manuscript received June 28, 2016; revised February 24, 2017,
June 9, 2017, and July 3, 2017; accepted July 17, 2017. This work was
supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under
Grant 51522706, Grant 51407191, Grant 51307176, and Grant 51607187, and
in part by the National Key Basic Research Program 973 Project of China
under Grant 613262. The review of this paper was arranged by Senior Editor
W. Jiang. (Corresponding author: Junyong Lu.)
The authors are with the National Key Laboratory of Science and
Technology on Vessel Integrated Power System, Naval University of
Engineering, Wuhan 430033, China (e-mail: zhubofeng1990@163.com;
jylu@xinhuanet.com; greatpotatowj@163.com; xsc812105189@gmail.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPS.2017.2731624
0093-3813 © 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
1
analysis methods. Similar to the synchronous motor, RCG has
perfect controllability.
Compact and lightweight pulsed-power supply (PPS) is a
key technology which still restricts the application of some
new concept weapons based on EML principle. Because of
high-energy storage density and output power density, com-
pulsator is treated as a very potential choice of PPS for EML
system [1], [2]. In the last three to four decades, the University
of Texas has conducted extensive studies in this technical field
and has made great achievements [3]–[7]. Compulsator has
been applied into the electromagnetic railgun system as PPS
successfully [8].
Coilgun has two different power sources: capacitor
banks [9]–[14] and pulsed alternator [15]–[19]. Refer-
ence [9] and [10] considered an induction coilgun driven by
capacitors. Reference [11]–[14] considered an RCG driven
by capacitors. Reference [15] proposed an induction coil-
gun driven by pulsed alternator for the first time. Refer-
ence [16]–[19] studied an induction coilgun driven by pulsed
alternator later.
This paper proposed a different EML system which consists
of a RCG and a compulsator. First, an approximate analyti-
cal formula was deduced to illustrate the basic principle of
the system. Second, an electromagnetic field-circuit coupling
co-simulation model of the system was established and ana-
lyzed by using the finite-element method in order to verify the
feasibility of the design scheme. Furthermore, the experimen-
tal study was done by taking advantage of a practical EML
system which is based on a special demonstrative RCG and
a scale-model prototype of the permanent magnetic passive
compulsator [20], [21].
II. P RINCIPLE OF THE S TUDIED EML S YSTEM
An RCG usually contains a multistage spiral driving coil,
a ferromagnetic projectile, and a barrel. At the exact moment
when the moving projectile begins to enter one stage of the
driving coil, the corresponding switch is closed immediately.
Thus, the driving coil has got the pulse current supply. Then,
the magnetic flux flows through the center of the driving
coil. After the entering of the projectile, the ferromagnetic
material reduces reluctance of magnetic circuit around the
coil obviously. The reluctance achieves its minimum value at
the middle point of driving coil. Similar to a stepping motor,
the projectile will move toward the direction where minimum
reluctance occurs. However, when the projectile moves across
the middle point of the driving coil, the inversion of the
magnetic field polarity generated by the magnetized projectile
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2 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE

leads to the inversion of the electromagnetic force. Then the

mutual attractive force will begin to hinder the movement of
the projectile. For this consideration, the pulse current must
decay to zero as quickly as possible at this time. Generally,
the projectile will meet the designed muzzle velocity after
acceleration by the multistage driving coil.
The following part will deduce an approximate calcula-
tion formula of the electromagnetic force and describes the Fig. 1. Diagrammatic sketch of the virtual displacement.
basic principle of the studied RCG-compulsator EML sys-
tem, including the introduction of the RCG and compulsator,
respectively.
A. Modeling of the Electromagnetic Force
Three main forces including electromagnetic force, fric-
tional force, and air resistance will work, respectively, on the
projectile of RCG during the launching process. Normally, the Fig. 2. Diagrammatic sketch of the special RCG.
electromagnetic force has the maximum magnitude compared
with the others. In the kinematics modeling of an EML
system, electromagnetic force can be obtained by using the For Section I, the magnetic medium changes from air to
virtual displacement principle which calculates the derivative ferromagnetic material after a single virtual displacement.
of the magnetic energy versus relative position. This method Inverse circumstances occurred in Section II. According to (1),
relies on precise calculation of the total magnetic energy. For variation of the magnetic energy is
electromagnetic railgun, magnetic energy is a simple function 
of inductance and current, thus the electromagnetic force can Wm = [(μ − μ0 )(H12 − H22)] · d V. (3)
be represented as a function of inductance gradient and current V
conveniently. Nevertheless, the inductance of the RCG is
Furthermore, the electromagnetic force can be obtained by
nonlinear and changes with both current and relative position.
calculating the derivative of (3)
Although the exact analytical solution is difficult to obtain,
an alternative approximate formula maybe found by using the dWm 1
Fm = = (μ − μ0 ) · (H12 − H22) · A. (4)
very original definition of magnetic energy dx 2
1 1 1 2 It should be noted that magnetic field near the end of the
wm = B · H = μH 2 = B (1)
2 2 2μ driving coil will become smaller gradually. Equation (4) will
where wm is magnetic energy in per unit volume or magnetic only be suitable for the circumstances that the positions where
energy density. B is magnetic flux density, H is magnetic field magnetic field intensity needs to be calculated are inside the
intensity, and μ is permeability of the medium. coil. Magnetic field intensity at a relatively far position outside
Assuming that the length of driving coil is significantly the driving coil may be neglected.
greater than radius and the coil conductor is sufficiently The final expression for the electromagnetic force is
thin, then the driving coil can be treated as a current-carrier ⎛ ⎞2
solenoid. Therefore, the magnetic field intensity on axis is l − x x
Fm = Ci 2 · ⎝  ⎠
1 1
  +
1 l−x x (l − x 1 )2 + R 2 x1 + R2
2
H = ni  +√ (2)
2 (l − x)2 + R 2 x 2 + R2 ⎛ ⎞2
l − x x
− Ci 2 · ⎝  ⎠ (5)
2 2
where n is the number of turns per unit length,l is the length +
of the driving coil, i is current, x is relative position, and R is (l − x 2 )2 + R 2 x2 + R
2 2
the radius of driving coil.
Calculation of the total magnetic energy needs vol- where C represents a constant, its value is
ume integration throughout the whole magnetic field space. 1
Equation (2) is not enough to complete the task. Fortunately, (μ − μ0 )A · n 2 .
C= (6)
8
only the variation of the magnetic energy after moving one For the special RCG studied in this paper, the brushes on the
virtual displacement will be needed to calculate the electro- projectile (as shown in Fig. 2) cause the actual “driving coil” to
magnetic force. Furthermore, it has been proven by the Abe move forward together with the projectile. Thus, the reluctance
loop theorem that magnetic field intensity near the middle of magnetic circuit around the driving coil can be assumed to
of a current-carrier solenoid is uniform and shares the same be constant if the B–H curve of ferromagnetic projectile is
direction with the magnetic field intensity on axis. Analysis idealized as “piecewise linear B–H curve” [22]. According
above is an important prerequisite to solve the electromagnetic to [23], the reluctance described here can be calculated by
force.
A single virtual displacement of the projectile can be 4g
R= (7)
illustrated as Fig. 1. μ0 πd p
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ZHU et al.: COMPULSATOR DRIVEN RCG-TYPE EML 3

where g is width of gap, d is diameter of coil, p is length of

projectile, and μ0 is permeability of space.
Further, the relationship between reluctance, magnetic flux

Ni = R (8)

where Ni is magnetmotive force (amp turns) in the coil and

 is total magnetic flux.
Then, the static inductance can be obtained from the calcu-
lation formulas of magnetic field energy


L s = 2/i · 2
Ni d. (9) Fig. 3. Electromagnetic force curves under typical current levels.
0

Formula for inductance (9) is applicable only to the station-

ary states of ferromagnetic projectiles, alternatively it must be
dynamic inductance

dψ 2i Wm − 2Wm i
Ld = = . (10)
di i 2 i
As a practical matter, result of formula (9) and formula (10)
is inaccurate due to the flux leakage and the simplification
of nonlinearity. Researchers always resort to finite-element
method to calculate the inductance accurately [23].

B. Characteristics of the Reluctance Coilgun to be Studied

The RCG which will be studied by methods of simulation
and experiment in this paper contains special guide rails and Fig. 4. Fundamental topology of the compulsator.
brushes, as shown in Fig. 2.
When the discharging silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) is TABLE I
closed, the pulse current flows through left rail, brush A, E LECTROMECHANICAL PARAMETERS
driving coil, brush B, and right rail immediately. This partic-
ular design allows the brushes on the projectile to move with
the projectile itself. Since the brushes can connect the guide
rails and the driving coil at the same time, the “energized coil”
(red) moves with the projectile too. In other words, the relative
position between the projectile and the practical driving coil
will always be the same.
Obviously, the structure of this RCG shown in Fig. 2 must
have been carefully designed. It has some significant advan-
tages due to its special structure which is different from a
normal RCG. In order to illustrate this design idea, first, this
paper studied the changing rule of the electromagnetic force C. Characteristics of the Compulsator to be Studied
with current and position of a normal RCG by calculating
the variation curves of electromagnetic force under some The PPS of the RCG system which will be researched by
deliberately selected current. Other structure and physical means of both simulation and experiment later in this paper
parameters are taken from a real RCG shown in Fig. 8. The is an outer-rotor type permanent magnet passive compulsator
results are shown in Fig. 3. based on technologies of magnetic suspension bearing and
The family of curves in Fig. 3 indicates that the peak flywheel energy storage. The fundamental topology and some
value of electromagnetic force becomes greater when the key electromechanical parameters are shown in Fig. 4 and
driving current becomes greater, and the relative position of Table I respectively.
the maximum force remains fixed. Thus, the electromagnetic The external rotor design scheme is adopted to improve the
force of projectile can maintain maximum during the whole energy storage density. A uniform compensating cylinder is
launching process through rational design. This is the exact designed to accomplish the task of magnetic flux compression
original design concept of the RCG shown in Fig. 2. and thus reduce the transient inductance of armature in the
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4 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE

Fig. 6. DC-side voltage curves under typical rotating speeds.

Fig. 5. Co-simulation model of the studied EML system.

process of pulse discharge. According to the properly simpli-

fied model in Fig. 4, the rotor mainly consists of a yoke, four
permanent magnets, and a compensating structure.

III. S IMULATION
The actual launching process of the RCG system driven
by compulsator is sophisticated since there exist a cou-
pling of mechanics, electricity, magnetics, heat transfer, etc.
A co-simulation method is used to estimate the performance
of this kind of electromagnetic launcher (EML) by taking
advantage of Simplorer and Maxwell. Fig. 7. Pulse current curves under typical rotating speeds.

A. Co-Simulation Model
The equivalent circuit of RCG and the magnetic field
FEM model of the compulsator were established in Simplorer
and Maxwell, respectively. During the calculating process of
simulation, circuit model in Simplorer can call for electrical
parameters of the PPS which have been calculated almost
simultaneously in Maxwell. In this way, the intermediate
variables such as phase voltage, inner resistance, and inner
inductance will be more real time and accurate. Naturally,
the co-simulation method will produce more reliable results.
The discharging main circuit mainly contains two rectifier
bridges, a capacitor filter, a controllable SCR switch, an equiv-
alent load, and a freewheeling device. The final result of the
co-simulation model is shown in Fig. 5.
B. Analysis of the Simulation Results
Relying on the simulation model established previously,
this paper studied different launching performances of the
RCG system driven by compulsator under four typical rotating
speeds. The initial time when simulation began was defined
as the exact time point when SCR was triggered. The main
circuit was disconnected 10 ms later to keep in line with the
actual situation. The total simulation time was set as 20 ms in
order to observe the freewheeling process of the pulse current
clearly.
The dc-side voltage curves of the rectifier bridge and the
discharging pulse current curves of the system under increas-
ing rotating speeds are shown in Figs. 6 and 7, respectively.
Fig. 6 indicates that the voltage rose to a relatively high
peak in a very short period of time after the SCR was
triggered, and then fluctuated within a narrow range due to the
voltage stabilizing effect produced by the filter capacitor. The
fluctuation frequency is directly related to the rotating speed.
Actually, higher rotating speed leads to greater frequency.
The voltage moved to a constant gradually after the main
circuit was disconnected. Theoretically, this constant equals
the terminal voltage peak of the compulsator.
Fig. 7 indicates that the peak of the pulse current pro-
vided by the compulsator can rise up to 17.5 kA under the
design rotating speed (12 000 rpm). Obviously, higher rotating
speed leads to better flat-top current wave and shorter rising
time. Assuming that the pulse current width can be designed
to be almost invariant, the projectile will surely obtain a
more uniform acceleration, and a greater muzzle velocity
under a relatively high rotating speed (barrel length remains
unchanged).
In summary, the simulation results prove that the system
design scheme in which a compulsator is chosen to serve as
the PPS of the RCG system is feasible. With the outstanding
characteristics of compact, lightweight and high output power,
compulsator has a great advantage not only in driving railgun-
type EML devices but also in driving coilgun-type EML
devices.
IV. E XPERIMENT
In order to provide some more convincing evidence, this
paper designed, built, and tested an EML experimental system
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ZHU et al.: COMPULSATOR DRIVEN RCG-TYPE EML
Fig. 8. Tested demonstrative RCG.
Fig. 9. PPS based on the compulsator.
based on a small demonstrative RCG and a scale-model
compulsator prototype.
A. Brief Introduction of the Coilgun
The RCG shown in Fig. 8 is a material object corresponding
to Fig. 2. The gun is fixed on the desktop to eliminate the
effects of recoil. Before launching, the projectile should be
installed at the initial end of the barrel. The cube box filled
with elastic material in Fig. 8 plays a role in blocking the
projectile by absorbing kinetic energy.
B. Brief Introduction of the Compulsator
The compulsator shown in Fig. 9 is a material object
corresponding to Fig. 4 whose fundamental topology mainly
contains two pairs of magnetic poles, and a two-phase orthog-
onal distributed armature winding. Thus, the electric cycle is
two times of the mechanical cycle and the voltage signals of
the two phases have 90° difference.
The whole PPS can be roughly divided into five relatively
independent subsystems which include the magnetic bearings
systems, the pulsed alternator (main body), the motor driving
system, the rectifier circuit, and the discharging control sys-
tem. The overall system and rectifying devices are shown
in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively.
5
Fig. 10. Rectifier bridges and filter capacitors.
Fig. 11. Schematic of the discharging main circuit.
C. Design of the Discharging Main Circuit
1) Fundamental Principle of the Discharging Main Circuit:
According to the fundamental principle of general electromag-
netic weapons, pulse current with approximate flat-top wave is
more beneficial for the projectile to get a uniform acceleration
and then higher muzzle velocity. Nevertheless, the design
rotating speed of advanced compulsator with high-energy
storage density is usually so high that the electrical cycle
is very limited. This feature will surely restrict the width of
pulse current. In engineering practice, a method which triggers
the multiphase by a certain sequence is usually adopted to
solve this contradiction. In this paper, the technology of power
electronics rectifier can be applied due to the relatively low-
voltage peak and frequency. Schematic of the discharging main
circuit is shown in Fig. 11.
First, the alternating voltage of Phases A and B are con-
verted by the H bridge rectifier and large electrolytic capacitor
filter. Then, the obtained dc voltage with small fluctuation
is applied on the resistance–inductance-type load through a
SCR switch. Fuse1 will protect the compulsator from ablation
damage in case that the projectile is blocked in the barrel
(short circuit). Resistance R1 nwill limit excessive charging
current flowing into the capacitor C1 . Before launch, R1 must
be shorted by S1 in order to reduce resistance of the discharge
circuit. Fuse2 and arrester (varistor) serve as absorbing branch
to eliminate the instantaneous surge voltage. R2 and C2 in
parallel connection with the SCR can prevent false triggering.
The reversed power diode D1 provide a freewheeling branch
for the pulse current in driving coil.
2) Parameters Calculation of the Rectifier Diode: The most
important parameters of the rectifier diode are the average
on-state current IAV and the reversed withstand voltage VRRM .
DC-side average voltage Ud of a full bridge rectifier is
2
Um Ud = (11)
π
where Um is peak voltage of compulsator.
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6 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE

Because the inductance of RCG is large enough, the average TABLE II

value of the load current approximately equals to the effective I NITIAL S ETUP PARAMETERS
value. Furthermore, the current duration of a single diode is
half of the current duration of load. Therefore, the average
on-state current IAV is
√
2 2 1 2Ud
IAV = · I R = · √ Id = (12)
π π 2 π Rload
where I R is the effective value of load current, Id is the average
value of load current, and Rload is the resistance of load.
According to the previous experimental data, when the
compulsator is accelerated to 3000 rpm, the terminal voltage
peak is approximately100 V, the electrical angular velocity
is 628.3(ω = 2π f ), and the total inductance and resistance
of the discharging circuit are 40 μH and 40 m, respectively.
Then, the calculated IAV equals 716.4 A.
The reversed withstand voltage VRRM should be larger
than the terminal voltage peak and have sufficient allowance.
Generally, the VRRM can be determined by (13)
VRRM = (2 ∼ 3)Um . (13)
3) Design of the Filter Capacitor and Current Limiting
Resistor: The filter capacitor should meet the requirements
of the voltage fluctuating factor
1
S= 4Rload C
(14)
T −1 Fig. 12. Monitored data of the first experiment.
where T is the period of the alternating voltage and C is the
capacity.
In order to obtain sufficient good filtering effect, capacity resistive load at low rotating speed, replacing the resistive load
of the filter capacitor needs to satisfy Rload C = (3 ∼ 5)T /2. with the studied RCG and pushing the projectile to its initial
Thus, the chosen capacity should be in the range position, accelerating the outer rotor to experimental predeter-
of 3000–5000 μF. mined rotating speed, and finishing the test by controlling the
At the very beginning of charging process, the terminal SCR switch precisely.
voltage of compulsator is applied to the two ends of filter The experiments launched a projectile weighing 300 g twice
capacitor where the reverse voltage is almost zero. Since the in total successfully. Since the second experiment replaced the
internal resistance of capacitor is very small, the initial current cable whose resistance is excessive high, polished the surface
flowing into the capacitor is excessively high and endangers of brushes and improved the connection mode, performance
the safety. Thus, a current limiting resistor was designed of the EML system was improved compared with the first
as 100  and 100 W. time. Both of the two experiments collected some important
4) Design of the Other Components: An SCR numbered data in real time, including the triggering signal, the dc
by KPA-2600-14 is chosen for the circuit, the calculating voltage of rectifier bridge, and the discharging pulse current.
process is similar to rectifier diode. A resistance–capacitor These data during the two launching processes are shown
absorbing protection branch for the SCR is determined as in Figs. 12 and 13, repectively. In addition, the initial setup
R = 1.25 , C = 4 μF according to previous engineering parameters of the two experiments are listed in Table II.
experience. Choice of the fuse is based on the melting time In Figs.12 and 13, the blue curve is the triggering signal,
which can be calculated by using the manufacturers given the red curve is the dc voltage of rectifier, and the green curve
parameters I 2 t. Threshold voltage of the varistor is usually is the discharging pulse current.
twice of the dc voltage and smaller than the VRRM of rectifier The currrent waveform indicates that the pulse current rised
diode. The parameter calculating process of the freewheeling rapidly after the arrival of triggering signal and then fluctuated
diode is similar to rectifier diode. near the peak because of the fluctuation of dc voltage. With
the decline of rotating speed and the erosion of rails, the pulse
current reduced obviously and decaied finally to zero after the
D. Experimental Results Analysis injection of projectile.
The experimental process consists of five steps including The voltage waveform indicates that the output voltage pre-
debugging the magnetic suspension bearing system to prepare sented as a straight line before discharging due to the existence
for charging, confirming whether the driving control system of filter capacitor. During the discharging process, it declined
and discharging control system can work normally by using a sharply to a relatively low level first, and then formed an
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ZHU et al.: COMPULSATOR DRIVEN RCG-TYPE EML 7

TABLE III
E XPERIMENTAL D ATA

DC voltage data in Fig. 14 shows that the electrical period

before discharging is 21.76 ms which corresponding to an
Fig. 13. Monitored data of the second experimant. actual rotating speed of 1378.68 rpm (voltage cycle has a quan-
titative relationship with the speed). The electrical period after
discharging is 22 ms which corresponding to an actual rotating
speed of 1363.64 rpm. Induced voltage data in Fig. 15 show
that the pulse current has a peak of 744 Amps and a width
of 65 ms (the ratio of the sensor is 2 A/mV). Pulse current
width of the second experiment is shorter than the first time
because the acceleration time in the same barrel will decline
when the current and force increase. For simplicity, the muzzle
velocity of projectile was estimated by its flight path and
landing point. Vertical distance between the coilgun muzzle
and the landing point is 0.03 m, horizontal distance between
the coilgun muzzle and the landing point is 1.55 m. Thus,
the muzzle velocity of the projectile is 19.81 m/s.
The muzzle kinetic energy can be calculated by using
muzzle velocity and mass of the projectile. The total energy
Fig. 14. DC-voltage curve of the rectifier.
consumption can be calculated by using rotational inertia
and rotating speed before and after the discharge. Then,
the efficiency of the EML can be calculated by
1 2
 2 mv
η=
2 
2  (15)
Fig. 15. Induced voltage curve of the Rogowski coil.
approximately stable cyclical fluctuation. The reason for the
voltage drop is that the inner resistance of the compulsator
cannot be neglected compared with the resistance of coilgun
load. And the fluctuation is related to rectification and filtering
of the ac voltage.
For further analysis, data reserved by oscilloscope in the
second experiment were exported since it is more convincing
due to the better performance, as shown in Figs. 14 and 15.
2πn 1 2πn 2
1
2J 60 − 60
where m is the mass of the projectile, vis the muzzle velocity,
J is rotational inertia, n 1 , n 2 are rotating speed before and after
discharge, and η is the efficiency which increased from 3.25%
to 9.93% through the improvement of discharging circuit.
Specific experimental data is shown in Table III.
The results indicate that efficiencies of the twice experi-
ments are relatively low because of the excessive high resis-
tance of main circuit. What makes the compulsator a real
PPS is exactly the application of magnetic flux compression
principle which reduces the impedance of armature during
discharge. For this consideration, resistance and inductance
reduction methods must be treated as important ways to
improve the performance of EML system.
V. C ONCLUSION
This paper focused on the study of an EML system which
consists of a RCG and a compulsator. First, the second quarter
described the fundamental principle of the system and deduced
a simplified analytical formula of the electromagnetic force.
Second, the third quarter predicated the launching performance
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8 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE
by using a co-simulation method. Finally, the fourth quarter
set up an experimental platform of the EML system based
on a small demonstrative RCG and a prototype of passive
compulsator.
In both of the twice experiments, a ferromagnetic pro-
jectile weighing 300 g was accelerated to a relatively high
muzzle velocity successfully. The experiments verified the
excellent capability of compulsator in driving typical electro-
magnetic weapons and the feasibility of design scheme of the
RCG system.
The main innovation of this paper is to apply the compul-
sator to RCG, which is different from the previous research
on generator used in induction coilgun. The research results in
this paper plays a promoting role in broadening the application
fields of compulsator and provides a valuable reference for the
PPS selection decision of the RCG system.
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Bofeng Zhu was born in Xianyang, China.
He received the B.S. degree in flight vehicle propul-
sion engineering from Beihang University, Beijing,
China, in 2013, and the M.S. degree in weapon
system and utilization engineering from the National
University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China,
in 2015. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree
with the Key Laboratory for Vessel Integrated Power
System Technology, Naval University of Engineer-
ing, Wuhan, China.
His current research interests include the electro-
magnetic design of the compulsator and compact lightweight pulsed-power
supply.
Junyong Lu was born in Ezhou, China. He received
the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the
Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan, China, in
2001, the M.S. degree from Xi’an Jiaotong Univer-
sity, Xi’an, China, in 2004, and the Ph.D. degree
from the Naval University of Engineering, in 2010.
He is currently a Professor with the National Key
Laboratory for Vessel Integrated Power System
Technology, Wuhan. He is also the Chief Scientist
of the National Defense Key Basic Research
Program of China (973 Program). His current
research interests include electromagnetic launch, energy storage, electrical
devices, linear electric machine design, and its control.
Dr. Lu received the National Natural Science Funds for Outstanding Young
Scholar in 2015.
Jie Wang was born in Xuanwei, Yunnan, China,
in 1989. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees
from the National University of Defense Technol-
ogy, Hunan, China, in 2011 and 2013, respectively.
He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the
Key Laboratory for Vessel Integrated Power Sys-
tem Technology, Naval University of Engineering,
Wuhan, China.
His current research interests include pulse power
and electromagnetic launch technology.
Shicheng Xiong was born in Wuhan, China.
He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineer-
ing from the Huazhong University of Science and
Technology, Wuhan, in 2011, and the M.S. degree
in control science and engineering from the Naval
University of Engineering, Wuhan, in 2013, where
he is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree with the
Key Laboratory for Vessel Integrated Power System
Technology.
His current research interests include health diag-
nosis and management of electromagnetic launch
system and electrical devices and its control.