IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 41, NO.

5, MAY 2013 1145

Research on a Slide-Contact Type Linear

Electromagnetic Catapult
Keyi Zhao, Zhiyuan Li, Bin Lei, Xiaomin Li, Huilai Li, Gang Wang, and Qian Zhang

Abstract— A slide-contact type linear electromagnetic catapult Fed rail 1

(SCLEMC) is investigated in this paper. The structure model of
SCLEMC is proposed and its working principle and commutation
process are analyzed. The thrust model of the SCLEMC is pre- Brush 1 Brush 2
sented. The thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC is researched PM 1 PM 2
by means of the method of finite element analysis. The influences
of the driving current and the gap between the mover and the
stator on the thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC are analyzed.
Research shows that the scheme of the SCLEMC is feasible and Stator core Stator winding
that the SCLEMC has high efficiency. The commutation process
r Z
can be automatically realized through three brushes, which can
O
avoid the complex drive and control system. The commutation Permanent magnet Brush 3 Mover core
voltage of commutation turns is not high under the condition
of low speed, which does not damage the stator winding and
the brushes. The value of the driving current has an important
influence on the thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC. The thrust
acting on the mover increases with the increase of driving current. Fed
rail 2
Index Terms— Commutation analysis, slide-contact type linear
electromagnetic catapult (SCLEMC), structure model, thrust
characteristic, working principle. Fig. 1. Structure model of an SCLEMC.

I. I NTRODUCTION
the mover and the stator on the thrust characteristic of the
P RESENTLY, the existing electromagnetic catapult mainly
adopts linear induction motor or linear permanent magnet
motor [1]–[4]. Whether the linear induction type electromag-
SCLEMC.

netic catapult or linear permanent magnet type electromagnetic II. S TRUCTURE M ODEL AND W ORKING P RINCIPLE
OF SCLEMC
catapult has three-phase or multi-phase stator windings, the
stator windings are usually installed in the stator slot. These A. Structure Model of an SCLEMC
stator windings are asymmetrical and have side-end effects The structure model of an an SCLEMC is shown in Fig. 1.
because the stator cores have an open structure. As far as the The SCLEMC is composed of the stator, the mover and
permanent magnet motor is concerned, the tooth-slot structure the fed rail. The stator is made up of the stator winding and
brings about the tooth-slot effect and the thrust fluctuation, and the stator core, and the mover is made up of the permanent
its drive and control system are complex [5]–[7]. Considering magnet (PM), the mover core and three brushes. The stator
the above factors, a design scheme of slide-contact type linear and the mover are cylindraceous and the mover is located
electromagnetic catapult (SCLEMC) is provided. outside of the stator. The stator winding is wound on the
The structure model of an SCLEMC is presented. Based stator core. Two annular permanent magnets (PM 1 and PM
on the structure model of SCLEMC, its working principle is 2) and three brushes are installed in the mover core. There
analyzed, including the connection relationship of the stator are two fed rails and they are located on both sides of the
winding, the thrust model and the commutation process. Then mover. The phenomenon of slide-contact not only exists at the
the thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC is investigated by interface between the brush and the fed rail, but also exists at
means of the method of finite element analysis, especially the interface between the brush and the stator winding when
the influences of the driving current and the gap between in the operation process of the SCLEMC.
Manuscript received October 20, 2012; revised January 24, 2013; accepted
February 28, 2013. Date of publication March 27, 2013; date of current version B. Working Principle and Thrust Model of SCLEMC
May 6, 2013.
The authors are with the Shijiazhuang Mechanical Engineering College, The axial electromagnetic thrust on the mover is mainly the
Shijiazhuang 050003, China (e-mail: [email protected]). result of the interaction between a magnetic field produced
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. by the PM and the driving current in the stator winding.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPS.2013.2251362 Therefore, it is necessary to properly adjust the direction of the
0093-3813/$31.00 © 2013 IEEE

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1146 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 41, NO. 5, MAY 2013

γ3 (r ) = I0 (mr1 )K 1 (mr ) + I1 (mr )K 0 (mr1 ) (6)

F0 = h m Br /μr (7)

Winding 13 Winding 23 where R1 is the inner radius of PM, τm is the axial length of
PM, τ is the polar distance, h m is the radial thickness of PM,
Br is the radial magnetic flux of PM, μr is relative magnetic
Fig. 2. Connection relationship of winding 13 and winding 23. permeability, I0 () and K 0 () are the first kind and the second
kind of zero order changed form Bassel function, respectively,
I1 () and K 1 () are the first kind and the second kind of one
driving current in the stator windings and the magnetization
order changed form Bassel function, respectively. Therefore,
direction of the PM.
the electromagnetic thrust acting on the mover can be obtained
The directions of the driving current in the stator winding
according to (1). This is the theoretical basis of calculating the
can be seen from Fig. 1. Driving current flows into the
electromagnetic thrust acting on the mover.
stator winding via brush 1 and brush 2 and flows out the
When winding 13 and winding 23 are fed by the driving cur-
stator winding via brush 3. Only the stator winding between
rent, the mover will be accelerated. Winding 13 and winding
brush 1 and brush 2 is fed in the operation process of the
23 will continuously change with the movement of the mover.
SCLEMC. In order to illuminate the working principle of the
Coil turns, which contact brush 3 belong to winding 23, will
SCLEMC, the stator winding between brush 1 and brush 3 is
gradually become coil turns of winding 13. Current commuta-
defined as winding 13, and the stator winding between brush
tion between winding 23 and winding 13 will be completed in
2 and brush 3 is defined as winding 23. Although the wound
the continuously change process of winding 23 and winding
directions of winding 13 and winding 23 are the same, the
13. But the current directions in winding 13 and in winding
driving current directions in winding 13, and in winding 23 are
23 do not change. This results in that the direction of the force
opposite. Connection relationship of winding 13 and winding
on the mover does not change. Therefore, automatic current
23 is shown in Fig. 2.
commutation between winding 23 and winding 13 is realized
According to the driving current directions in winding 13
through the slide-contact between three brushes and the stator
and in winding 23, in Fig. 1, the electromagnetic thrust acting
winding, which makes it possible to avoid the complex drive
on the mover will be in the right direction if PM 1 and
and control system.
PM 2 are magnetized in the radial inward direction and in the
Under the condition that the driving current is invariable, the
radial outward direction, respectively. SCLEMC has not tooth-
electromagnetic force acting on the mover will keep constant,
slot structure because the stator winding is a long continuous
which avails to accelerate the mover uniformly. When the
coil. This can effectively avoid the thrust fluctuation caused
current direction in the stator winding changes, the direction
by tooth-slot effect. The electromagnetic thrust acting on the
of the electromagnetic force acting on the mover will change
mover equals the axial electromagnetic force acting on the sta-
accordingly. Therefore, it is easy to change the direction of
tor, but their acting directions are opposite. So, electromagnetic
electromagnetic force acting on the mover, which avails to the
thrust acting on the mover can be obtained through calculating
brake of the mover and the mover’s replacement.
the axial electromagnetic force acting on the stator. Referring
to [8] and [9], the axial electromagnetic force acting on the
stator can be written as C. Commutation Analysis
 2
lwinding
A coil turn contacting the brush is called the commuta-
F =2 2πr J Br (r, z)dr dz (1) tion turn. As far as the commutation turns are concerned,
0 r1 the current in the commutation turn will suffer the quick
change. Here, the driving current in winding 13 is defined
where lwinding is the axial length of winding 13 or winding 23,
+i , and the driving current in winding 23 is defined −i
r1 and r2 are the inner radius and the outer radius of the stator
considering the opposite current direction in winding 13 and
winding, respectively, J is current density, Br (r, z) is the radial
in winding 23. The inductance of the commutation turn is
magnetic flux of gap, r denotes the radial coordinate, z denotes
L. The current in the commutation turn contacting brush 2
the axial coordinate and is along the axial line of SCLEMC.
(commutation turn 2) changes from 0 to −i in commuta-
The coordinate origin is located on point O in Fig. 1. Reference
tion process. The current in the commutation turn contact-
[9] shows the obtaining method of Br (r, z) and Br (r, z) can
ing brush 1 (commutation turn 1) is changes +i to 0 in
be expressed as
commutation process. The current in the commutation turn
∞
 μ0 m Fm contacting brush 3 (commutation turn 3) changes from −i
Br (r, z) = γ3 (r ) sin(mz) (2) to +i in commutation process. The voltage of commutation
γ1
n=1 turn 1, commutation turn 2, and commutation turn 3 can be
where μ0 is magnetic permeability of vacuum expressed as
m = (2n − 1)π/τ, n = 1, 2, . . . (3) 
 mτ  U1 = L(di dt) (8)
m 
Fm = 4F0 sin (mτ ) (4) U2 = −L(di dt) (9)
2 
γ1 = I0 (mr1 )K 0 (m R1 ) − I0 (m R1 )K 0 (mr1 ) (5) U3 = 2L(di dt). (10)

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ZHAO et al.: RESEARCH ON SCLEMC 1147

30
Commutation voltage (V) 25 U1
20 U2
15 U3 Winding 23 PM2
10
5 Solved region
0 Winding 13 PM1
-5 Stator core Mover core
-10
-15
0 500 1000 1500 Fig. 4. Simulation Model of SCLEMC.
Driving current (A)

Fig. 3. Curves of commutation voltage versus driving current. research on thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC. The
limitation of the method is that it cannot present the
moving information of the mover directly.
If the speed of the mover is 50 m/s and the axial length of 2) Ignore the influences of the brushes and the fed rails on
commutation turn is 10 mm, the commutation time is 0.2 ms. the thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC. The SCLEMC
Here, let L = 1.8 μH. The commutation voltage can be satisfies the condition of axial symmetry because the
calculated according to (8), (9), and (10). The relationships stator and the mover are cylindraceous. So, a 2-D plane
of the commutation voltage versus the driving current i for model can be employed for the simulation of SCLEMC.
commutation turn 1, commutation turn 2, and commutation
turn 3 are shown in Fig. 3.
From Fig. 3, it can be seen that commutation voltage lin- B. Simulation Model and Parameters
early increases with the driving current. Commutation voltage Based on the above assumptions, the simulation model of
of commutation turn 3 is the double of that of commutation the SCLEMC is shown in Fig. 4. z-axis is the symmetry axis
turn 1 or commutation turn 2. Therefore, the current com- of the simulative model of SCLEMC. The mover moves in the
mutation of commutation turn 3 is more difficult than that positive direction of z-axis in the working process.
of commutation turn 1 and commutation turn 2. Considering The main parameters of the SCLEMC are the axial length
SCLEMC working under the condition of low speed (about and the radial thickness of PM, the axial length and the radial
several ten m/s), commutation voltage is not high. The slide- thickness of the stator windings, and the radial gap between
contact with low speed does not damage the stator winding the stator and the mover. The axial length and the radial
and the brush. Therefore, the scheme of SCLEMC is feasible. thickness of PM are 80 and 10 mm, respectively. The axial
In addition, commutation time will decrease and commutation length and the radial thickness of winding 13 and winding 23
voltage will increase with the speed increase of the mover. The are 110 and 6 mm, respectively. The radial gap changes from
commutation voltage may be high enough under the conditions 4 to 5 mm. Radial thickness of the stator core and the mover
of high speed with several hundred m/s and of high driving core is 10 mm. The inner radius of the stator core is 50 mm.
current to damage the stator winding and the brush. This is The axial distance between PM 1 and PM 2 is 20 mm. The
the main limitation of SCLEMC. turn numbers of winding 13 or winding 23 are 16.
Copper is assigned to winding 13 and winding 23, NdFeB30
III. T HRUST C HARACTERISTIC A NALYSIS OF SCLEMC is assigned to PM 1 and PM 2. The magnetization directions
of PM 1 and PM 2 are in the radial inward direction and in the
The thrust characteristic is an important index to evaluate radial outward direction, respectively. Steel_1008 is assigned
the performance of SCLEMC. So, the thrust characteristic of to the stator core and the mover core.
the SCLEMC is investigated.

C. Simulation Results and its Analysis

A. Some Assumptions
The thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC is related with
In order to conveniently investigate the thrust characteristic many factors, such as the driving current, the gap, and the
of SCLEMC, some assumptions are made. structure parameters. Electromagnetic thrust force acting on
1) Ignore the influences of dynamic process of current the mover is calculated through finite element analysis method.
commutation on the performance of the SCLEMC and The thrust characteristic of the SCLEMC mainly depends on
presume that SCLEMC operates under the condition of the driving current and the gap when its structure parameters
the constant driving current considering the axial length are fixed. Therefore, the influences of the driving current
of winding 13 and winding 23 keep constant in the and the gap on thrust characteristics of the SCLEMC are
accelerative process of the mover. Therefore, the method investigated. Thrust force curves of the SCLEMC versus the
of static magnetic field analysis can be adopted for the driving current and the gap are shown in Fig. 5.

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1148 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 41, NO. 5, MAY 2013

3000 the driving current, the decrease of the gap and the increase
the axial length of the PM, and winding 13 or winding 23 in
2500 the design process of SCLEMC.
Thrust (N)

2000 The mover core enveloping PM and the stator winding

in nonwork state are exposed in the air, which helps the
1500 thermal diffusion and mitigates the temperature rise of the
1000 gap=4mm SCLEMC. If the working temperature does not reach the
gap=5mm critical temperature of PM and if the magnetic field intensity
500 does not reach the critical magnetic field intensity that can
0 cause the demagnetization of PM, SCLEMC works well.
When the constant driving current is fed into the stator
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Driving current (A) winding, the maximum temperature will appear on the initial
parts of the stator winding. Coil turns that belong to winding
Fig. 5. Thrust curves versus driving current and gap.
23 will gradually become coil turns of winding 13 in the work-
ing process of the SCLEMC. This will cause the electrified
time of winding 13 to be relatively longer than that of winding
From Fig. 5, it can be seen that the thrust force acting on
23 and also cause that the temperature rise of winding 13 to
the mover increases with the increase of the driving current.
be slightly higher than that of winding 23. If the initial driving
But the increase value of thrust force become small with the
current in winding 13 or in winding 23 is 1000 A and lwinding
increase of the driving current. The main reason resulting in
is 110 mm, the electrified times of the initial part of winding
the phenomenon is that the mover core and the stator core
13 and of winding 23 are 135 and 95 ms, respectively. The
have entered into magnetic saturation. In addition, the thrust
mass of winding 13 or winding 23 is 2.324 kg. According to
force on the mover slightly increases when the gap changes
the above parameter values, the maximum temperature rise of
from 5 to 4 mm.
winding 13 is about 0.39° and the maximum temperature rise
of winding 23 is about 0.27° in the single working process of
D. Some Issues and Discussions SCLEMC.
From Fig. 5, it can be known that the thrust acting on the The influence of the temperature T on the pure copper
mover is about 2.426 kN when the driving current in winding resistivity ρ can be expressed as [11]
13 or in winding 23 is 1000 A. The input voltage of the
ρ(T ) = −3.41 × 10−9 + 7.2 × 10−11 T. (11)
SCLEMC, which is the voltage exerted from the ends of fed
rail 1 and fed rail 2, approximately equals the sum of the It can be seen that there is a slight influence of the tempera-
voltage drop of winding 13, the voltage drop of commutation ture on the copper resistivity according to (11). Obviously, the
turn 1 and commutation turn 3, and the voltage drop of the temperature rise of the stator winding has little influence on
contact resistance. If the resistance of winding 13 or winding its resistance because the temperature rise of winding 13 and
23 is 2.6 m, the voltage drop of winding 13 is about 2.6 V. winding 23 is very small. Therefore, there is little influence
According to the aforementioned results, the voltage drops of the resistance changes due to the temperature rise on the
of commutation turn 1 and commutation turn 3 are 9 V and driving current distributions of winding 13 and of winding 23.
18 V, respectively. The voltage drop of the contact resistance
is about 20 V. The input voltage can be obtained and its IV. C ONCLUSION
value is about 49.6 V. If the total launched mass is 100 kg, The scheme of an SCLEMC was feasible and the SCLEMC
the acceleration is about 24.26 m/s2 . The accelerative time is had high efficiency. The SCLEMC was able avoid the complex
about 2.06 s when the speed of the mover reaches 50 m/s. driving and control system through the manner of the brush’s
The input energy is about 204.35 kJ and the obtained kinetic automatic commutation. Low commutation voltage did not
energy of the mover is 125 kJ under the above condition. The damage the brush and the stator winding. In addition, the thrust
efficiency of SCLEMC is about 61.17%. If the voltage drop characteristic of the SCLEMC was mainly related with the
of the contact resistance can be decreased further, the launch driving current. The thrust acting on the mover increased with
efficiency can be enhanced correspondingly. Reference [10] the increase of the driving current, but the increase extent of
points out that the obtained launch efficiency of the helical coil the decreased. The SCLEMC had no tooth-slot structure and
electromagnetic launcher is 32%. Therefore, the efficiency of it avoids the thrust fluctuation caused by tooth-slot effect. The
SCLEMC is higher than that of the helical coil electromagnetic thrust on the mover kept constant when the driving current
launcher. The reason of SCLEMC with high efficiency is that was invariable, which helped to accelerate the load uniformly.
a portion of the stator winding is fed by the driving current
and that the synchronization between the propelling field due R EFERENCES
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