Effect of Encapsulation Shell on Launching Performance of Asynchronous Coil Launcher

In order to obtain the impact of the shell on the transmission performance of the asynchronous induction coil launcher (AICL), two kinds of finite element models with and without shell are established to study the influence of which on the launch performance. The displacement and exit velocity of the armature are obtained by simulation. Then, we simulated the shells with different conductivities or different permeabilities and summarized the law of the influence of conductivity and permeability on the armature exit speed. In addition, a 3-D model that is relatively closer to the actual situation is established, and the influence of the shell on the armature speed is simulated and analyzed. Finally, the armature exit velocity was measured experimentally, the launch performances of the shelled and unshelled devices were compared, and the reliability of the simulation results was verified, indicating that the impact of the shell on the launch performance should be considered during the design of the launcher. The results show that the shell affects the distribution of the magnetic field. This article summarizes the influence of the shell material characteristics, including conductivity and permeability on the launch performance, and the impact on the launch performance is ultimately manifested as the drop of the armature exit velocity.