1652 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 43, NO.

5, MAY 2015

Novel Study of the Rail’s Geometry in the

Electromagnetic Launcher
Mohammad Sajjad Bayati and Asghar Keshtkar

Abstract— This paper proposed a railgun with sector of projectile due to magnetic flux density and the current passed
circular rails. The center of the sector of circular rails is located at through the projectile. This force is proportional to L  and
the outside of the railgun bore. The distance between the sectors square of amplitude of the passing current through the rails [1].
of two circles is s, opening angle facing outward θ, the inner
and outer radius are also assumed to be R i and Ro, respectively. To increase the magnetic force without increasing the
The influence of internal curvature of the rails, the rail thickness amplitude of the applied current, L  should be increased.
and the distance between rails on the current density, magnetic L  in a simple railgun [1]–[4] or multiprojectile [5], [6]
flux density, and inductance gradient (L  ) have been studied and is a quantity that is related to the geometry of the railgun
analyzed using finite-element method. First of all, the different bore [7]–[9], rails materials [10], and dimensions [1], [4].
values of θ, s, R i , and Ro are calculated for various values of the
area of the railgun bore (SC ) and cross section of the rails (S R ). In recent years, analyses of railgun using numerical and
The current density, magnetic flux density, and L  have been analytical methods have been reported, some of which are
calculated for different values. The area of the railgun bore is studied along with their results in the following. L  and
assumed to be 9 and 10 cm2 and the area of rails are assumed to current density have been studied for a rectangular railgun
be 9, 6, 3, and 1 cm2 . In next section, L  is found as a function with and without overhang structure. The railgun bore has
of s, R i , and Ro for θ = 90°, 120°, 150°, and 180°. Finally,
L  is compute for rail thickness equals to one-tenth of bore size size equals to 20 mm × 20 mm and copper rails have cross
and θ on the interval [180°, 360°]. According to the achieved section 5 mm × 20 mm. The current density and L  can be
results it can be observed the behavior of L  in terms of railgun changed according to the overhang ratio [11]. L  is calculated
dimensions changes and it is compared with other geometries. by conformal mapping where the skin depth is smaller than
Index Terms— Circular rail, current distribution, any rail dimensions [12]. By investigating the effect of rail
finite-element method (FEM), inductance gradient, railgun. dimensions on L  and current density in a rectangular railgun,
I. I NTRODUCTION it can be found that increasing the distance and reducing the
width of the rail leads to L  increment and thickening of the

A SIMPLE railgun employs two parallel rails on both

sides of an armature. The rails are made of materials
with higher electrical conductivity. Passing the current with
rail leads to L  decrement [1]. The self and mutual L  have
been computed for the circular with a pair of augmenting
rails, rectangular with one and two pairs augmenting rails
large amplitude through the cross section of rails, the vertical using finite-element method (FEM). The results of FEM
pressure and force on rails after each launch reduces working simulations show that the rectangular geometry with one pair
life or in other words increases cost. The distribution of electric of augmenting rails is better than other geometries [13]. In a
current density over the cross section of rails is very high at the particular paper, the rectangular or circular bore has been
inner edges and sharp corners of rails’ surfaces. These points studied. In the mentioned paper, calculated and compared L 
become very hot due to ohmic losses, hence deformed. Passing for different geometric shapes assuming that the area of rails is
currents through the rails cause repulsive force between them. one-tenth of the railgun bore size [7]. In another research, the
This force causes enormous pressure on the inner cross section comparison of two types of rectangular and circular geometry
of the rails. This pressure can lead to rail breakage or rail is studied. In this paper, two important results are mentioned.
bending too. To reduce the ohmic losses and vertical pressure
1) Under similar condition L  of the rectangular railgun is
on rails, we can reduce the amplitude of the input current. But
more than circular.
reducing the amplitude of input current will decrease the force
2) In a circular railgun, increment of opening angle and
on the projectile.
external radius of rail leads to decrement of L  and
The magnetic flux density is generated around rails by pass-
increment of internal radius leads to increment of L  [8].
ing electric current through them. Magnetic force is exerted on
In this paper proposed a sector of circular for rails,
Manuscript received October 6, 2014; accepted March 20, 2015. Date of simulated by FEM and investigated effect of several
current version May 6, 2015. parameters on the results. Rail thickness assumed one-tenth
M. S. Bayati is with the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Razi University, Kermanshah 67156-85415, Iran (e-mail: s.bayati@ of bore size and extracted L  as a function of distance between
gmail.com). the rails, inner radius, and outer radius for full circular rails.
A. Keshtkar is with Imam Khomeini International University,
Qazvin 34149-16818, Iran (e-mail: akeshtkar@gmail.com). II. P ROPOSED R AILGUN S TRUCTURE
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. Outward curvature of the rails is proposed in this paper,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPS.2015.2417532 so that the exerted force on projectile increases by changing
0093-3813 © 2015 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.
BAYATI AND KESHTKAR: NOVEL STUDY OF THE RAIL’S GEOMETRY IN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC LAUNCHER 1653

Fig. 2. FEM simulation for SC = 9 cm2 and S R = 9 cm2 .

(a) Current density distribution on the rail cross section. (b) Magnetic flux
density around the rail.

Fig. 1. Various geometries of the railgun. (a) Structure of the proposed

railgun with boundary condition. (b) Rectangular railgun [1], [8].
(c) Circular railgun [8].

the dimensions of both rails. Fig. 1(a) shows the proposed

railgun with a sector of circular rails. The inner radius,
outer radius, and distance between the sectors of circle are
called Ri , Ro , and s, respectively. The surface area of the
bore (SC ) and rails (S R ) for proposed geometries are shown in
SC = 4Ro2 sin(θ/2) + 2s Ro sin(θ/2) − θ Ro2 − sin(θ )Ro2 (1) Fig. 3. FEM simulation for SC = 9 cm2 and S R = 6 cm2 .
  (a) Current density distribution on the rail cross section. (b) Magnetic flux
S R = θ Ro2 − Ri2 . (2) density around the rail.

The proposed railgun is symmetric, and this paper modeled

only the quadrant of total structure. The symmetrical and
asymmetrical boundaries are replaced by magnetic and elec-
trical walls, respectively. Railgun geometries can be divided in
two categories: first, the sector of circular (θ < π) and second,
full circular (θ = 2π). The results can be classified into four
sections. First, the current density and magnetic flux density
were computed. Second, L  was extracted for various dimen-
sions, meanwhile, the bore and rail sizes are constant. Third, L 
was computed as a function of the outer radius and inner radius
with different opening angles. Fourth, L  was calculated for
rail thickness equal to one-tenth of bore size, and increased L 
using the opening angle and inner radius various. More details Fig. 4. FEM simulation for SC = 9 cm2 and S R = 3 cm2 .
are given in the following. The railgun bore and rails areas of (a) Current density distribution on the rail cross section. (b) Magnetic flux
two studied cases are as follows: in the first case SC = 9 cm2 density around the rail.
and S R = 9, 6, and 3 cm2 , and in the second case SC = 10
cm2 and S R = 1 cm2 . Different values of the Ri , Ro , s, and
θ for proposed railgun have been calculated for both cases. the cross section of rail and magnetic flux density in the
railgun bore. According to Figs. 2(a) and 3(a), the current
III. C URRENT D ISTRIBUTION AND density has maximum value at the center of the inner edge
M AGNETIC F LUX D ENSITY for S R = 9 and 6 cm2 . But for S R = 3 cm2 , the current
densities are higher at the center and corner of the inner edge
The current density distribution and magnetic flux density for SC = 10 cm2 and S R = 1 cm2 it is at the corner of the
for different cases and their corresponding different dimen- inner edge that are shown in Figs. 4(a) and 5(a), respectively.
sions sizes have been calculated by FEM. According to
the symmetry and applied boundary conditions, as shown
in Fig. 1, the current density distribution and magnetic flux IV. I NDUCTANCE G RADIENT
density are shown only in the first quadrant. Current density The propelling force in the railgun is directly proportional to
has a maximum value at the inner edges of rails and their the L  . Thus, L  plays key role in the railgun. After computing
corners. Figs. 2–5 indicate the current density distribution on the current density and subsequently magnetic flux density,
1654 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 43, NO. 5, MAY 2015

TABLE III
L  FOR SC = 9 cm 2 AND S R = 3 cm 2

Fig. 5. FEM simulation for SC = 10 cm2 and S R = 1 cm2 . TABLE IV

(a) Current density distribution on the rail cross section. (b) Magnetic flux
L  FOR SC = 10 cm 2 AND S R = 1 cm 2
density around the rail.

TABLE I
L  FOR SC = 9 cm 2 , S R = 9 cm 2

TABLE V
C OMPARISON L  (M ICROHENRY PER M ETER ) B ETWEEN THE
R ECTANGULAR AND P ROPOSED R AILGUN
TABLE II
L  FOR SC = 9 cm 2 AND S R = 6 cm 2

in proposed railgun. L  computed using FEM for different

values of these parameters. We assumed the opening angle
equals to 90°, 120°, 150°, and 180°. Fig. 6 shows the L  as
a function of distance between the rails for Ri = 1 cm and
Ro = 2 cm. According to Fig. 6, L  increased with increasing
distance between the rails. For any value of distance between
we can obtain the Lorentz force. The Lorentz force (propelling the rails, L  is decreased with increasing opening angle.
force) is proportional to L  and square of the implied current. Fig. 7 demonstrates L  as a function of inner radius for
s = 2 cm and Ro = 3 cm. Fig. 7 shows that L  increased
A. Inductance Gradient for Various SC and S R slightly with increasing inner radius. The rate of L  change is
small for larger opening angle. Fig. 8 shows L  as a function
Inductance gradient is computed for both case studies with of outer radius for Ri = 1 cm and s = 2 cm. Fig. 8 shows
different sizes of Ri , Ro , s, and θ = 180°, which is shown that increasing outer radius results in the decreasing L  .
in Tables I–IV. According to Tables I–IV, L  is increased with Finally, according to Figs. 6–8, an increase in the opening
decreasing size of rails cross section. Maximum value of L  angle results in a decrease in L  .
for proposed railgun is compared with rectangular railgun and
shown in Table V. Maximum value of L  for SC = S R = 9 cm2 V. F ULL C IRCULAR R AILGUN
is smaller than rectangular railgun, but for other case studies L 
A sector of circular rail changed to full circular. Opening
is larger than rectangular railgun.
angle facing outward is equal to 360° and shown in Fig. 9.
The inner radius (Ri ), outer radius (Ro ), and distance between
B. Effect of Rail Dimensions on the Inductance Gradient the circles (s) are dimensions of the full circular railgun.
The distance between the rails, opening angle facing We can use the symmetric properties of the circular railgun
outward, inner radius, and outer radius are four parameters and simulated half of the circular railgun.
BAYATI AND KESHTKAR: NOVEL STUDY OF THE RAIL’S GEOMETRY IN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC LAUNCHER 1655

Fig. 9. Structure of full circular railgun.

Fig. 6. L  as a function of distance between the rails for various opening

angles and Ri = 1 cm, Ro = 2 cm.

Fig. 10. Simulation left side of full circular railgun using FEM for
rail thickness equal to one-tenth of bore size. (a) Current density distribution
on the rail cross section. (b) Magnetic flux density around the rail.

the rail cross section and magnetic flux density around the
Fig. 7. L  as a function of inner radius for various opening angles and rail, respectively.
s = 2 cm, Ro = 3 cm.

A. Effect of Rail Dimensions on Inductance Gradient

Inductance gradient computed with FEM for various values
of the distance between the rails, inner radius, and outer radius.
Table VI shows L  variations versus Ri , Ro , and s. L  increases
with increasing distance between the rails and decreases with
increasing outer radius. However, L  is nearly constant for
different values of inner radius.

B. Rail Thickness Equal to One-Tenth of Bore Size

Rail thickness is equal to one-tenth of bore size and
distance between of the rails is equal to outer diameters of
circular rail [7].
L  is computed as a function of the inner radius and
Fig. 8. L  as a function of outer radius for various opening angles and opening angle and shown in Table VII. L  decrease with
Ri = 1 cm, s = 2 cm. increasing opening angle and inner radius. For θ = 360°, L  is
obtained to be 0.52469 μH/m, which is slightly different from
Right side of the railgun replaced by electrical wall, and 0.527 μH/m [7]. The L  value is 0.556 μH/m for rectangular
only left side of the full circular railgun simulated using that is larger than rounded bore [4], [7]. But according to
FEM for rail thickness equal to one-tenth of bore size [7]. Table VII, the maximum value of L  is 0.58267 μH/m, which
Fig. 10(a) and (b) shows the current density distribution on was obtained using θ = 180° and Ri = 1.20 cm.
1656 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PLASMA SCIENCE, VOL. 43, NO. 5, MAY 2015

TABLE VI [3] M. S. Bayati and A. Keshtkar, “Transition study of current distribution

L  FOR D IFFERENT VALUES OF THE Ri , Ro , AND s and maximum current density in railgun by 3-D FEM–IEM,” IEEE
Trans. Plasma Sci., vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 13–17, Jan. 2011.
[4] A. Keshtkar and S. Bayati, “Derivation of a formula for inductance
gradient using intelligent estimation method,” IEEE Trans. Magn.,
vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 305–308, Jan. 2009.
[5] Y. Zhang, J. Ruan, J. Liao, Y. Wang, Y. Zhang, and T. Huang,
“Comparison of Salvo performance between stacked and paralleled
double-projectile railguns,” IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., vol. 41, no. 5,
pp. 1410–1415, May 2013.
[6] A. Keshtkar, L. Gharib, M. S. Bayati, and M. Abbasi, “Simulation of
a two-turn railgun and comparison between a conventional railgun and
a two-turn railgun by 3-D FEM,” IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., vol. 41,
no. 5, pp. 1392–1397, May 2013.
[7] R. A. Marshall, “Railgun bore geometry, round or square?” IEEE Trans.
Magn., vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 427–431, Jan. 1999.
[8] M. S. Bayati and A. Keshtkar, “Study of the current distribution,
magnetic field, and inductance gradient of rectangular and circular
railguns,” IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 1376–1381,
May 2013.
[9] N. Sengil, “Implementation of Monte Carlo method on electromagnetic
launcher simulator,” IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci., vol. 41, no. 5,
TABLE VII pp. 1156–1160, May 2013.
L  FOR R AIL T HICKNESS E QUAL TO O NE -T ENTH OF B ORE S IZE , [10] A. Keshtkar and S. Bayati, “Effect of rail’s material on railgun
inductance gradient and losses,” in Proc. 14th EML Symp., Victoria,
Ro = 1.44 cm AND s = 2.88 cm
BC, Canada, Jun. 2008, pp. 1–4.
[11] B.-K. Kim and K.-T. Hsieh, “Effect of rail/armature geometry on current
density distribution and inductance gradient,” IEEE Trans. Magn.,
vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 413–416, Jan. 1999.
[12] M. A. Huerta and J. C. Nearing, “Conformal mapping calculation
of railgun skin inductance,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 27, no. 1,
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Magn., vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 451–455, Jan. 2003.

Mohammad Sajjad Bayati was born in Sonqor,

Iran, in 1979. He received the B.Sc. degree in
electrical engineering from the University of
VI. C ONCLUSION Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran, in 2002, the M.Sc. degree in
A sector of circular rails is proposed for railgun. The current telecommunication field and wave engineering from
density and L  are computed for various dimensions of rails. the Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, and
the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the
We investigated the effect of the distance between the rails, University of Tabriz, in 2011.
opening angle, outer radius, and inner radius on the L  . He is currently an Assistant Professor with
L  increases with increasing distance between the rails and the Department of Electrical Engineering,
Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. His current
decreases with increasing outer radius and opening angle. research interests include electromagnetic, mathematical in electromagnetic,
However, L  is nearly constant for different values of electromagnetic launcher, and antenna.
inner radius.
The previous research reported which inside curvature
(circular railgun Fig. 1(b) [8] and Fig. 1(c) and (d) [7]) of
the rails is not suitable. In [7], it is said that the rectangular
railgun is better than round, but according to Table VII,
we can obtain inductance gradient larger than rectangular
railgun for the rail thicknesses equals to one-tenth of bore Asghar Keshtkar was born in Ardabil, Iran,
size. Therefore, we can say the outward curvature of the rails in 1962. He received the B.Sc. degree from Tehran
University, Tehran, Iran, in 1989, the M.Sc. degree
is better than rectangular, it is shown by the numerical results. from the University of Khaje-Nasir, Tehran, in
1992, and the Ph.D. degree from the Iran University
R EFERENCES of Science and Technology, Tehran, in 1999, all in
electrical engineering.
[1] A. Keshtkar, “Effect of rail dimension on current distribution and He is currently a Professor with the Faculty
inductance gradient,” IEEE Trans. Magn., vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 383–386, of Engineering and Technology, Imam Khomeini
Jan. 2005. International University, Qazvin, Iran. His current
[2] J. F. Kerrisk, “Electrical and thermal modeling of railguns,” IEEE Trans. research interests include electromagnetic,
Magn., vol. MAG-20, no. 2, pp. 399–402, Mar. 1984. electromagnetic launcher, bioelectromagnetic, and antenna.