Design of an Electromagnetic Induction Coilgun Using the Taguchi Method

Electromagnetic induction coilgun systems have been receiving great attention, recently, due to the advantage of noncontact between the stator and armature coils. Several studies present the simulation and analysis of the coilgun system by using the finite-element method. However, there are still deficiencies in current modeling studies of the coilgun system. This paper presents a design of a multistage pulsed power induction coilgun system using the Taguchi method to maximize its efficiency and reduce the time and cost of the design process. A coilgun system is analyzed and designed using a state-space equation system. The Taguchi method is applied in order to evaluate and determine the geometric variables, the layer, turn layer numbers for both the stator and armature coils, and the trigger positions of each stage. Then, a 2-D finite-element model of the coilgun system using the MagNet program was developed to compare the design and analysis results. The energy efficiency of the three-stage coilgun system is 31.3%, and this is expected to increase with the increase in the number of stages.