A Novel Tubular Switched Reluctance Linear Launcher With a Module Stator

Abstract

Electrical machines with transverse-flux (TF) paths have flexible structures, which may help to improve the performance of machines. Comparing to the flat-type structure in linear machines, the tubular-type structure is good for improving the electromagnetic thrust density. In this paper, a novel single-phase tubular-type switched reluctance linear launcher with TF path is proposed. Its stator is composed of several U-shaped modules, and windings are coiling on the yokes of these modules of the stator. This structure differs from the traditional tubular linear machine, and it avoids two windings squeezing in one stator slot so that the winding assembling process is easy. Gear-shaped poles on mover form more effective magnetic circuits than conventional machines. In the design process, the sensitivity analyses on five important parameters are conducted with the finite-element method (FEM) to achieve better performance on thrust density. The prototype has been manufactured and tested. The static and dynamic performances measured through experiments coincide well with the simulation results. These prove the correctness of the calculated FEM results and the well-manufactured machine, and its superiority in thrust density is verified.