Pulsed Current Distribution in Electromagnetic Rail Launchers

This paper deals with the measurement of current distribution through the rail cross-section of an electromagnetic rail launcher. A measurement approach based on a loop system magnetically coupled to the launcher, placed along the rails is proposed. The estimation of the current distribution in the rail, following the basic rules of the partial-inductance method, is discussed in the paper. To test the proposed method, an experimental analysis on an ”ad-hoc” developed multi-conductor rail prototype supplied by a high-voltage capacitor bank is presented. Experimental results obtained by the proposed method were compared with direct current measurements achieved by a set of Rogowski coils showing a good agreement for different current values.