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Lateral Induction Launcher

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LAN_403

FastMHz

Tue May 30 2006, 05:45PM

Registered Member #179 Joined: Thu Feb 16 2006, 02:08AM
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland - Close to Prime Outlets
Posts: 287

Alright guys and gals, I'm up to no good again. This time I'm going to do as was suggested in an earler thread and build a lateral induction launcher. Now I saw this NGC docu on electromagnetic induction launched roller coasters and it inspired me

They have two coils facing each other and aluminum between them...when pulsed, the aluminum moves sideways instead of straight up, thus pushing the coaster forward.

My question: how are these wired? Should the coils be wired to push apart? I hope so, cause if they must pull I know the coil would pull right off the wood block and be destroyed. Second, how do I know what direction the thing will fly in??

Grant

Tue May 30 2006, 06:43PM

Registered Member #7 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 04:32AM
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 18

I'd imagine there is a wealth of information on the subject to be found at the link below.

FastMHz

Tue May 30 2006, 06:57PM

Registered Member #179 Joined: Thu Feb 16 2006, 02:08AM
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland - Close to Prime Outlets
Posts: 287

Yes, I saw that thread but need clarification.

Chris says "The gun works by energizing a closely spaced pair (or pairs, in this multistage gun) of pancake coils wired so that their magnetic fields combine without the presense of the projectile. With the disc-like projectile between the coils however, a field of opposite polarity to both coils is induced in it, and the projectile is forced out. So the part of the coils with the projectile between repel the projectile and hence each other, and the field "reconnects" behind the projectile as is passes out, the coils attract here. "

I want to be absolutely sure of how to wire these things so I don't destroy my hard to make coils. So when he says "their magnetic fields combine without the presense of the projectile.", what does he mean, exactly? Should the coils actually attract each other when no projectile is present, or should they be repelling?

Plasmaniac

Tue May 30 2006, 07:07PM

Registered Member #206 Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 03:17PM
Location:
Posts: 72

I think it means they are attracted by each other. The field woldnt combine if they push themself apart.

I think the shoting direction is you tinyest problem. Just try a shoot at let's say 50J and you'll see where it goes :)

FastMHz

Tue May 30 2006, 07:11PM

Registered Member #179 Joined: Thu Feb 16 2006, 02:08AM
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland - Close to Prime Outlets
Posts: 287

ok, that makes sense...so I should never fire it without a projectile or my coils will suck into each other and be destroyed...well the coils epoxy is curing at this moment and won't be fully cured until tomorrow, so I won't be able to test anything until then. Thanks for the info everyone!

Did Chris ever finish his project?

Plasmaniac

Tue May 30 2006, 07:31PM

Registered Member #206 Joined: Sat Feb 18 2006, 03:17PM
Location:
Posts: 72

The aluminium wont erase the attraction completely. Also it wont do this when it's allready pushed out of the coils. I'd really worry about it, especially if you have a couple of kJ in your capbank.

Try low energys first and dont forget to tape up everything

Electroholic

Tue May 30 2006, 08:16PM

Registered Member #191 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:01AM
Location: Esbjerg Denmark
Posts: 720

As to which way it shoots, it depends on where you put the projectile relative to the coils.
Just like normal induction launcher, Coils Behind the Projectiles.

FastMHz

Tue May 30 2006, 08:20PM

Registered Member #179 Joined: Thu Feb 16 2006, 02:08AM
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland - Close to Prime Outlets
Posts: 287

I'm beginning to think I might need to engineer something a bit more sophisticated just to keep the contraption in one piece...Chris used fiberglass on both sides of his coils to hold them in place...I don't have access to that, but I do have steel which I could use as the "barrel"...the steel would keep the coils from going at each other, and on the outside I'd use hardboard or something non-ferrous and non-conductive. I know there will be tremendous forces on this thing just from experience with my ring launchers...so yeah I'll have to fire at incrementally higher voltages and keep my fingers crossed.

Quantum Singularity

Tue May 30 2006, 09:50PM

Registered Member #158 Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 09:53PM
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 282

Looks like your gonna beat me to this one

.... lol.
One of the first things I wanted to try once I get all my parts together is a lateral disk launcher. I got a handheld design on paper that would be roughly equivelent to the Ripper (disk launcher) in Unreal Tournament (computer game). Although judging by that post on the old forum I think mine might be of slightly different design. How many field coils do you plan on using in this launcher? The way I understand it is you have two archimedean sprial coils on top of each other, very much like your parallel arranngment you have, but the coils are spaced slightly and an aluminum (or similar) disk is placed between them, slightly offset from center. The direction of travel would be in the direction the disk is offset from center. I could be wrong as I have not read a lot of info on this, nor done much research here on 4hv. I will have to read that one post above more since I only read the first page and dont have any time right now. In my design I plan on building almost the entire thing out of polycarbonate. Although 1/8" might not be strong enough well se what happens. I dont mind blowing stuff up and I have a lot of it to spare. And I can always rebuild it thicker, but I want to start out with the disk closest to the coil as I can get for efficiency. Good luck on your project.

FastMHz

Tue May 30 2006, 10:29PM

Registered Member #179 Joined: Thu Feb 16 2006, 02:08AM
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland - Close to Prime Outlets
Posts: 287

Thanks Tristan! Yeah this is uncharted territory for me as well. I intend to use just two coils, and I'm going to fire all 3.5kj into the two in one shot. I don't have the components nor spare time to deal with a multistage launcher, so I'm going for simple yet powerful. If this thing has output power or efficiency anywhere near that of my others, I'll be in heaven. The only thing making it different than the one in UT is it's not spinning, though I've thought of ways to make that happen too...frisbee of death or something like that. To spin the disc I would use a little blob of adhesive to hold a center bearing between the coils, and use a friction drive motor to spin the disc via the outside of the ring...so it should be spinning, and upon firing the coils, the glue gives away and the spinning disc of death goes flying

But that's later...first I need to make it work without spinning...

Polycarbonate...that would be nice, but it would need to be thick I think. I wonder what the Gs are on the ring when it takes off? I'd imagine the force on the plastic would be tremendous...I tend to gravitate towards wood since it's cheap and pretty strong, but I've split a few 2x4s just absorbing the recoil already.

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