Electromagnetic Accelerator or "Coilgun" in RC warships.

How will you regulate the size of water-tight compartments?? It would be quite possible to create a twin-hulled ship (much like a submarine) with the inner hull being impenetrable, divide that into 4 parts and Bingo, unsinkable ship. -I have a feeling you'll be scrapping the "no bilge pumps" and water-tight compartments portion of the rules after the very first battle, LOL. Having participated in a few sorties, on just two afternoons. I've observed you only need just a few SMALL holes below the waterline to sink these ships (even with the bilge pumps going) ...

 

You might be right. We increased the amount of watertight compartments from 4 to 5.
Any small hole beneath the waterline will flood a compartment but (hopefully) won't sink the vessel.

I will refrain from delving into further specifics regarding these battle rules to steer the discussion back to the main topic of this thread. These rules are applicable solely to my brother and me and have not been tested in battle.

 

Currently designing a new accelerator with the goal of attaching a barrel magazine to it.

 

You should sketch up an example mounted inside something like a shrouded IJN triple, quadruple and quintuple torpedo mount...

 

I have constructed a chronograph and put it in front of my coilgun.
I am happy to report 14 m/s of muzzle velocity (46 FPS) and nearly 1 jule of muzzle energy.
These shots were fired using a 8s Lipo pack for a power supply. I will try a 12s lipo tomorrow and see how much more power I can get out of this baby.

 

I probably won't be able to fit this into a torpedo mount and it will probably be too complicated as a secondary weapon but I will one day fit it into a supersized turret of an admiral hipper class cruiser!

 

Here are the results of my coilgun powered by a 12s Lipo battery.
I am achieving roughly 1.4 jule of muzzle energy and a velocity of 17.5 m/s (57 FPS).
The projectile that I am fireing is still the 6x14mm steel cylinder.

 

Very cool! I keep suggesting torpedo because you're launching an item that is more similar to a torpedo and has zero reload capability in current state.
And if the coil assembly can somehow be reduced in size would also make a great deck mounted single torpedo launcher for PT-Boats & such.....

 

FYI, we generally consider 55m/s (180fps) to be marginal performance for a bb gun. All the same, it's a pretty awesome experiment you have going there. I kind of want one, phased plasma (bb) rifle, 40 watt range and all that.

(But honestly, I prefer my Umarex C96 when it comes to toys.)


View: https://www.amazon.com/Legends-M712-Caliber-Steel-Airgun/dp/B00NQFTARK/ref=sr_1_10?crid=2UGFOLPG4QZ1R&keywords=mauser+c96&qid=1686106206&sprefix=mauser+c96%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-10

 

There are still a few things I can try to improve the performance of this gun. My current setup has the same ballistic energy as a 200FPS gun fireing 6mm BBs.
Granted my projectiles do not fly as far nor as fast but deliver the same punch on a short distance.

Of course there is no reason for US citizens to switch to this kind of gun because your gun laws are not as strict as they are here in the EU.
The development of this is not concluded until it has been successfully battletested!

-Fritz

 

Ah i see where you are going with this and this might be suitable for the use as a torpedo launcher. (Although the weight of a 12S batterypack might be too much for a PT boat alone)
I am currently working on the design of a magazine and will only put this on a boat once It can fire multiple rounds in succession.

 

A common way to increase the velocity of a projectile is to add multiple stages to a coilgun.
I will print the necessary parts, put it together and report back once I got some numbers.

 

I present to you the results of my 2 stage coilgun!
There is a clear jump in muzzle velocity when I used two stages.



However my tests were cut short after the first stage cought on fire because the mosfet board I used could not handle the current.
I used another board with a maximum of only 720A rating instead of my usual 1200A board.



Now I have to wind a new coil, make a new barrel and re-build the gun.

 

My brand new mousepad is a goner...