Coil guns vs. mass drivers

From: bill t [mailto:qwerty172@...]

Instead of pulling, you can "push". The capsule would 'surf' on an
accelerating electromagnetic wave.

Most coilguns try to use both the push and pull. Pull until the
capsule is centered, then push. This scenerio is limited by the coil
induction, and the permability of the wire.

I happen to know that O'Neill's mass driver 3 model used pull-only. They
had decided that the strong centering forces of the pull-only strategy
eliminated the need for guidance strips in the high-acceleration portion of
the driver, which improved coupling and hence efficiency.

If Bill Kowan's gun was pull/push, then that's yet one more reason to
consider it a different animal from O'Neill's mass driver.

Regards,

Mike Combs

From:
bill t [mailto:qwerty172@...]
Instead of pulling, you can "push". The capsule would 'surf' on an
accelerating electromagnetic wave.
Most coilguns try to use both the push and pull. Pull until the
capsule is centered, then push. This scenerio is limited by the coil
induction, and the permability of the wire.

I happen to know that O'Neill's mass driver 3 model used pull-only. They had decided that the strong centering forces of the pull-only strategy eliminated the need for guidance strips in the high-acceleration portion of the driver, which improved coupling and hence efficiency.

If Bill Kowan's gun was pull/push, then that's yet one more reason to consider it a different animal from O'Neill's mass driver.

Regards,
Mike Combs