The Effect of Magnetic Field Distribution and Pole Array on the Vertical Levitation Force Properties of HTS Maglev Systems

In this paper, the levitation force measurements have been carried out by the magnetic force measurement system under both field-cooling and zero-field-cooling regimes, whereas the magnetic field distribution over the permanent-magnet guideway (PMG) was calculated by numerical analysis based on the finite-element method. It was shown in this study that the vertical levitation capability and stability of Maglev systems can be improved depending on the cooling regime, pole number, and suitable arrangement of the PMG. In this paper, it was shown that when the pole number increases, the levitation force density increases. It also appeared that the reasonable position of the supplementary permanent magnet and appropriate cooling heights are key parameters for both levitation performance and stabilization of the high-temperature superconductor (HTS) Maglev. It is believed that the numerical and experimental data in this paper are useful for relative design and practical application of HTS Maglev systems. © 2015 IEEE.