Potentials of an Integrated Levitation, Guidance, and Propulsion System by a Superconducting Transverse Flux Linear Motor

We devised a transverse flux linear motor (TFLM) that uses the superconductor-aluminum hybrid as the secondary to explore the potentials of integrating the propulsion with the levitation and guidance, which are generally separated in existing magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) systems. In this proposal, the hybrid secondary is made of aluminum plate and close-ended coated superconductor coils, with the latter placed over the former to achieve the stable levitation and self-propulsion. To validate the proposal, analytical formulations for describing the electromagnetic responses of such hybrid secondary were established, and the resultant magnetic forces were calculated and compared with a 3-D finite-element model, in which the actual geometry of the proposed TFLM and the nonlinear behavior of superconductor were represented. Afterward, the proposed TFLM was demonstrated and its 3-D forces were measured by a test rig developed for this paper. It was proven that the derived analytical formulations and built finite-element model are both able to reproduce the main feature of the measured results. Characteristic studies clearly display that, although the levitation capability is limited in the proof-of-concept demonstrator, the self-stability and self-propulsion could be integrated by the proposed TFLM, which provides a novel alternative to the scientific community of MAGLEV transit.