Experiments in a real scale maglev vehicle prototype

Abstract

A Brazilian real scale magnetically levitated transport system prototype is under development at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. To test this system a 180 m long line has been projected and it will be concluded by the end of 2010. A superconducting linear bearing (SLB) is used to replace the wheels of a conventional train. High temperature superconductor bulks placed inside cryostats attached to the vehicle and a magnetic rail composes the SLB. To choose the magnetic rail for the test line three different rails, selected in a previous simulation work, were built and tested. They are composed by Nd-Fe-B and steel, arranged in a flux concentrator topology. The magnetic flux density for those magnetic rails was mapped. Also, the levitation force between those rails and the superconductor cryostat, for several cooling gaps, were measured to select the best rail geometry to be used in the real scale line. The SLB allows building a light vehicle with distributed load, silent and high energy efficient. The proposed vehicle is composed of four modules with just 1.5 m of length each one and it can transport up to 24 passengers. The test line having two curves with 45 m radius and a 15% acclivity ramp is also presented.