Design and Evaluation of Prototype High-T_c Superconducting Linear Synchronous Motor for High-Speed Transportation

Abstract

We developed a prototype of a high-Tc superconducting (HTS) linear synchronous motor (LSM) and evaluated its operational performances to obtain the preliminary design data for a test vehicle having a speed of 518.4 km/h. The HTS electromagnet was fabricated using a non-insulated (NI) GdBCO HTS coil, which was designed to produce a magnetomotive force of 300 kA-turns at a cooling temperature of 20 K. A two-stage Gifford-McMahon cryocooler was used to cool the electromagnet. The prototype was tested up to 2.7 kN sufficient to the required thrust of the test vehicle. The thrust characteristics shown by changing the operating conditions were also consistent with the simulation results. The HTS electromagnet was successfully operated during the test, and there was no fault in the NI HTS coils. Finally, we confirmed the design feasibility of HTS LSM for a test vehicle.