Expansion joint for guideway for magnetic levitation transportation system

Patent · 09 February 1993

OSTI ID:6241363

Rossing, T D

An expansion joint that allows a guideway of a magnetic levitation transportation system to expand and contract while minimizing transients occurring in the magnetic lift and drag forces acting on a magnetic levitation vehicle traveling over the joint includes an upper cut or recess extending downwardly from the upper surface of the guideway and a non-intersecting lower cut or recess that extends upwardly from the lower surface of the guideway. The side walls of the cuts can be parallel to each other and the vertical axis of the guideway; the depth of the lower cut can be greater than the depth of the upper cut; and the overall combined lengths of the cuts can be greater than the thickness of the guideway from the upper to lower surface so that the cuts will overlap, but be spaced apart from each other. The distance between the cuts can be determined on the basis of the force transients and the mechanical behavior of the guideway. A second pair of similarly configured upper and lower cuts may be disposed in the guideway; the expansion joint may consist of two upper cuts and one lower cut; or the cuts may have non-parallel, diverging side walls so that the cuts have a substantially dove-tail shape.

• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• Assignee: Dept. of Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
• Patent Number(s): US 5184557; A
• Application Number: PPN: US 7-804555
• OSTI ID: 6241363
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320202 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Transportation-- Railway
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330200* -- External Combustion Engines
DESIGN
ELECTRIC RAILWAYS
EXPANSION JOINTS
JOINTS
LEVITATED TRAINS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
RAILWAYS
RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEMS
TRAINS
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
VEHICLES