The Inductrack Approach to Magnetic Levitation
Concepts developed during research on passive magnetic bearing systems at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory gave rise to a new approach to magnetic levitation, the Inductrack. A passive induced-current system employing permanent magnets on the moving vehicle, the Inductrack maximizes levitation forces by a combination of two elements. First, the permanent magnets on the vehicle are arranged in a ''Halbach array,'' a magnet configuration that optimally produces a periodic magnetic field below the array, while canceling the field above the array. Second, the track is made up of close-packed shorted electrical circuits. These circuits couple optimally to the magnetic field of the Halbach array. As a result, levitating forces of order 40 metric tonnes per square meter of Halbach array can be generated, using NdFeB magnets whose weight is a few percent of the levitated weight. Being an induced-current system, the levitation requires motion of the vehicle above a low transition speed. For maglev applications this speed is a few kilometers per hour, walking speed. At rest or in the station auxiliary wheels are needed. The Inductrack is thus fail-safe, that is, drive system failure would only result in the vehicle slowing down and finally settling on its auxiliary wheels. On the basis of theoretical analyses a small model vehicle and a 20-meter-long track was built and tested at speeds of order 12 meters per second. A second model, designed to achieve 10-g acceleration levels and much higher speeds, is under construction under NASA sponsorship, en route to the design of maglev-based launchers for rockets. Some of the presently perceived practical problems of implementing full-scale maglev systems based on the Inductrack concept will be discussed.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Defense Programs (DP) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-Eng-48
- OSTI ID:
- 791522
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC-138593; TRN: US200302%%739
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 16th International Conference on Magnetically Levitated Systems and Linear Drives, Rio de Janeiro (BR), 06/06/2000--06/11/2000; Other Information: PBD: 19 Apr 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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