Experimental Study of a Solid-Nitrogen-Cooled HTS Magnet for Superconducting Linear Synchronous Motors

The conception of the space electromagnetic launch is to use electromagnetic propulsion technology to accelerate a space launch vehicle on the ground to supersonic speed, which can reduce the takeoff quality and cost of the space launch vehicle. High-temperature superconducting linear synchronous motors (HTS-LSMs) are promising in space electromagnetic launch applications with the advantages of high thrust density, high efficiency, large electromagnetic gap, and liquid-helium-free cooling. Adopting on-board solid-nitrogen (SN2) cooled HTS mover magnets is one method to overcome the constraints of space limitation and weight reduction. To examine the thermal stability of SN2-cooled mover magnets, this article aims to study an HTS magnet as the mover magnet of an HTS-LSM using static and dynamic tests, including refrigeration tests, excitation tests, cryocooler turned-off tests, and electromagnetic vibration tests. The static test results show that the magnet could be cooled to below 27 K and excited to 246 A. The dynamic test results show that the magnet could withstand a vibration environment of up to 11.14 gRMS without quenching and structural damage. This article provides useful information for the design and application of an on-board SN2-cooled HTS-LSM mover magnet.