Lift and restoring force characteristics evaluation of levitating X-Y transporter using HTS bulks

We have been developing an X-Y (two-dimensional) magnetic levitating transporter, which is composed of the HTS bulks and permanent magnets. To accomplish the design of a real levitation system, we have to investigate the influence of permanent magnet arrangement on levitating characteristics. In this study, we prepared several types of permanent magnets and evaluated how magnetic flux distribution influences the levitating characteristics through lift and restoring force measurements and numerical simulation. For the simulation, we developed a computer program based on the 3D hybrid finite and boundary element (FE-BE) methods, taking into account the anisotropic and nonlinear I - V characteristics of HTS bulks. The simulation results agreed well with experiments. Therefore, we designed and constructed a levitating transporter model, which can levitate a load of 200 kg with a gap of 16 mm, using the developed computer program.