Characteristics of active-maglev system using YBCO bulk and multiple electromagnets

One useful feature of the active-maglev system is that levitation height is adjustable by varying operating current in electromagnets. To improve the levitation height, we have designed and constructed a new type of active-maglev system with two electromagnets instead of using a larger single electromagnet. The levitation height, as well as stability, was remarkably improved by adjusting the operating current of each electromagnet individually. Although the bulk is levitated up to high position, the lower electromagnet is continued to operate in continuous levitation using multiple electromagnets. It is waste that the lower electromagnet is continued to operate. The required energy for the electromagnet operation should be minimized. In this paper, we tried to realize continuous levitation with keeping the total operating current constant in five-electromagnet active-maglev system and investigate electromagnetic behavior within the bulk using a newly developed FEM computer program. Continuous levitation was successfully achieved under the desired operating condition. Agreements between experiment and analysis were excellent. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.