Design and characteristic analysis of hybrid-type levitation and propulsion device for high-speed maglev vehicle

This paper deals with the design and characteristic analysis of electro-magnel/permanent-magnet (EM-PM) hybrid levitation and propulsion device for high-speed magnetically levitated (maglev) vehicle. The machine requires PMs with high coercive force in order to levitate the vehicle by only PMs, and propulsion force is supplied by long-stator linear synchronous motor (LSM). The advantages of this configuration are an increasing levitation airgap length and decreasing total weight of the vehicle, because of the zero-power levitation control. Several design considerations such as machine structure, manufacturing, and control strategy are described. Moreover, the levitation and propulsion device for high-speed maglev vehicle has been designed and analyzed usign the electromagnetic circuit and FE analysis. In order to verify the design scheme and feasibility of maglev application, 3-DOF static force test set is implemented and tested. The obtained experimental data using the static tester shows the validity of the design and analysis approaches.