A novel permanent magnetic rail for HTS levitation propulsion system

The Halbach Array has a characteristic advantage that the spatial fundamental field is canceled on one side of the array while the field intensity on the other side is enhanced. So this array could be used in the design of high temperature superconducting permanent magnetic levitation rail to improve the surface magnetic field and levitation force. This paper compared the surface magnetic field of the Halbach Array rail and two conventional levitation rails at first. Then proposed the potential advantages of Halbach Array applied in permanent magnetic rail system. But the Halbach Array rail is mechanical instability. An novel improved Halbach Array rail is proposed in this paper. The new structure combined the advantages of traditional structure and Halbach Array structure, solved the problem of mechanical instability, and carried on the advantage of Halbach Array on the magnetic field distribution at the same time. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.