Design and initial experimental verification of a high-speed electrodynamic levitation measurement system utilizing modular magnetic field sources and aluminium rails

Abstract

This work presents design and development of a modular high-speed electrodynamic levitation (EDL) test system that integrates advanced magnetic field configurations and real-time control capabilities at high operational speeds. The system comprises a rotating aluminium rail and interchangeable magnetic field sources, including permanent magnet array (PMA) and high-temperature superconducting (HTS) bulk, allowing for a variety of experimental configurations. The initial experimental results focused on testing the system through PMA–aluminium rail and HTS–aluminium rail configurations. A key innovation of this system is its modular structure, which allows for easy replacement and reconfiguration of magnetic components and rail geometries. The adaptability of the system enables a thorough investigation of how different magnetic field sources influence magnetic force and dynamic stability at high speeds. Furthermore, the system is fully integrated with a programmable logic controller (PLC) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) interface, enabling precise real-time monitoring, synchronized control and automatic data acquisition. Experimental results demonstrate the system's capability to measure vertical displacement variations and force fluctuations at different speeds, with resonance effects identified around 145 km/h. The levitation forces of 99 N were measured at a gap of 10 mm, with the PMA at a maximum speed of 283 km/h above an aluminium rail, while it was measured as 16 N with HTS at a vertical gap of 9 mm. This flexible test platform provides a critical foundation for determining the force parameters of the real-scale EDL Maglev technologies and advancing their practical application potential in high-speed transportation.