Estudo da levitação eletrodinâmica aplicada à veículos MagLev

Abstract

MagLev magnetic levitation vehicles are means of transport that move without touching the ground through magnetic forces. There are currently three different techniques employed in these vehicles. Superconducting (SML) is based on the use of type-II superconductors, and their properties of diamagnetism and pinning, for obtaining stable interaction forces between magnets and superconductors, case of MagLev-Cobra. Electromagnetic (EML) uses the interaction between ferromagnetic materials and electromagnets, which are powered by a closed loop of control due to the unstable nature of the attractive force. Lastly, electrodynamics (EDL), based on Eddy currents that arise in a conductive material exposed to any variable mag- netic field, establishing unstable repulsive forces. The bibliographical study started from the understanding of the physical principles of the phenomenon. Beginning with Earnshaw’s theorem on the mechanical stability of electrostatic systems, going through Maxwell and his study on the behavior of Focault currents in conductive thin sheets, and also by Reitz and his analysis of drag and lift forces. Next, the ap- plication of the EDL technique is presented in different configurations of guideway found in the literature. Powell and Danby patented the latter concept in 1969. It is currently utilized by the JR-MagLev, Japanese levitation train proposal in which the figure-eight-shaped coils establish a passively stable null-flux suspension system at high speeds. Finally, in order to characterize the fields and electromagnetic forces acting on the electrodynamic levitation, obtained from the equating that involved the analytical part of the work, Wolfram Mathematica R software was used. The contribution of this dissertation is in the organization and presentation of the EDL method applied to MagLev vehicles.