Levitation Performance of the Second-Generation HTS Maglev Vehicle Serving in a Ring Test Line

Based on the decades of research, the second-generation high temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev vehicle was developed for continuously running on a ring test line. In this paper, the levitation performance of the entire HTS maglev vehicle was studied. The levitation force of the entire vehicle composed of four maglev cryostats was measured in field cooling heights of 20, 30, and 40 mm. The experimental results showed that the levitation force of the HTS maglev vehicle exceeds 10 000 N at a 12 mm levitation height, which means that the vehicle can achieve a load capability of 1 t/m. In addition, the levitation height decay of the HTS maglev vehicle was studied during operating at a low speed. Some levitation height decay was found after running for a period of time. To reduce the levitation height decay, the preload method was introduced to the maglev vehicle system. It was found that the proper preload method is beneficial for reducing the levitation height decay.