PROPOSAL AND FEM ANALYSIS OF SUPERCONDUCTIVE MAGNETIC GRADIENT LEVITATION

A magnetic levitation system that enables a stable levitation even at a standstill without active control has been studied by numerical anal ysis of electromagnetic field. The new superconductive magnetic levita tion system consists of superconducting coils and iron rails, and its principle of levitation is based on a magnetic gradient in space, whic h is obtained by the flux-conservation characteristic of superconducti ng coils. A two-dimensional FEM program was used for analysis of elect romagnetic force characteristics in a two-dimensional plane and the di stribution of coil current. These results show the two-dimensional sta bility of the system.