The interaction between a magnetic field and a superconducting (SC) bu
lk sample produces not only levitation forces but also transverse ones
. They may be used in an electromagnetic coupling device to transmit a
torque or in an electrical motor to produce a torque. We have designe
d and built a disk type motor (vertical axial gap) with a static three
phase armature resistive winding and a rotating part composed by eigh
t YBaCuO pellets immersed in a liquid nitrogen vessel. The SC samples
are melt textured using the Top Seed Melt Texturing method, The armatu
re winding is fed by a power converter. Then the supplied frequency an
d the speed of rotation are variable. The motor was tested in differen
t conditions and operated without magnetizing the SC samples, It works
in a way as a variable reluctance motor even if the hysteresis behavi
our of the SC pellets complicates the operation, Other experiments wer
e carried out magnetizing the SC samples before their use as inductor.
The operation is close then to a permanent magnet motor. The experime
ntal set up and the different tests are reported.