Static and Dynamic Performance of Permanent Magnet Suspension for Maglev Transport Vehicle

The design and performance of a mechanical air gap controller for a maglev transport vehicle are described. The basic requirement for a functional design of the controller is derived first and its effectiveness is shown by experiments. After the construction of dynamic vehicle models dynamic characteristics of the maglev vehicle are introduced and the stability criteria for magnetic levitation are derived. The effect of a dead zone in the mechanical air gap controller and nonlinear characteristics of the magnets, which are expected to exert a large influence on vehicle levitation performance, are investigated by simulations. The simulation results show that a low control lever ratio causes sudden deterioration of the levitation performance if there exists a dead zone in the controller, and a suitable control lever ratio which is unaffected by the dead zone is proposed. Finally, field test results with an actual maglev transport vehicle are shown and the dynamic levitation performance of the vehicle is discussed.