Performance Improvement of High Temperature Superconducting Maglev System by Eddy Current Damper

An indirect method of incorporating eddy current damper in the high temperature superconducting (HTS) Maglev vehicle system is presented in the paper. Effect of eddy current damper with different shapes and fixed positions are studied in a seven-bulk YBaCuO levitation system over the permanent magnet guideway (PMG). Similarly to the direct optimizations of the HTS-PMG system, this method is able to improve the damping performance of the HTS Maglev vehicle system without changing other performance. On the other hand, the drag force caused by eddy current damper has been discussed and analysed, which is regarded as a possible technical obstacle for the practical HTS Maglev application. Here, it is concluded that the drag effect can be solved by the propulsion tool. So, the incorporation method of eddy current damper can be one effective improvement method for the practical HTS Maglev application in the future.