The New High-Temperature Superconducting Maglev Vehicle Developed in ASCLab

In order to further develop and verify the carrying capability and the curving performance of the high-temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev system, a new HTS maglev vehicle named “KENYON” was successfully developed at Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), Chengdu, China, in December 2019. The maglev vehicle (2.9 m in length, 1.1 m in width) with a net levitation height of 10 mm was designed for 8 seated passengers which can run along a 45-m-long racetrack-type evacuated tube with a 2-m-diameter circular cross section. Compared with the previous maglev vehicle “Super-Maglev”, the “KENYON” vehicle decreases dead weight by 10%. Meanwhile, the amount of HTS bulks used in the “KENYON” is the same as that of the previous vehicle. By the efficient usage of the limited space of the ring line, it has the design characteristics of 67% low floor area of the whole vehicle which is convenient for the whole 8 passengers seating, getting on and getting off. Moreover, the curve passing performance of the vehicle is also specially improved by adjusting the running gear. This development of the new prototype strongly demonstrates the HTS maglev has the great potential of load capacity and curving performance for practical application.