An evacuated tube transport (ETT) system is proposed by combining evacuated tube technology and high temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev technology in this paper. It can be predicted that this future transport mode can own the advantages of less emission, low noise, high efficiency, and suitable for high-speed or super-high-speed application. The train running at a high speed will inevitably cause complex aerodynamic load behaviors in an enclosed low-pressure tube. It further affects the real energy consumption and the fatigue life of the components. In order to explore how the aerodynamic load behaves in an ETT-HTS Maglev system, we established a three-dimension numerical calculation model based on ANSYS FLUENT software. The steady aerodynamic loads on the train’s surface and the tube’s inner surface are investigated under different pressures and different operation speeds. It is found that the aerodynamic load on the surface of the train and tube is significantly affected by the pressure inside the tube and the running speed of the train. The aerodynamic load fluctuations at the rear of the train are relatively more violent than those at the head. We also found that the impact of compression wave and expansion wave on aerodynamic loads at different positions of the tube is related to the size of the flow field space between the tube and the train. These results can provide some reference for the less-emission train body design and the whole ETT-HTS Maglev system structural strength in the near future.
A novel type of suspension system for maglev vehicles using six permanent magnet electrodynamic wheels (EDW) and conductor plate has been designed. It has the advantages of high speed, environmental protection, and a low turning radius. Differing from existing maglev vehicles, this paper proposes a new maglev vehicle utilizing six EDWs to respectively provide driving force and levitation force. This structure can keep the levitation force at a large constant value and obtain enough driving force at low rotational speeds by adjusting the motor speed. First, the structure of the electrodynamic wheel is given. The accuracy and validity of the FEM results are verified by the experiments. Moreover, based on the finite element method (FEM), the optimal structure of the EDWs is obtained with the objective of maximum levitation force. Then, the simplified electromagnetic force model is obtained by using MATLAB Toolbox. Third, using a co-simulation of Simulink and Adams to design and build a 1:50 maglev vehicle model, this article studies the dynamic response characteristics of the maglev vehicle model from the perspective of dynamics and proposes a feedback control strategy by adjusting the rotational speed to control the maglev vehicle. This paper also proposes a method to realize the car’s pivot steering to reduce the car’s turning radius and help the drivers pass narrow road sections. This article verifies the feasibility of the maglev vehicle with six EDWs and is expected to provide a certain reference for the development of permanent magnet electrodynamic suspension vehicles.
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