Inductance-Variation Method of Measuring Characteristics of Electromagnetic Levitation Systems

Abstract

A recently developed general theory of electromagnetic levitation of conducting bodies is applied in a new method of examining the levitation and stability of levitating bodies of arbitrary shape in the fields of coil systems of arbitrary configuration. Introducing the conducting body into the magnetic field of the coils changes the apparent inductance of the coils by an amount ΔL which is readily measured directly. The pertinent result of the theory is that the levitational force is proportional to the gradient of ΔL. The validity and feasibility of the method are demonstrated by measurements in several typical cases.