Improvement of Maglev Model Using High-Tc Superconductors and Soft Magnetic Materials

This paper describes a suspension technique using high-Tc superconductors and soft magnetic materials. For a field-cooled superconductor and adjacent magnetic material, it was found that restoring force generated due to flux gathering effect in case of small gap length. In two separate experiments using this technique, both stable contact-less suspension of a 0.18kg steel weight under a superconductor and of a 1.4kg superconductor vehicle under a steel rail has already been reported. In this paper, for magnification of the stable gap length and for exclusion of mass regulation of the floator, modification of the levitation mechanism was carried out. The tangential force between the superconductor and the magnetic material was used for levitation, and the flux gathering effect was used for horizontal stabilization. A Maglev model was manufactured and stable levitaion was achieved using this construction.