Recent Development of High Temperature Superconducting Maglev System in China

After the first man-loading high temperature superconducting (HTS) Maglev demonstration had been tested successfully years ago, its future application attracts more and more researchers and engineers. This paper reviews the recent development of HTS Maglev system in China. In the past seven years, quasi-static forces, dynamic characteristics and running performances have been studied by three self-developed HTS maglev measurement systems and 11-ch vibration measurement apparatus. Some practical problems are considered in details for further engineering application of HTS Maglev train, such as running along the forward direction with inhomogeneous magnetic field, construction cost estimation, propulsion optimization, and so on. On the other hand, a systematic method is introduced to analyze or optimize the force interaction between bulk high temperature superconductor and permanent magnetic guideway. Primary running parameters and data are obtained for the safety design of future HTS Maglev system. Furthermore, a low-mid speed HTS Maglev test line is blueprinted with a maximum speed of 100 km/h, which will be the first step of practical HTS Maglev engineering application.