The Inductrack: a simpler approach to magnetic levitation

Arising out of research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on passive magnetic bearings, a new magnetic levitation system, the Inductrack, has been developed and tested at model scale. The system employs special arrays of permanent magnets (Halbach arrays) on the moving car. The magnetic field from the arrays induces repelling currents in a close-packed array of shorted circuits in the track. Above a low transition speed (a few kilometers per hour), levitation forces approach a constant value, while drag forces decrease inversely with speed, with L/D reaching 200:1 or more at operating speeds. The high magnetic efficiency of the Halbach arrays, plus the use of close-packed track circuits, results in levitating forces approaching 40 metric tonnes per square meter (using NdFeB permanent magnet arrays, whose weight in typical cases is a few percent of the levitated weight). The system is passively stable: only motion is required for levitation. Failure of the drive system only results in the train slowing down and settling onto auxiliary wheels at a low speed. A detailed theoretical analysis of the Inductrack was made, on the basis of which a small-scale model was constructed and operated. The Laboratory is building a new small-scale model system (under NASA sponsorship) to demonstrate the acceleration rates and speeds (10-g and Mach 0.4 in the model) needed to magnetically launch rockets.