Design and Structural Analysis of Two Kinds of Liquid Nitrogen Vessel for High Temperature Superconductor Maglev Vehicle

A double-shell rectangular-shape liquid nitrogen vessel with thin wall for high temperature superconductor (HTS) Maglev vehicle is described in this paper. Its severe working conditions, such as sharp low temperature and strong magnetic field, determine its special structure. Three dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) using dimensions of the vessel, especially thickness of the walls, the largest levitation force obtained from the former experimental results, properties of metallic and nonmetallic material as design parameters was conducted to obtain optimal structure of the vessel. FEA of austenitic stainless steel 0Cr18Ni9Ti metallic vessel and polymer composite (PC) nonmetallic vessel with thin wall were performed. Comparison of the calculation results of two kinds of vessel shows that PC nonmetallic vessel can well satisfy the requirements of HTS Maglev vehicle. Furthermore, PC nonmetallic vessel has many advantages such as no eddy current loss, lesser total weight and lower cost, etc. Due to the finite element model (FEM) being simplified, the results of the numerical calculation should be verified by experimental results. Whereas, FEA as a powerful tool to predict stress and deformation of the model, it can guide and optimize the design of the liquid nitrogen vessel effectively.