The "Magnetic wheel" in the suspension of high-speed ground transportation vehicles

The electromagnetic support and guidance system for magnetic levitation railways consists of electromagnets on the vehicle and an armature rail on the track. The experience gained in the operation of the experimental vehicles built so far have lead to the development of a modular structure of the support and guidance system which uses the "magnetic wheel" as a self-contained functional unit. This concept, which is characterized by modular mechanical and electrical structures in connection with decentralized control systems, has made possible a higher reliability by functional redundancy and an improvement of the dynamic characteristics of the vehicle track systems. The results show that such a system is economically feasible within the constraints of existing technology and that it provides a very promising approach for future tracked high-speed ground transportation systems.