A model for dynamic design of a superstructure for magnetic levitation vehicles

Abstract

Abstract A significant drawback of high-speed railway trains is high values of the dynamic coefficient for overpasses. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the construction height and weight of superstructures significantly as compared to sections with standard traffic conditions. The need for construction of high-speed railways (HSR) on overpasses is recognized worldwide. High costs of their construction will be multiplied by tens of thousands of kilometers, therefore, high-speed vehicles will be less investment-attractive and they will slow down decision-making regarding the construction of new rail lines. The magnetic levitation transport technology, in contrast, has no such drawbacks due to a different kind of load distribution. Magnetic levitation (maglev) trains do not concentrate the load transmitted to the overpass superstructure at a single point like in case of the wheel-rail technology, but transmit the load in continual spots to the areas of contacts of the passive and active parts of the linear motor. As a result, maglev trains moving at high speeds possess significantly lower natural frequencies as compared to superstructures: the resonance effect typical for high-speed railway trains is not observed in maglev trains. Calculations presented in this article confirm the significant potential of reducing costs during construction of railways based on the magnetic levitation transport technology, as compared to conventional wheel-rail high-speed railways. Besides, due to the uniform distribution of the transmitted load, maglev trains will not cause a significant increase in structural safety margin (taking into account resonance/dynamic phenomena) in case of further increase in running speeds upon possible placement of the system in a vacuum tube (Hyperloop technology).