Characteristics of Self-driven Magnet Wheel and Maglev Test Car Using the Wheels

Abstract

The authors have proposed the electromagnetic device called the “magnet wheel” with the rotator attached strong permanent magnets and the conducting plate. This has the functions of induction repulsive type magnetic lift force and thrust which are obtained by using the rotator over the conducting plate as the “partial overlap” or the “tilt” method.This paper presents the performance of self-driven magnet wheel integrated own drive equipment, which is composed by addition of the three-phase armature winding in the place between the permanent magnets and the yoke. As the results for the partial overlap type magnet wheel, the following facts were cleared. The power factor in the input of the self-driven magnet wheel unit is nearly 1.0 in spite of induction repulsive levitation. From the experimental results of the test maglev car mounted four magnet wheel units, it is confirmed that the magnet wheel has the sufficiently large lift force against the own weight and then the half of driving power required for the levitation can be converted into the thrust. By using four wheels, the component of torque is canceled, and the lift force and thrust of the test maglev car are obtained respectively by the summation of those of one unit. The stable levitation was confirmed experimentally.