Impact of Magnetization Angles in Permanent Magnet Guideways on High-Temperature Superconductors’ Levitation

Abstract

The levitation force between a permanent magnet (PM) and a high-temperature superconductor (HTS) bulk has resulted in various industrial applications. PMs’ volume has a substantial role in the cost of PM guideways (PMGs), especially for long-distance transportation, which necessitates the optimum arrangement for PMs. Halbach array has proved considerable levitation force because of its one-sided magnetic field among the other known arrangements. In this paper, a variety of Halbach PMG structures with varying PM magnetization angles are simulated and the impact of PM angular magnetizations on the levitation force is investigated. A heuristic method has been proposed to acquire the optimum magnetization angles that maximize the levitation force. This optimum design decreases the total cost due to the minimum PM use besides providing a satisfactory stable levitation for a specified levitation height, PMG width, and HTS disk’s characteristics. Prototypes have been developed based on the optimized PMG designs with the satisfactory results, compatible with the analytical and simulation results.