Simulation of magnetization and levitation properties of arrays of ring-shaped type-II superconductors

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the magnetic and mechanical properties of arrays of superconducting rings arranged in axial, radial, and matrix configurations under different magnetic fields. In terms of the Bean's critical state model and the minimum magnetic energy method, the dependences of the magnetization and levitation behaviors on the geometry, number, and gap of the superconducting rings are obtained. The results show that when the applied field is spatially uniform, the magnetic property of the superconducting array is associated with the gaps between the rings. For the case of small gaps, the entire array becomes not easy to be fully penetrated by the induced currents, and the magnetic field profiles of which are almost the same as ones in a single large ring. If the superconducting array is fully penetrated, its saturation magnetization value is affected by the radial interval and, however, is almost independent of the vertical separation. When the applied field produced by a cylindrical permanent magnet is nonuniform, the superconducting array will be subjected to a levitation force. The levitation force increases monotonically and finally reaches a saturation value with increasing height or thickness of the rings, and such saturation value is closely related to the inner radius of the array.