The suppression of magnetic force decay in a superconductor-magnet levitation system by forced high-frequency small-amplitude vibration

Abstract

For the practical superconducting maglev systems, the fluctuations of the external loads can easily induce the vibration of the levitated permanent magnetic components. In consideration of the system safety and reliability, it is necessary and meaningful to fully reveal the influence of the magnet vibration on the characteristics of superconducting levitation force. In this study, a dynamic measurement device was established to investigate the interaction force between a top-seeded melt-textured Y-Ba-Cu-O (YBCO) superconductor and a permanent magnet. The decay behaviors of superconducting levitation force under different measurement clearances, vibration frequencies and vibration amplitudes were analyzed. It was a fascinating finding that the high-frequency low-amplitude vibration can effectively suppress the magnetic relaxation phenomenon in superconducting levitation force under a relatively small working clearance. The underlying physical mechanism was discussed based on the superconducting magnetization theory. The investigation results in this study are beneficial to the design and the practical application of dynamic superconducting maglev systems.