Identifying the Separate Contributions of Electromagnetic and Wave-Induced Instability Mechanisms to the Overall Dynamic Instability in Hyperloop and Maglev Systems

The Hyperloop, a developing transportation system, reduces air resistance by housing the vehicle within a depressurized tube and eliminates contact friction by using an electro-magnetic suspension/levitation system.Maintaining system stability poses a challenge due to the exceptionally high target velocities.Consequently, it is important to know apriori the velocity regimes in which the system can be unstable.The authors have recently investigated this aspect by, unlike previous studies, properly accounting for the frequency and velocity dependent reaction force provided by the infinite guideway.Furthermore, that study focused on the interplay between two fundamentally different instability sources, namely (i) the electro-magnetic suspension, and (ii) wave-induced instability, showing that stability domains drastically change above a certain vehicle velocity.