Study of the Lateral Force Behavior in a Field Cooled Superconducting Linear Bearing

The main characteristic of a linear superconducting magnetic bearing (SMB) is the stable levitation between the superconductor and the magnetic source, which is, in most cases, a permanent magnetic (PM) rail. A stable and passive levitation can be reached when the superconducting transition occurs in the presence of magnetic field (field cooling-FC). The cooling process is performed with the superconductor near to the PM rail in a certain cooling height (CH). This work aims to develop a technique, based on the critical state model, which calculates the magnetic forces of a SMB in the FC case when the superconductor bulk is displaced laterally in relation to the PM rail. This method consists in determining a macroscopic screening current density that the superconductor is supposed to carry. This algorithm has already shown satisfactory results when the vertical levitation force in zero field cooling and FC procedures were simulated. Here a study of the lateral force for different values of CH was performed considering the FC case. An experimental rig with a 6-axis transducer was used to measure the magnetic force. The simulated and measured force results presented the same behavior, showing a promising potential of this model for design of MagLev guideways.