Potential and Electro-Mechanical Coupling Analysis of a Novel HTS Maglev System Employing Double-Sided Homopolar Linear Synchronous Motor

High temperature superconducting (HTS) pinning maglev is considered to be one of the most ideal levitation techniques for high-speed transportation in future since its passive and self-stabilizing properties. An efficient and economical propulsion method is important for HTS pinning maglev system. This paper presents a novel HTS pinning maglev system employing a homopolar linear synchronous motor (H-LSM), which shows great potential for engineering. First, conceptual structure of the novel HTS pinning maglev system employing H-LSM is described. The H-LSM was designed to drive a 19-ton HTS pinning maglev engineering prototype using analytical and finite element methods. Then, a comparative performance and cost between H-LSM and permanent magnet linear synchronous motor (PM-LSM) is analyzed. Finally, in order to fully analyze the potential and electro-mechanical coupling of the system, a lateral dynamic response analysis is introduced. The result shows that the novel HTS pinning maglev system employing a H-LSM has a good propulsion-levitation-guidance (PLG) performance. The H-LSM can meet the propulsion requirements of HTS high-speed maglev vehicles with lower cost. The dynamic analysis shows that this new HTS pinning system employing H-LSM has good macroscopic performance for high-speed operation.