Lateral Displacement Influence on the Levitation Force of YBCO Coated Conductor Linear Bearings

Superconducting coated conductors have been used for several large-scale applications. One potential application for YBCO second-generation (2G) wire is the development of superconducting magnetic bearings (SMB). The main advantages of 2G wires are large scale production, high critical current density values, lower manufacturing cost than first generation, and superior performance under high magnetic fields. This work proposes a study of a linear SMB using 2G wires as a passive levitator for MagLev vehicles. The 2G block is conceived to replace the YBCO bulk in the MagLev's SMB prototype, which is being built at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In this context, a superconducting block using stacked 2G wires was built to evaluate the behavior of this SMB. The forces between the 2G block and a permanent magnet were measured and compared with the results for an YBCO bulk with nearly the same dimensions. The experimental rig used for this work allows vertical and lateral displacements and a load cell is used to evaluate the SMB levitation force decay due to the lateral movement. The 2G block has presented lower force levels than ordinary YBCO bulks, but it presents potential to be applied in a SMB application.