Optimal YBCO Bulk Size to Maximize Running Speed of the SS-HTS Maglev Circular Track System by Static Simulation Experiments

The constraints of experiment site and construction cost have increased difficulties in the high-speed and large-scale experiments of high-
$T_{c}$
superconductor (HTS) maglev. At the beginning of this article, a side-suspension HTS (SS-HTS) maglev circular track was successfully built, which enabled the prototype vehicle to reach the maximum speed of 160 km/h. However, it is expected that with further increase in the running speed, the insufficient centripetal force caused thereby will destroy the dynamic stability of the circular track system. In order to improve the dynamic performance of circular track system with prototype vehicle running at a high speed, static experiments were carried out to simulate the free suspension and dynamic processes of the prototype vehicle. The levitation and guidance performance of bulk YBa
₂
Cu
₃
O
_7–
x
(YBCO) superconductors with different thickness and sectional area were tested during the simulation experiment, and the curve of
$K_{l}$
and
$K_{g}$
was obtained through calculation with the centrifugal force formula. The test and calculation results indicate that the maximum speed of prototype vehicle can rise by 19% compared to the earlier circular system in the case of 40 × 40 × 16 mm
³
(
L
×
W
×
H
) bulk YBCO superconductors. The research findings can provide design reference for optimizing and constructing an SS-HTS maglev circular track system with higher performance and higher speed grade.