Maglev trains

By
Vishal Dubey
 Agenda
• Introduction
• Fast facts
• How it works
• Maglev technology
• Electromagnetic suspension
• Electrodynamic suspension
• Stability
• Power and energy usage
• Advantages and disadvantages of Maglev Train
 Introduction
• Magnetic levitation transport is a form of
transportation that suspends guides and propels
vehicles through the harnessing of electromagnetic
force.
• The term "maglev" refers not only to the vehicles
but also to the railway system.
• Maglev train uses magnetic levitation from a very
large number of magnets for lift and propulsion.
• Has the potential to be faster, quieter and
smoother than wheeled mass transit systems
 Introduction
• Power needed for levitation is usually not a
large percentage of the overall consumption
• In the present moment there are several
countries working on the development of
Magnetic Levitating trains:
Japan and Germany were pioneers; USA and
Australia are working in on it now.
China is not a pioneer having build a maglev
train from Shanghai to its city
 Did you Know?
• Maglev trains can attain speeds of 250 mph
easily (the speed of a jet aircraft).
• The Japanese Maglev's last record was of
581km/h.
• The Shanghai Maglev Train can speed up to
431 km/h, or 267 mph.
• The first commercial Maglev was opened in
1984 in Birmingham, England, covering
some 600 meters between its airport and
rail hub
 How it works
• A maglev train floats about 10mm above
the guideway on a magnetic field.
• It is propelled by the guideway itself rather
than an onboard engine by changing
magnetic fields
• Once the train is pulled into the next
section the magnetism switches so that the
train is pulled on again.
• The Electro-magnets run the length of the
guideway.
 How it works
• The train cars use gigantic magnets to hover
above their tracks, decreasing the negative
impact friction has on a train's speed and
allowing the cars to achieve much greater
speeds than normal railroad cars.
 Maglev technology
• There are two primary types of maglev
technology:
• electromagnetic suspension (EMS)
• electrodynamic suspension (EDS)
 Electromagnetic suspension
• In current EMS systems, the train levitates
above a steel rail while electromagnets,
attached to the train, are oriented toward the
rail from below.
• The electromagnets use feedback control to
maintain a train at a constant distance from
the track.
 Advantage
• Proven, commercially available technology
that can attain very high speeds (500 km/h)
• No wheels or secondary propulsion system
needed
 Disadvantage
• The separation between the vehicle and the
guide way must be constantly monitored and
corrected by computer systems to avoid
collision due to the unstable nature of
electromagnetic attraction.
 Electrodynamic suspension
• In Electrodynamic suspension, both the
rail and the train exert a magnetic field,
and the train is levitated by the repulsive
force between these magnetic fields
• The magnetic field in the train is
produced by either electromagnets or by
an array of permanent magnets.
• The repulsive force in the track is created
by an induced magnetic field in wires or
other conducting strips in the track.
 Electrodynamic suspension
• At slow speeds, the current induced in these
coils and the resultant magnetic flux is not
large enough to support the weight of the
train.
• For this reason the train must have wheels or
some other form of landing gear to support
the train until it reaches a speed that can
sustain levitation.
 Electrodynamic suspension
• Propulsion coils on the guideway are used
to exert a force on the magnets in the
train and make the train move forward.
• The propulsion coils that exert a force on
the train are effectively a linear motor.
• An alternating current flowing through
the coils generates a continuously varying
magnetic field that moves forward along
the track.
 Electrodynamic suspension
• The frequency of the alternating current is
synchronized to match the speed of the
train. The offset between the field exerted
by magnets on the train and the applied
field create a force moving the train
forward.
 Advantage
• Onboard magnets and large margin between
rail and train enable highest recorded train
speeds (581 km/h) and heavy load capacity
• Successful operations using high temperature
superconductors in its onboard magnets,
cooled with inexpensive liquid nitrogen.
 Disadvantage
• Strong magnetic fields onboard the train
would make the train inaccessible to
passengers with pacemakers or magnetic
data storage media such as hard drives and
credit cards, necessitating the use of
magnetic shielding; vehicle must be
wheeled for travel at low speeds; system
per mile cost still considered prohibitive;
the system is not yet out of prototype
phase.
 Stability
• EMS systems rely on active electronic
stabilization.
• As Maglev vehicles essentially fly, stabilisation
of pitch, roll and yaw is required by magnetic
technology.
 Power and energy usage
• Energy for maglev trains is used to accelerate
the train, and may be regained when the train
slows down.
• Also used to make the train levitate and to
stabilise the movement of the train
• Main part of the energy is needed to force the
train through the air
• Some energy is used for air conditioning,
heating, lighting.
 Power and energy usage
• At very low speeds the percentage of power
used for levitation can be significant.
• Also for very short distances the energy used
for acceleration might be considered.
• The power used to overcome air drag
increases with the cube of the velocity, and
hence dominates at high speed
 Advantages of Maglev
• A Maglev is way faster than your usual bullet
train. Maglevs can reach speeds up to 500
kilometres per hour.
• Due to its lack of wheels, MagLevs are quieter
than normal trains, or sometimes even traffic.
• Maglevs use 30% less energy than normal trains.
• In theory, a Maglev and its track would require
very little maintenance since the train never
touches the track there is virtually no wear and
tear.
 Disadvantages of Maglev
• The Maglev's track is much more expensive
than railroad tracks.
• Whole new sets of tracks would have to be
built for the Maglev to run. Many
Transportation vehicles in Europe run on
existing track, like the TGV trains in France.
• Although Maglevs are pretty quiet, noise
caused by air disturbance still occurs.
• Thank You!
• Any questions?