Dynamic Response Characteristics of a High-Temperature Superconducting Maglev Vehicle under Laterally Unbalanced Load Conditions

Various inevitable disturbances such as crosswinds, centrifugal forces, and nonuniform distributions of passengers or cargos may well cause the unbalanced distribution of the weight on-board of the high-temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev vehicle, more seriously making the maglev vehicle itself overturned. Therefore, it necessitates the investigation of the dynamic responses of the HTS maglev vehicle under unbalanced condition. In our experiments, the unbalanced/balanced weight distributions were artificially created by applying a laterally unbalanced/balanced loading force to the levitated body. Loads are located in the left side of the model for unbalanced load, and in the center of the model for balanced load for contrast. The dynamic responses of the HTS maglev model under such conditions were evaluated by sampling and analyzing the acceleration and displacement signals via the B&K vibration analyzer and a set of laser displacement sensors. The findings clearly reveal that the weight distribution makes a great impact on the dynamic responses of the HTS maglev model, and especially the laterally unbalanced distribution is indeed detrimental to the stability and load capacity of HTS maglev vehicle.