The approach to calculate the aerodynamic drag of maglev train in the evacuated tube

In order to study the relationships between the aerodynamic drag of maglev and other factors in the evacuated tube, the formula of aerodynamic drag was deduced based on the basic equations of aerodynamics and then the calculated result was confirmed at a low speed on an experimental system developed by Superconductivity and New Energy R&D Center of South Jiaotong University. With regard to this system a high temperature superconducting magnetic levitation vehicle was motivated by a linear induction motor (LIM) fixed on the permanent magnetic guideway. When the vehicle reached an expected speed, the LIM was stopped. Then the damped speed was recorded and used to calculate the experimental drag. The two results show the approximately same relationship between the aerodynamic drag on the maglev and the other factors such as the pressure in the tube, the velocity of the maglev and the blockage ratio. Thus, the pressure, the velocity, and the blockage ratio are viewed as the three important factors that contribute to the energy loss in the evacuated tube transportation. © The Author(s) 2013. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com.