Measurement Method to Evaluate the Practical Levitation Force of Onboard Bulk Superconductor in the High-Temperature Superconducting Maglev Vehicle System

As the basic parameter in the design of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet levitation (maglev) vehicle system, the levitation force data are usually obtained by experiments, so a reliable measurement method is needed to know the practical levitation force of onboard bulk superconductor. Considering in the actual operation the vehicle will experience some small vertical or lateral movements, especially during the passenger going on or off the vehicle, the usual measurement method for levitation force, in which force with gap and force relaxation are measured, cannot be able to predict the levitation force change due to the vertical or lateral movements. So a measurement method is presented regarding effects of force with gap, relaxation, vertical and lateral movements. Compared with a former measurement method, the presented method may support more reliable levitation force data for the HTS maglev vehicle design.