152 Ë 6 First manned HTS Maglev vehicle in the world
At first, this chapter will introduce the key properties of HTS Maglev vehicle, the
HTS Maglev vehicle project as part of the National High-tech R&D Program (National
863 Program), and supports and attentions from experts and organizations. Then, the
research and development process on the “Century” vehicle before and after its birth
will be reviewed.
There are some comprehensive review papers on HTS bulk Maglev which can be
found elsewhere [9–20].
6.2 HTS Maglev in National 863 Program
Both rare-earth materials yttrium (Y) and neodymium (Nd) are used in HTS bulk
Maglev trains, and these resources are abundant in China. In 1996, Jia-Su Wang and
Su-Yu Wang discussed the problems about the manned HTS Maglev vehicle with
Prof. Hong-Tao Ren of the GRINM (General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals)
in the Dalian Conference of Information Net of Cryogenics and Superconductivity in
China. Prof. Ren finally acceded to the challenging project.
During the period of the ninth five-year plan, the Applied Superconductivity
Laboratory (ASCLab) directed one of the National High-tech R&D Program (National
863 Program) in China. The research project of manned HTS Maglev vehicle (grant
number 863-CD080000) was approved by National 863 Program in 1997. The Maglev
performance of the HTS YBCO bulk over permanent magnet guideway (PMG) has been
experimentally investigated using the special measurement equipment developed in
ASCLab. They were among the first to establish a number of theoretical and basic
technological results (Sections 6.3–6.16) [11, 12]. The first manned HTS Maglev test
vehicle in the world, “Century”, was unveiled in ASCLab on December 31, 2000
[1]. All of the on-board melt-textured YBCO bulk superconductors were purchased
from Prof. Hong-Tao Ren’s group in GRINM in Beijing, China. They were fixed in
rectangle-shaped vessels with very thin soleplates.
The Maglev vehicle [1, 21] was 3.5 m long, 1.1 m wide, 0.9 m high and the PMG had a
length of 15.5 m. The net levitation height was more than 20 mm when five people sat
on the vehicle (about 630 kg including vehicle’s weight). Thereafter, the R&D of the
HTS Maglev vehicle had been continually receiving the investment from the National
863 Program.
On January 3, 2001, a press conference about “Century” was held in Southwest
Jiaotong University.
The National Committee of Experts in Superconductivity of the National 863
Program reviewed and approved the completed Maglev vehicle project on February
11, 2001. According to the National Committee of Experts in Superconductivity of
the National 863 Program, “This is a creative achievement via a long period of time
of hardworking. It has expanded the possibility of crossing over the development
about HTS Maglev technology.. .By hardworking of the group, China made an
important breakthrough of basic research in HTS Maglev application and other related