376 Ë 10 HTS Maglev launch technology
Fig. 10.2:The cross section of HTS REL system- Upper propulsion coil. 2. Left Maglev and
balance coil. 3. Right Maglev and balance coil. - Bottom propulsion coil. 5. Projectile. 6.
AC power supply. 7. DC power supply (W. Liu,
J.S. Wang, G.T. Ma, et al., unpublished data).
been verified by those launch test systems. The experimental results and analyses
indicate the HTS Maglev system is a good candidate for a REL launch system of very
high speed.
10.5 Concepts of HTS REL system
Based on the LTS REL system, J. S. Wang et al. proposed a new REL system with the
introduction of HTS technology (W. Liu, J.S. Wang, G.T. Ma, et al., unpublished data).
As Fig. 10.2 shows, the HTS REL system consisted of seven parts: parts 1 and 4 were the
Maglev and propulsion coils, respectively, which were used to produce the magnetic
field for suspension and propulsion; parts 2 and 3 were the balance coils, which were
used to produce a large magnetostatic field to counter the centrifugal force; part 5 was
the projectile, which was made of bulk HTSC and with a hollow center to store liquid
nitrogen or another cryogen. Through a special design of the configuration of the
magnetic field, the HTS projectile could maintain stable suspension with parts 2 and
3 coils because of the flux pinning ability. Furthermore, when the projectile suffered a
huge centrifugal force under high speed and produced a lateral displacement, a large
supercurrent would be induced within the projectile because of the large field gradient
from parts 2 and 3 coils. The supercurrent within the projectile combined with the
magnetic field from parts 2 and 3 coils would produce a huge magnetic force to counter
the centrifugal force.
To keep the stable suspension of projectile, the propulsion coils were designed
symmetrically in the vertical direction, as shown in Fig. 10.2. An eddy current would
be induced within the HTS projectile by the travelling wave field of parts 1 and 4
coils, which produced the propulsion forces. The propulsion coils require an AC power
supply, and the Maglev & balance coils required a DC power supply, as Fig. 10.2 shows.
The coils of parts 1-4 were fabricated with the HTS materials, which had a higher
working temperature and were convenient to the design configuration.
Figure 10.3 shows the top view of entire structure of the circular HTS REL system.
Part 1 is the balance guideway in the outlet barrel, which was used to keep stable
suspension of the projectile. Parts 2 and 4 are the acceleration segments. Part 3 is the
acceleration coil in the entrance barrel, which was used to accelerate the projectile to
its original speed. Part 3 also includes the balance guideway to keep stable suspension
of the projectile. Part 5 is the position detection device, which supplies the release