198 Ë 6 First manned HTS Maglev vehicle in the world
PMG cannot be precisely measured. Figure 5.8 shows the measuring system for the
levitation forces of two on-board HTS Maglev equipments over two NdFeB PMGs. In
order to accurately test the levitation forces of two parallel on-board HTS Maglev
equipments, a three-dimensional force sensor was used. The interference of the two
force components in the horizontal plane must be eliminated at the same time of
the measurement. The measurement results showed that the total levitation forces of
two parallel on-board HTS Maglev equipments were in agreement with the sum of two
single on-board HTS Maglev equipments. We confirmed that the vehicle performance
could be achieved completely through this test before the completion of the HTS
Maglev vehicle – the “Century” system.
6.17 First manned HTS Maglev vehicle in the world –
“Century” [1, 2]
One of the prospective applications of HTS YBCO bulk superconductors is the
superconducting Maglev vehicle [45–59]. The Maglev concept using HTS bulk had
been demonstrated by the Beijing Small Model [55, 58] through the cooperation
between China and Germany. There was no report about manned HTS Maglev vehicle
at that moment, since the HTS Maglev vehicle is a large system rather than a small
model. At that time, developing a manned HTS Maglev was very challenging.
With the improvement of the preparation technology of YBCO bulk, melt-textured
YBCO bulk was made that could achieve higher critical current density and trapped
magnetic flux density. The HTS Maglev measurement system SCML-01 had been
developed successfully (see Chapter 5), and a series of valuable research results had
been obtained with this test device. The PMG, the rectangular liquid nitrogen vessel
with large size and thin bottom, and the on-board HTS Maglev equipment had been
developed successfully. Substantial progress in theoretical and experimental research
had finally made the development of the manned HTS Maglev vehicle possible.
In accordance with the requirements of the National 863 Program, after the
research results of HTS Maglev had met the prerequisite conditions, the manned HTS
Maglev vehicle system project was approved. In January 14–15, 2000, Zhong-Xian Zhao
presided over the conference for the HTS Maglev vehicle demonstration program in
Southwest Jiaotong University. Experts confirmed that the early research results had
reached the expected target and unanimously approved the development scheme for a
manned vehicle system proposed by Jia-Su Wang et al. The R&D of the Maglev vehicle
system formally started.
Before the breakthroughs in HTS theory and basic technology on HTS Maglev
over a PMG, the design of the HTS Maglev vehicle system was considered. Once the
previous research results were recognized by our fellow scientists, immediately we
began to implement the system development plan. The design, processing, assembly,
and debugging for the manned HTS Maglev vehicle system were completed in 2000.