Conceptual Design of Electrodynamic Wheels Based on HTS Halbach Array Magnets

Maglev technologies have been extensively studied for modern transport systems; however, their main applications are limited to transportation systems with fixed tracks. On-road vehicles could have a broader outlook if combined with maglev technologies, for which electrodynamic wheels (EDWs) have provided a possible solution. Conventional EDWs are designed based on permanent magnets (PMs), which generate limited thrust and lift forces while having a low power density. In order to enhance the feasibility of EDWs in maglev vehicles, a novel design of EDWs based on high-temperature superconducting (HTS) Halbach array magnets (HAMs) has been proposed in this paper. The suggested design is made of the second generation (2G) superconducting coils, which have been modeled with the A-formulation and T-formulation based finite element methods. Simulation results show that the proposed HTS HAM EDW can generate higher thrust and lift forces, improve the magnetic flux density distribution in the airgap, and greatly reduce the weight of the magnets compared with the conventional design. This paper provides a possibility for future on-road maglev vehicles.