Investigation of magnetic force properties between different PMGs and multi-seeded YBCO superconductors with different seed distances

The magnetic levitation force in vertical direction and guidance force in lateral direction should be increased for enhancing the loading capacity and stability of Maglev systems, respectively. In this study, we have produced multi‒seeded YBCO (YBa2Cu3O7) superconductors with two seeds and investigated the effect of seed distance on the vertical levitation force and lateral guidance force properties by using different permanent magnetic guideway (PMG) arrangements. Although there are studies in literature related to different distance, orientation and angle of seeds; there is no detailed study investigating the effect of seed distance on the vertical and lateral magnetic force properties of Maglev systems depending on different types of PMGs. In this study, after the sample fabrication, the optimum PMG arrangement were determined by using numerical simulation to obtain magnetic flux density distribution. It is determined that both maximum levitation and guidance force values firstly increased with increasing the seed distance from 0 to 4 mm and then related forces decreased with increasing the seed distance from 4 to 16 mm but still keep the higher force values than the sample with the seed distances of 0 mm. This situation is clarified as the increasing of the seed distance to an optimum value enhances both the levitation and guidance forces simultaneously and this is very important for levitation force applications because it causes to easy control of the Maglev system in vertical and lateral directions.