Passive Guidance Forces of Polarized Linear Motors Combined with Levitation Actuators Working in Partial Vacuum – Application to Swissmetro

Maglev (>400 km/h) refer to Maglev such as the Japanese JR-Maglev MLX, the German Transrapid and the USA Inductrack. The Swissmetro Project, presenting a unique aspect of Maglev, is designed to work under partial vacuum (400 km/h). The authors investigate the combination of the propulsion with the levitation. To minimize the heat due to the iron and copper losses, a polarized excitation is proposed with NdFeB PM for the magnetic way poles. This paper emphasis the determination of the passive guidance forces of the active magnetic way, based on 3D FEM analysis. The possibility, to use these passive forces to guide the vehicle, is presented. This paper describes the issues related to such technical choices.