The effect of test track wheel radius on the evaluation of linear eddy current braking performance of high-speed maglev train

Abstract

To study the braking performance of linear eddy current brake (LECB) for high-speed maglev trains, experimental studies are usually carried out using a track wheel with a finite radius and a track wheel eddy current brake (TWECB) with a certain radius of curvature. However, the geometrical differences between the two braking methods due to the track radius will lead to differences in their effective excitation air gap during operation. Therefore, the excitation air gap model and eddy current braking force model of TWECB and LECB are developed in this study. Through the excitation air gap model and eddy current braking force model proposed in this paper, the difference in braking performance between TWECB and LECB in the velocity domain and operating air gap domain can be obtained for different track radii. The correctness of the finite element analysis (FEA) method is verified by experimental data, and the eddy current density, braking force and air gap flux density formed by eddy current braking at different track radii are analysed using the finite element method. The results show that an appropriate test track radius can significantly improve the accuracy of TWECB in estimating the braking performance of LECB.