THE SUPERCONDUCTING PADDLEWHEEL AS AN INTEGRATED PROPULSION LEVITATION MACHINE FOR HIGH SPEED GROUND TRANSPORTATION

ABSTRACT

The rotary superconducting motor, RSM, is shown to provide economical propulsion as well as levitation on a thinner aluminum track than “conventional” repulsion magnetic suspension.

With the RSM, thrust and braking are provided by controlling the relative speed of rotation of the motor essentially independent of lift at all forward speeds.

Using thin-plate theory, the lift and drag forces on the rotary superconducting motor are evaluated as a function of the forward speed of the vehicle as well as the relative speed of rotation of the motor. Although significant power is dissipated in the track through eddy current losses, evaluation of the energy consumption of the RSM over a route profile of 750 km with 5 intermediate stops shows this propulsion levitation system to have an energy consumption of 0.76 MJ/seat-km - significantly lower than other means of propelling and levitating high speed ground transportation.