Superconducting YBCO Magnetic Levitation Train☆

Ludwig Schultz, IFW, Dresden, Germany

Md M Arafat, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh
r 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1 Introduction 1
2 Superconducting Levitation Train 1
2.1 Magnetic Track 2
2.2 Levitated Vehicle 2
2.3 Melt-Textured Superconducting YBCO 3
2.4 Propulsion System 3
3 Positional Stability of Levitated Vehicles 3
4 Further Features and Possible Applications 3
5 Summary 5
References 5
Further Reading 5

1 Introduction

Superconductor materials are capable of carrying current without any resistance and electricity can flow indefinitely. A variety of
materials show superconducting properties such as metals including aluminum (Al), cadmium (Cd), gallium (Ga), indium (In),
niobium (Nb), tin (Sn) (Matthias et al., 1963) etc; compounds including Ba8Si46 (Rachi et al., 2006), Nb3Al (Matthias et al., 1963),
Nb3Sn (Matthias et al., 1954), MgB2 (Erdem et al., 2017) etc and some ceramics including YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) (Fuchs et al., 1997;
Gruss et al., 2001), GdBa2Cu3Ox (Miryala and Koblischka, 2014), etc. However, the zero resistance state of superconducting
materials only occur at temperatures below a critical temperature which is known as superconducting transition temperature (Tc).
Another remarkable feature of superconducting materials is their ideal diamagnetic behavior, i.e., external magnetic fields are
expelled from the superconducting body by electrical surface currents. This phenomenon of superconducting materials are being
used in various applications such as superconducting motors and generators (Gawalek et al., 1994; Liu et al., 2017), flywheel
energy storage systems (Lee et al., 2011), transportation systems (Wen et al., 2007), contactless bearings (Lee et al., 2011; Patel
et al., 2011, 2012), space launch (Yang et al., 2007), etc.
Out of all the applications of superconducting materials, superconducting levitation train might be an attractive transport
system in the near future, as the vehicle only needs energy for cooling and propulsion (Rosenzweig et al., 2012). Such magnetic
transport system is levitated in space with no support other than magnetic field. The gravitational or any other acceleration is
counteracted in such transport system by the use of magnetic force. As a result, superconducting transport system requires only to
overcome the air friction and this allows them extended maintenance free service life with high efficiency and very high speed. On
the other hand, the highest speed in conventional wheeled trains is limited by friction, wear, tear, electric pickup etc.
Due to the invention of high-temperature superconductors and tremendous improvement of the quality of melt-textured
YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) samples (Fuchs et al., 1997; Gruss et al., 2001), a completely new class of superconducting permanent
magnets become available for various applications (Schultz et al., 2002). The YBCO achieves superconducting state at temperatures
below 1811C, which can be achieved inside a liquid nitrogen bath (Fuchs et al., 1997; Gruss et al., 2001; Stephan et al., 2004).
Such cooling material is easy to obtain and cheap in comparison with liquid helium (He). This makes YBCO material suitable and
viable for the construction of magnetic levitation train (Stephan et al., 2004). This phenomenon of YBCO will allow completely
new solutions for linear and rotational transport due to their ability to freeze-in at any given magnetic field configuration. Some of
the first applications of YBCO could be clean-room transportation systems, logistics systems and magnetic bearings. Beside this,
track-bound individual traffic network seems to be attractive application of YBCO superconductor in the future. The Movie clip
(Movie 1) demonstrates a model railway vehicles using YBCO superconductor.
Supplementary material related to this article can be found online at doi:10.1016/B978-0–12-803581-8.11220-2.
Movie 1 Demonstration of a model railway using YBCO superconductor.

2 Superconducting Levitation Train

Two issues involved in the superconducting levitation train which are (1) “lifting force” to levitate the vehicle against gravity or any
other acceleration and (2) “stability” so that the vehicle do not slide or flip on the track (Magnetic Levitation, 2017). To achieve

☆
Change History: December 2017. Md M. Arafat revised the entire article, and updated the Title, Introduction, and References sections, added the Abstract,
Summary and Section 2.4.

Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-8.11220-2 1

2 Superconducting YBCO Magnetic Levitation Train

these in superconducting levitation train, various components such as magnetic track, levitated vehicle, melt-textured super-
conducting YBCO samples and propulsion system are required. These components in superconducting levitation train are dis-
cussed in details in the following sections.

2.1 Magnetic Track

A magnetic track is required to provide the guide-way to superconducting transport system. It is characterized by a magnetic
field having strong gradient perpendicular to the track and homogeneous along the driving direction (Schultz et al., 2005).
The simplest possible construction of a magnetic track in superconducting transport system is shown in Fig. 1. Three rows of
permanent magnets are alternately poled as north/south/north or vice versa as shown in Fig. 1(a). The bottom side of the
permanent magnets is attached with soft-magnetic iron sheet, which works as a magnetic flux collector. Due to this con-
figuration, the magnetic field distribution penetrates above the space of the magnetic track. Example of such magnetic field
distribution of Nd-Fe-B magnets is shown in Fig. 1(b). Similar magnetic field distribution can also be created by more
sophisticated combination of hard and soft magnetic materials (Weh et al., 1995) or by electromagnets (Weh et al., 1994).
The prototypes of superconducting transport systems having magnetic track as shown in Fig. 1 was also demonstrated by
other researchers (Weh et al., 1995).

2.2 Levitated Vehicle

The levitated model railway vehicle contains melt-textured superconducting YBCO samples as shown in the Movie clip. The YBCO
samples are placed in a container, which is filled with liquid nitrogen. The superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of YBCO is
1811C. So, at temperatures below 1811C, the YBCO become superconducting (Stephan et al., 2004; Fuchs et al., 1997; Gruss et al.,
2001). When the vehicle is placed on the magnetic track, the magnetic flux from the permanent magnets cannot penetrate into the
superconducting YBCO material. The YBCO together with the vehicle are locked in the space and surrounded by the magnetic flux
above the magnetic track. For this reason, the vehicle remains levitated in space as shown in Fig. 2. To keep the vehicle in stable position,
it is important to obtain materials with high pinning forces. The YBCO shows an extraordinary strong pinning effect which make them
suitable for magnetic levitation applications (Gruss et al., 2001; Tomita and Murakami, 2003). It should be noted that beside YBCO,
other diamagnetic materials such as graphite (Simon et al., 2001), MgB2 (Erdem et al., 2017), GdBa2Cu3Ox (Miryala and Koblischka,
2014), etc., can be used in levitated vehicles.

Fig. 1 (a) Schematic view of the magnetic track consisting of three permanent magnets and (b) the magnetic field distribution above the track.
 Superconducting YBCO Magnetic Levitation Train 3

Fig. 2 Model railway locomotive which is running above a magnetic track.

2.3 Melt-Textured Superconducting YBCO

The superconducting YBCO samples are prepared by means of a specific melt crystallization method (melt texturing) which allows
samples to be prepared having diameters of up to 2 in. with good reproducible quality (Krabbes et al., 2000). The process starts
from suitable precursor powders which are ground with additives and pressed, then subjected to a modified melt crystallization
process. The use of seed crystals allows the production of single-domain samples without large-angle grain boundaries, which
interrupt the superconducting current. The as-grown material contains inclusions of a second phase as well as Zn impurities which
are essential for flux pinning (Gruss et al., 2001).

2.4 Propulsion System

The magnetic levitation train receives its propulsion force from a linear motor, which does not use the mechanical coupling for the
rectilinear movement (Lee et al., 2006). Therefore, the structure of linear motor is simple and robust as compared with the rotary
motor (Sen, 1975; Albicini et al., 1993; Sakamoto and Shiromizu, 1997). The linear synchronous motor (LSM) has advantages
over the linear induction motor (LIM), since LSM can work with bigger air gaps with simple control system. By passing current
through the propulsion coils on the ground, a magnetic field (north and south poles) is produced. Thus, the vehicle is propelled
forward by the attractive force of opposite poles and the repulsive force of same poles acting between the ground coils and the
superconducting magnets built into the vehicle.

3 Positional Stability of Levitated Vehicles

The position of the levitated superconductor vehicle in the magnetic valley on the magnetic track is unstable. This problem can be
solved if the superconductor vehicle is placed into the magnetic field at a distance from the track which can be freely positioned by
a distance holder. The distance holder could be any nonmagnetic material which is capable of moving at a distance of 2 to 8 mm
above the track. The distance holder is capable of working at temperatures above the superconducting transition temperature (Tc)
as described in Superconducting Permanent Magnets: Principles and Results. Upon cooling to temperatures below Tc, the magnetic flux
splits up into flux lines inside the superconducting material. Due to the effective pinning of the flux lines by the defects in the
sample, the magnetic flux is trapped in the superconductor in the same configuration as given by the magnetic field above the
track. After trapping the magnetic flux, the distance holder can be removed and the superconductor vehicle stays stable at this
position on magnetic track. Any change in position of the vehicle creates free magnetic poles and a resulting stray field. Therefore,
the superconductor is in thermodynamically stable at the position where it was cooled to below Tc. As a consequence, the stability
of the superconducting vehicle on the magnetic track is high. Since these vehicles are not bound with the track by gravity or friction
but by locking in space with magnetic flux, they provide supreme curve stability. In the Movie clip, this is demonstrated by using a
slightly thermally insulated YBCO sample, which is locked in the magnetic field of a short linear track. The track can be placed at
any position including overhead, where the vehicle is locked in position inside the magnetic field along the track. Accordingly,
hanging sideways or hanging contactless vehicles (Fig. 3) can be built by adopting this concept of levitation transport as shown in
the Movie clip.

4 Further Features and Possible Applications

Since the magnetic track provides levitation and stable position along the track, grooves in the track are not required. Therefore,
contrary to any conventional wheel track system, the track can be integrated into a completely flat surface. Using electromagnetic
tracks, extremely fast switching (in the range of several millisecond) can be operated, which would, for example, enable an ultrafast
4 Superconducting YBCO Magnetic Levitation Train

Fig. 3 Model railway locomotive hanging contactless below a magnetic track.

Fig. 4 Photograph of an elevator stabilized by superconducting magnetic bearings (CLEANLIFT CL 01) and driven by a linear motor - the first
working model of a superconductor-based contactless lift.

distribution system for logistics. The total weight of the superconducting vehicle could be largely reduced by means of ultra-light
weight construction, since the stability is given by the magnetic force from the track and not by the center of mass in the vehicle.
Since, the drive do not rely on friction, but it is provided by a linear electric motor, steep slopes can be overcome by the vehicle.
This allows fewer tunnels in the track construction in mountainous regions. Beside this, such constructions allow very high-
levitated loads.
The levitation force is mainly limited by the available fields generated by the permanent magnets in the track. The upper limit
of the levitation pressure achievable for a conventional permanent magnet with a surface field of 0.4 T is 25 N cm 2. However, the
superconducting levitation forces could be improved considerably if the ferromagnetic magnets is replaced by YBCO permanent
magnets. Levitation pressures F/A (F: levitation force; A: area of the magnet) up to 5000 N cm 2 are expected between a YBCO
magnet with a trapped field as high as 11 T and a YBCO sample in the zero-field cooling mode operated at temperatures
below 40K.
 Superconducting YBCO Magnetic Levitation Train 5

There are several possible applications for superconducting YBCO transport systems such as transport in clean rooms of
microelectronics factories, where the contactless motion would not create any wear debris, in logistic systems in track-bound
individual traffic network and in elevators (Schultz et al., 2002). In Fig. 4, such an elevator (the CLEANLIFT CL 01) is shown, which
is positioned along six magnetic tracks by YBCO superconductors and driven by a linear motor without any contact.

5 Summary

Then superconducting materials are locked in space when placed inside a magnetic field at temperatures below the super-
conducting transition temperature (Tc). The magnetic flux is repelled from the surface of superconducting materials. This phe-
nomenon is used for the applications of magnetic levitation. The development of high temperature superconducting YBa2Cu3O7
(YBCO) material opens the door of various sophisticated engineering applications including superconducting levitation train. The
YBCO become superconductive at temperatures below 1811C, which is achievable by liquid nitrogen. Beside this, the high
magnetic flux pinning characteristics of YBCO is particularly suitable for the stability retention of the levitated vehicle. The possible
future applications of superconducting YBCO transport system are ultra-fast switch, clean room transportation, elevators and
logistic systems in track-bound individual traffic network.

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Further Reading
Chen, I.G., Hsu, J.C., Jamn, G., Lin, C.E., Wu, M.K., 1997. Magnetic levitation/suspension system by high-temperature superconducting materials. J. Appl. Phys. 81 (1997),
4272–4274.