Vandyke-Magnetic Levitation - Report

8/13/2019 Vandyke-Magnetic Levitation - Report

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AbstractMagnetic Levitation is a technology that has been

experimented with intensely over the past couple decades. It

wasnt until the last ten years when scientists began to developsystems that would use magnetic levitation as a means of

transport. This paper outlines the methods behind magneticlevitation, as well as the technologies implemented using the

levitation. The implementation of a largescale transportationsystem using magnetic levitation has huge social as well as

economical effects. These aspects are loo!ed at in a number ofsituations to see if the effort in producing a system usingmagnets is worth the time and effort in researching.

I. INTRODUCTION

ome forces in this world are almost invisible to the naked

eye and most people throuhout the world do not even

know they e!ist. On one side you could say that some of

these forces are abstract feelins inside of a human bein thathave been iven names from man. These forces could be

thins like emotion" uilt" and even ecstasy. On the other

side you have solid concrete principles of how the world

works. These too have been iven names by man" but these

principles are not abstract and have solid round in science.

These different principles are thins like ravity" electricity"

and manetism. #anetism has been a part of the earth since

the beinnin whether people reali$e it or not. It is due to the

manetism of the earth that the world spins and thus creates

thins like ravity. The manetism is created by the

processes within the core of the earth. The earth%s iron&ore

core has a natural spinnin motion to it inside which creates

a natural manetic force that is held constant over the earth.This creates manetic forces that turn the earth into a lare

bar manet. The creation of North and 'outh poles on the

earth are due to this field.

'

(rom this manetic field" we see thins such as the aurora

borealis. This is a small electromanetic storm in the

atmosphere which creates a display for all to see. Not only

does manetism provide us with ama$in natural displays"

but it also provides for us ama$in applications to society.

One of these applications is manetic levitation. #anetic

levitation uses the concept of a manets natural repulsion to

poles of the same kind. This repulsion has been harnessed

and controlled in an environment to help create a system of

transportation that is both economically sound and faster thenmost methods of transportation at this point.

In )*+, the Department of Commerce established the

-ih 'peed round Transportation /ct. #ost early work on

developin #alev technoloy was developed durin this

time. The earliest work was carried out by the 0rookhaven

National 1aboratory" #assachusetts Institute of Technoloy"

2

3evin 4an Dyke is in the 5nineerin 6roram at Calvin Collee in randRapids" #I 7*,7+ U'/ 8telephone +)+&7,9&9:,7" e&mail;kvd)).

(ord" 'tanford Research Institute" Rohr Industries" 0oein

/erospace Co." and the arrett Corporation. In the United

'tates" thouh" the work ended in )*" and the /rmy Corp developed

what is know as the National #alev Initiative which was a

two year @, million dollar proram to assess the enineerin"

economic" environmental and safety aspects of #alev.

II.0/'IC'O(#/N5TIC154IT/TION

A. Magnetic Fields

The creation of manetic forces is the basis of all manetic

levitation. The creation of a manetic field can be caused by

a number of thins. The first thin that it can be caused by is

a permanent manet. These manets are a solid material in

which there is an induced North and 'outh pole. These will

be described further a little later. The second way that an

manetic field can be created is throuh an electric field

chanin linearly with time. The third and final way to

create a manetic field is throuh the use of direct current.

There are two basic principles in dealin with the concept

of manetic levitation. The first law that is applied was

created by #ichael (araday. This is commonly known as(araday%s 1aw.

(iure ). #ichael (araday

This law states that if there is a chane in the manetic

field on a coil of wire" there is seen a chane in voltae.

Takin that a bit further" it could be said that if there was a

chane in voltae" then there would be a chane in manetic

field. This occurs in the coil when there is a current induced

as a result of that chane in voltae. (rom (iure @ below it

is illustrated that the chane in the manetic field produces a

current.

/n Introduction to #anetic 1evitation/nd it%s /pplications

3evin ?. 4an Dyke" StudentMember, IEEE

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(iure @. Induced Current from Chane in #anetic (ield

(or the purposes of manetic levitation the ability to

chane the strenth of a manetic field by Aust chanin the

current is powerful. If there is a need for more of a force"

then sendin more current throuh a coil of wires will

produce more of a reater manetic force.

The direction of the forces created by (araday%s 1aw was

discovered by a man named -einrich 1en$. -is theory states

that Bthe emf induced in an electric circuit always acts in such

a direction that the current it drives around the circuit

opposes the chane in the manetic flu! which produces the

emf.) In other words" this is statin that if there was a

current that was created in a coil of wires" then the manetic

field that is bein produced will be perpendicular the currentdirection.

(iure . -einrich 1en$

The application that this has on manetic levitation is that

this will allow the direction of the manetic field to be

predictable and thus a set up can be created for a specific

purpose to ma!imi$e the force that is created. This has direct

application to the rail un which will be described later.

(iure 7. 6erpendicular (orce from Induce Current

(rom (iure 7 above" it is illustrated that there is a coiled

wire around the cylinder. Inside that coiled wire is a current

that is travelin from left to riht. The resultin manetic

force from that current is shown to be perpendicular to the

current and is travelin from bottom to top.

B. Types of Magnetic Levitation

/lthouh the concepts of manetic levitation are all the

same" the way that those concepts are brouht about can vary.

These options are controlled and chaned dependin on the

type of application that is necessary.

! "ermanent MagnetsThe first type of levitation is the implementation throuh

permanent manets. These manets are made of a material

that creates a north and a south pole on them. This can be

seen in (iure ,.

(iure ,. 6ermanent #anet (ields

The formal definition of a permanent manet is Ba material

that retains its manetic properties after and e!ternal

manetic field is removed.@ The whole idea behind

permanent manets is that like ends will repel and opposite

ends will attract. 6ermanent manets reEuire very little if any

maintenance. These manets do not reEuire cryoens or a

lare power supply for operation. The manetic field is

measured vertically within the bore of the manet. The main

disadvantaes of a permanent manet are the cost of the

manet itself when put into lare scale systems. /notherdisadvantae is the varyin chanes in the manetic field.

The ability to control a constant manetic force from a

permanent manet is an on&oin problem in the application

of these types of manets. Different applications that use

these types of manets can be found in a number of different

areas. 5!amples of these applications are compasses" DC

motor drives" clocks" hearin aids" microphones"

speedometers" and many more.

#! Electromagnetic MagnetsThe basic idea behind an electromanet is e!tremely

simple. 0y runnin electric current throuh a wire" you can

create a manetic field. Fhen this wire is coiled around a

manetic material 8i.e. metal>" a current is passed throuhthis wire. In doin this" the electric current will maneti$e

the metallic core. This can be seen in (iure +.

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(iure +. 5lectromanet

0y usin this simple principle" you can create all sorts of

thins includin motors" solenoids" heads for hard disks"

speakers" and so on. /n electromanet is one that uses the

same type of principles as the permanent manet but only on

a temporary scale. This means that only when the current is

flowin is there oin to be an induced manet. This type of

manet is an improvement to the permanent manet because

it allows somebody to select when and for how lon the

manetic field lasts. It also ives a person control over how

stron the manet will be dependin on the amount of current

that is passed throuh the wire.$! Superconductive Magnets

The ideas presented behind superconductive manets are

the same principles that are at work in an #RI.

'uperconductive manets are the most common of all the

manets" and are sometimes called cryomanets. The idea

behind the superconductin manets is that there is a

material which presents no electrical resistivity to electrical

current. Once a current has been fed into the coils of this

material" it will indefinitely flow without reEuirin the input

of any additional current. The way that a material is able to

have such a low resistivity to current is that it is brouht to

very low temperatures. The temperatures that are commonly

found in superconductin manets are around &@,9 oC. Thisis done by immersin the coils that are holdin the current

into liEuid -eliumG this also helps in maintainin a

homoenous manetic field over time. The advantae to the

superconductin manet is that they don%t reEuire constant

power from a source to keep up the value of the current in the

coils. /lthouh a disadvantae is that they reEuire an

e!pensive cryoen such as helium to operate correctly. The

manetic field is in the direction of the lon a!is of the

cylinder or bore of the manet. 'ince the resistance in the

coils can cause the current to decay" cryoens reduce the

resistance to almost $ero" which will help maintain a

homoenous manetic field over time.

III. /661IC/TION'(OR#/N5TIC154IT/TION

A. %ovelty Toys

The most popular application for manetic levitation by far

has been throuh the novelty toys. This application has been

made possible because of how relatively ine!pensive it is to

manufacture a small manet for use with in a toy. /lon

with that is the actual display of the toy that ama$es people.

These are toys that not many people can e!plain. It

showcases a product that is defyin ravity without the use of

strins" or other hidden tricks.

! &lobesNovelty toys can be found everywhere when it comes to

manetic levitation. One of the most popular adets is the

manetic lobe. This is one that a lot of professionals keep

on their desks as a way of impressin people that come into

their office. These electromanetically suspended lobes are

actually hih&tech instruments. / manetic field sensor

permanently measures the heiht at which the lobes aresuspended. This sensor feeds that data into a micro computer

in the base of the unit. This computer than calibrates the

electronic manets at the top of the frame based on the

distance between the lobes and the top manet to keep the

lobes correctly positioned. 'o not only do these look reat on

the desktop levitatin in thin air" they are also technoloical

marvels. Once itHs levitatin" it can even be spun slihtly and

watch as the lobes rotate for e!tend periods of time. (iure

< below shows an e!ample of one of these manetic lobes.

(iure


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maintenance costs" mechanical and electronic comple!ity"

and operational stability. 'ome malev train cars" for

e!ample" employ superconductin coils to enerate their

manetic field. These coils reEuire e!pensive" cryoenic

coolin systems. These malev systems also reEuire

complicated feedback circuits to prevent disastrous

instabilities in their hih&speed operation. These social

implications will be described in its entirety later on in the

paper.

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#alev is a system in which the vehicle runs levitated from

the uide way 8correspondin to the rail tracks of

conventional railways> by usin electromanetic forces

between superconductin manets on board the vehicle and

coils on the round. The followin is a eneral e!planation

of the principle of #alev. There are many different

moderations of the technoloy used in levitatin train cars for

transportation" but the followin in the first e!ample. This

e!ample can be see in (iure 9" *" and ): below. In the first

fiure is where the principle of manetic levitation is

employed. In the picture you can see the fiure 9% of

levitation coils that are installed on the side walls of the uide

way. /lso from the fiure you can see that there are

superconductin manets attached to the vehicle itself. /s

the vehicle is movin at a hih rate of speed" there is an

electric current that passes throuh the coils only at the

instant that the vehicle is passin the coils. Once this

happens" this turns the coils into electromanets temporarily.

(iure 9. 6rinciple of #anetic 1evitation.

Once the electromanets are turned on" the interaction

between the coils on the uide way and the manets on the

vehicle allow the vehicle to stay levitated above the track for a

few centimeters. /s can be see from the fiure !!!" on the

side of the vehicle there is a manetic force actin to push the

vehicle up from the bottom" and at the same time there is a

force pullin it up from the top part of the coil. This process

is responsible for the levitatin aspect for the track.

The main task to complete for the system is to levitate the

vehicleG otherwise the technoloy is not breakthrouh at all.

0ut on the other hand there are a couple more important

thins to remember. Fith manetic forces there is anunstable force that needs to be contained to act efficiently. 'o

with this known" care must be take to make sure that the

vehicle does not slide from side to side. This is done by the

principle of 1ateral uidance. This is illustrated in (iure *

below.

(iure *. 6rinciple of 1ateral uidance.

The levitatin coils that are facin each other are

connected under the uide way. These coils are of the same

pole on the same side. /lthouh they alternate as you o

down the track. Fhen the train is movin and the vehicle is

overtop the coils" a current is sent throuh the coils to create

an electromanetic force. This force is then reactin with the

forces that are comin from the vehicle. Once the current is

runnin throuh the loops" a repulsive force acts on the coils

on the side nearest the car and an attractive force acts on the

coils furthest away from the car. /t first this may seem as

thouh the car is oin to be attracted to the side wall of the

uide way. The coils of the like pole are bein alternated

down the track so when one side is bein attracted at onepoint" once it ets a little further then it is bein repelled at

another point. This whole process that is happenin very fast

and only one set of coils is bein turned on at one point.

Thus while this car is bein ran" it is always located at the

center of the uide way.

Once you have the vehicle centered and floatin" then

there is the issue of how you will keep the vehicle movin

without the use of a propellant. /fter all that is the whole

idea for this technoloy" is that it will not use any propellants.

This idea is called the principle of propulsion. /ll throuh

the side of the uide way are coils that are alternatin north

and south poles as in the last case above. This can be seen in

the illustration in (iure ): below. ?ust as before themanets are only activated once the vehicle is passin by.

This whole process will save money in the end because of the

lack of power that is needed in runnin the manets all the

time. This also is necessary in the theory that is involved in

runnin the cars. If the manets were run all of the time" this

would create unnecessary and unpredictable results on the

outcome of the vehicle. 'uperconductin manets of unlike

kinds are also placed on the side of the car. The opposite

arranement is also seen on the other side of the car. The

propulsion coils located on the sidewalls are eneri$ed by a

three&phase alternatin current from a substation" creatin a

shiftin manetic field on the uide way.

(iure ):. 6rinciple of 6ropulsion.

Once this happens" the on&board superconductin manets

are attracted and repelled by the shiftin field. This shift in

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the field will provide the push necessary needed to et the car

movin. Once the car is movin the forces are present

already and acts as Aust to intensify the force that it started

with. This e!ponential increase in the forces creates the

acceleration for the hih speed runnin. /lthouh it doesn%t

et out of control because of the ability to turn on and off the

current in the coils as well as the amount of current that is

bein sent throuh.

This type of technoloy in the application of the #a1evsystem is the one that has been developed in ?apan already.

This system is already runnin and has been very successful.

0elow in (iure )) it is illustrated pf the track that this type

of system is runnin on.

(iure )). ?apanese uide ways

It can be seen from the picture that there is a lot of

development that went into the buildin of this type of

system. The walls alone carry the vital manetic coils

reEuired to levitate and stabili$ed the car. The problem that

is seen with this type of implementation is that there is a lot

of development that is needed to o into the walls because of

the vital coils with in the walls.

The type of application that the U.'. is considerin is a

type that has all of the vital components at the bottom of thevehicle and there are no walls on the tracks that will be

developed. The U.'. finds that this way there will be no need

for the walls and will save a lot of money in development.

The type of desin the U.'. is considerin is shown in (iure

)@. This desin can be implemented usin two different types

of manets. The one on the left is the type that uses

superconductin manets" and the one on the riht uses

electromanets.

(iure )@. Different Implementation of #a1ev

5ven thouh the two desins are different they both use the

same principles. The most popular of the desins that is

oin to be implemented is the superconductin. The way

that this works is that it uses powerful superconductin

manets mounted on the vehicles. The manets interact with

a uide way that is usually made of aluminum. Currents are

induced in the aluminum only when the vehicles manets are

directly overhead. This is Aust like the last system that was

described. This limits the amount of power that is used" and it

also limits the amount of electromanetic forces that could

result in unpredictable behavior. Once the currents are

runnin" then the electromanetic forces keep the vehicleelevated as well as stabili$ed aainst left and riht direction.

0y lookin at the fiure above" the manets can be seen to be

situated in such a way that they serve a dual role. The

manets are laid flat on the uide way for the levitatin.

They are also brouht up at a riht anle so that they are

raised vertical as well. This then allows the reaction of the

manetic forces to keep it centered on the track. Fith this

system built into both sides of the vehicles" the natural

repulsion of the manets on both sides naturally centers the

vehicle.

The uide ways are confiurable to maintain a stable

position or Bmanetic well. This is done by automatically

inducin stron restorin forces that will push the vehicle

back to its eEuilibrium position. The reason for this is that

there will be a need to combat forces that may try to tip or

throw the vehicle over the track. 'ome of those forces could

be wind that is perpendicular to the motion of the vehicle.

This would try to make the vehicle fall with a left to riht

motion. /nother force that could effect the tiltin is the

natural momentum that is created from takin a turn. This

can be combated with bankin of the turns" but there is only

so much bankin that can be done without creatin

discomfort to the passeners of the rail car. /n e!ample of

the restorin forces that could be used on the vehicles is that

there could be more current passed throuh the coils on the

riht side of the vehicles on a turn that oes to the left. In

doin this" it would create a more manetic force that would

try to push aainst the momentum of the vehicle in the

opposite direction. 0ut once the vehicle came out of the turn

the current would need to be turned down" otherwise the car

will be unbalanced and feel the need to tip over on its side.

The currents are carefully monitored by computers alon the

way for the seamless transfer of current between the different

manets and at different times.

#! Floaters 'Steel Industry Application!#anetic 1evitation doesn%t have to be used for only

transportation purposes. The principles behind manetic

levitation can be applied to manufacturin processes as well.

One e!ample of this would be for the steel industry. The waythat this industry uses this is throuh components called

floaters. /n e!ample of these floaters can be seen in (iure

) below.

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(iure ). (loaters in the 'teel Industry

The way that these are used are throuh the used of

manets to continually count and separate sheets of steel that

have already been processed. The reason that this method

was devised was because of the error that was bein seen on

the products that were comin throuh the line. Usin this

techniEue you have no human contact with the steel and also

no mechanical contact with the steel because of the sheets of

steel are levitatin above each other. These manetic sheet

floaters operate by the use of mutual manetic repulsion to

separate sheets in a stack. One of the advantaes to this type

of system is that it is able to handle clean" oily" or painted

sheets of steel when normally there would have needed time

to wait for the sheets to dry" clean the sheets off from the oil

that is on them" and also keep the sanitation of the sheets that

have already been clean. /lso it eliminates pryin"

scratchin" marrin" and bendin of costly stock. This will

also protect e!pensive dies" punches" shears" and formin

eEuipment.,"+

Fhen the sheet floaters are situated at opposite edes of theworkplace" the work pieces become maneti$ed by induction

with similar polarity and the top two or three work pieces

repel each other and float in the air. This also creates a neat

an easy way to stack the units of steel once they are in need to

packain.

The floater units contain an arranement of powerful

manets housed in an iron casin. These units can be housed

in both the vertical and hori$ontal stacks. It is most

commonly used in the hori$ontal direction for the smaller

sheets" and the vertical direction for the larer sheets.

$! (ail &uns 'electromagnetic propulsion!Railuns are by far the most spectacular type of

electromanetic accelerators ever developed. They hold therecord for fastest obAect accelerated of a sinificant mass" for

the )+:::mJs firin of a .) ram obAect by 'andia National

Research 1aboratoriesH +mm -ypervelocity 1auncher. They

can also propel obAects of very si$eable masses to eEually

impressive velocities." #a!well 1aboratories has been able to

fire a ).+ kiloram proAectile at :: mJs. The kinetic enery

produced from that type of acceleration is of * #ea Aoules of

enery. Their ability to propel obAects at speeds which are

simply impossible for conventional 8chemical or mechanical>

means makes them e!tremely useful for a rane of functions.

The most obvious one bein defense" where most of the

research money in this area comes from nowadays" but N/'/

has also been heavily fundin Railun research forhypervelocity impact simulations which will allow shields to

be developed which will protect orbitin aircraft from hih

velocity debris surroundin the earth. N/'/ is also

researchin the possibility of a launcher which would deliver

payloads into orbit at a fraction of the cost of a rocket launch.

'imilarly" other studies are under proress for the utili$ation

of Railuns in (usion (uel pellet InAectors for e!perimental

nuclear fusion reactors" and also for metallurical bondinG

the University of Te!as 8UT> in /ustin" identified that the

5lectromanetic 6owder Deposition 8by a railun> process is

capable of achievin a coatin of deposit material with bond

strenth eEual to the base material while achievin less than

K porosity. This is the process of propellin a mi!ture of

finely produced powder at an obAect. This powder would then

coat the obAect that it is bein shot at. 'ince the powder is

bein fired at such hih speeds" it is compacted aainst the

obAect very tihtly. This provides a coatin on the obAect that

if very fine. This should soon become a repair method for Aet

enine components" as similar processes are also beinemployed to produce e!tremely hih shock pressures on

collisions between unlike materials in an attempt to produce

new materials.

I L Current Throuh the Rails and Conductin

ObAect 8/mps>

1 L 1enth of the Rail 'eparation 8#eters>

0 L #anetic (ield 'trenth 8Teslas>

The direction of the force depends on the direction of the

current throuh the proAectile and the manetic field since the

force is truly a vector with direction dictated by the cross

product of the vector Euantities I and 0. (iure ), shows that

the direction of the force is orientated down the rails" away

from the power source.

(iure ),. Impact of #anetic (ield on the 6roAectile

/s seen from the picture above" the manetic field from

both of the rails is created from the current. This manetic

field then creates a field that is directed up and throuh the

rails. Usin the riht&hand rule it can be seen that the

direction of the obAect is directed out of the rail un.

/t this time there is not a lot of implementation for these

types of manetic uns. There is still a lot of research that

needs to be put into these types of systems. /lthouh a lot of

the applications for the rail uns have been tested and

prototypes have been built" there is still a lot before these

types of systems are put into common use. The technoloy is

still new to the market" so this means there will be a lot of

work and money to produce these at such in a mass

production settin. The maAor applications that are bein

developed from this technoloy use different variations of the

same ideas. (or e!ample a lot of electromanetic propulsion

systems are bein put onto aircraft carriers" and other systems

to launch lare obAects in such a small frame of time. There

is also the advantae of achievin such a lare burst of

acceleration with so little chemical resources.

I4. 'OCI/1I#6/CT'O(#/N5TIC154IT/TION

A. Economic Tradeoffs

! Trac) (ail System'ince the first track system in /merica was laid down in

)9@+" trains have been a vital part of life for all. Fhether or

not it is reali$ed" all people depend on the track and rail

system in one way or another. That may be Aust from

travelin" products that are bein transported" or fossil fuels

bein transported. 'ince the development of efficient cars

and planes" thouh" there has been a decrease in the use of

rail systems here in /merica. The 5uropeans have lon since

adapted a uniEue need for the track and rail system. 0ecause

of the close pro!imity of all cities with in the 5uropean

community" it has been possible to create an efficient

interconnected system of track for use. /merica%s need for

the track and rail system has been decreased because of urban

sprawl. The distance between maAor cities in the U.'. is so

reat in some instances that it would be outraeous to take a

train. The distance between the east coast and the west coastis so reat" that there is almost no way to take a train that

distance without it takin over three days. This is when

people decide that the better option would be to take the

plain. This is one of the biest complaints about the current

track and rail system. The time that it takes to et anywhere

in a train is not worth it. The airport has lon been the

preferred path because of the short time that it takes to et

somewhere.

/nother complaint with the current track and rail system

was noise and chemical pollution that are produced. It is

commonly known that the property near the tracks is oin to

be cheaper then the property away from the tracks. The

reason for this is that there is immense noise from the tracks

when a train is oin by. The current system is Aust too noisy

to place near any city because of the noise. Cities in the U.'.

do not like a loud track system runnin throuh any

residential areas in the city. That is why there are limited

track and rail systems in the U.'. and if there are" they are

found mostly in the downtown area. The chemical pollution

is also a lare complaint over the current system. The

amount of fossil fuels needed to propel enines on a track

system is reat. ?ust like a car" there are also emissions from

the runnin of the car that need to be worried about.

(rom these complaints there would naturally be a need tocreate a system that both cuts down the time spent on a trainand also cuts down on the emissions that are created. This

system is the manetic levitation system.9"*

#! AirportsThe first application of manetically levitated

transportation was found in airports. The reason that it was

first started here was because the technoloy was able to be

implemented on a much smaller scale. It would et a lot of

used because of the number people that o throuh the

airport" so it seemed like an ideal testin round. It was also

chosen because of the overcrowdin that has been seen in the

last decade at airports. /s noted in the (ederal /viation

/dministration%s 8(//%s> @::) /irport Capacity

5nhancement 6lan; BIn recent years rowth in air passener

traffic has outpaced rowth in aviation system capacity. /s a

result" the effects of adverse weather or other disruptions tofliht schedules are more substantial than in years past.

This is sayin that the eneral population is usin air traffic

more and more" while airports are stayin the same si$e.

This overcrowdin is becomin a lare problem especially

when any delay is becomin more sinificant because the

number of people that it is affectin is rowin. (rom )**,

to @:::" operations increased by )) percent" enplanements by

)9 percent" and delays by *: percent. 9 Fith the heihtened

security that followed the 'eptember ))" @::)" terrorist

attacks" round delays have e!panded the problem. The


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obvious ways to reduce delays is to e!pand airport capacity.

/lthouh this sounds easy enouh" e!pansion has

encountered determined public opposition and dauntin costs.

(rom there" the obvious solution is to bein implementin the

manetically levitatin systems to alleviate some of the

burden that is put on the airports.

$! Magnetic (ail Systems/merica pioneered the technoloy of levitatin

superconductin transportation in the +:s and the track was

researched. (or this study" it was shown that this track would

be able hold" in volume" the eEuivalent of appro!imately ten

lanes of speed hihway traffic that can be developed on

e!istin riht of ways. 0uildin hihways to handle such avolume would reEuire new rihts&of&ways hundreds of feet

wide" which is unreasonable.

/ number of benefits can be acEuired from the

implementation of the #alev system. The first benefit bein

improved enery efficiency and security. Currently the U.'.

imports over half of its petroleum which results in over ,:

billion dollars in that import alone. In (iure )


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(iure )9. 6assener 5nery ReEuired

In eneral it was found the automotives reEuired over two

times more enery input for a passener" and airplanes used

over four times more enery.

/nother benefit that could come about as a result of this

system would be reduced air pollution. (iure )* shows the

amount of pollutants that are released in the air year.

The fiure shows the comparison of pollutants released for

three different transportation systems. The white bar is the#alev system" the ray bar is automotive" and the black bar

is airplane. (rom the raph it shows that the #alev system

is lower in si! out of the seven areas for pollutants. In a time

when the reenhouse effect is a bi concern no the

environment" the reduction of Carbon Dio!ide would be a bi

help for the environment.

(iure )*. 6ollutants Released by Transporation

The last part about the #alev system is one that causes a

lot of concern for people because there is not a lot of

information known about it. That is the effects that

electromanetic fields 85#(> have on people. This is an area

of concern because the whole system is built on the concept of

manets and its sole purpose is to transport people on it. The

effects of these forces must be studied. 'ome studies have

shown that the level of 5#( that occur durin operation in

the cabin and alon the wayside have been on the same

manitude as those that are comin form the earth itself.

They are also on the same level or lower then different

household products. /lthouh this sounds ood" there should

still be some concern. It has been found that DC manetic

fields can sinificantly e!ceed acceptable limits" and

measures will have to be taken to reduce these levels or shield

passeners and bystanders from their effects. In the

implementation of these systems" e!istin Department of

-ealth and -uman 'ervice rules reardin electromanetic

emissions must be considered. 6ossible e!posure to lare

5#(s can cause cancer" alterations to the nervous system and

reproductive system" trier bioloical responses to critical

functionin cells" and it affects fatiue" alertness" and reactiontime. /lthouh there is no very solid evidence of lare 5#(s

with these systems" the effects on humans of this e!posure are

lare enouh to make sure there are proper measures taken to

protect them.

B. Aest*etic Appeal

! Sound#ost cities have one complaint when they are proposin

the establishment of a rail system. This one complaint is the

sound of the rail system. #ost people complain about the

sounds of a rail system as it oes by. This is one reason that a

lot of properties are cheapest when they are close to the rails.

5very time a rail car oes by" there is a lot of noise that is

enerated. The #a1ev system that is bein developed is thecomplete opposite of that when it comes to sound. The

traditional rail system comes into contact with the rails the

whole time that that the train is runnin. The #a1ev

system is one that always stays a distance away from the track

at all time. This alone cuts away on the noise due to the

contact of the rails.

/erodynamic factors are the principle noise contributors

for these types of transportation systems. /s mentioned

before" traditional rail system%s noise comes from the

wheelJrail interaction and propulsion systems.

To put this more into perspective" the #alev system%s

decibel levels were compared to that of other loud

transportation methods. The sound levels for the #alevsystem were found to be *: to ):: decibels in intensity. The

intensity of a lare truck is *: decibelsG where as the intensity

of a Aet takin off is ):, decibels. This means that the

manetic systems will not be entirely Euite. They will be

Euieter than the traditional systems. /lso when compared to

other methods of transportation" the #alev system is still on

the lower end of the spectrum.

#! Sig*t The unsihtly ideals that come with a rail system will still

be present in a social environment. The rails will still have to

be there. Mou will still have cars comin and oin from a

main location as well as on the tracks. Mou will also need the

wires and communication lines that o alon with the tracks.'ince these units use a lot of power for the electromanets"

there will be increased demand for power lines on the track

system.

+. &overnment +ontracts

! Support from &overnment Agenciesovernments have been a maAor player in the development

of manetically levitated transportation systems. 0ecause of

the maAor costs that are associated with the research and

development of these types of systems" no private sector

would have the ability to fund this. In ermany" the

*


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overnment set aside over ) billion dollars for the

development and implementation of test tracks. The

overnment in ?apan invested over billion dollars for the

development of their systems. These were two e!amples of

overnments that actually have test tracks up and runnin.

/s can be seen from the dollar values" it takes a lot of money

to implement. On the other side of the spectrum is where the

United 'tates stands. /lthouh they have spent money on the

research" it does not compare to the numbers iven from theerman and ?apanese overnments. Overall" the U.'. has

spent ), million dollars total on the -ih 'peed round

proram" where only @. million dollars actually went to

#alev development. If the U.'. wants to et more involved

with this type of technoloy" it is oin to take a lot more

dedication of funds to complete the proAect.

#! Environmental Support &roups5arlier the year" the city of 6ennsylvania awarded a roup

a ,.@ million dollar contract that will ive them the riht to

do an environmental study on the proposed site that runs

from 6ittsburh /irport to reensbur. It would be a 7< mile

test track and would be one of the first full scale systems to be

implemented in the United 'tates. /s far as the concerns

about the proAects" environmental roups have mi!ed feelins

on the subAect. On one hand the roups like the fact that

there is a cleaner and more efficient use of travel. 0ut on the

other hand there is a concern over the use of land to construct

these types of structures that will allow the systems to run.

#entioned earlier were the structures that would like to be

set&up on the hihways. This sort of eye sore does not set

well with environmental roups. -ihways alon are

considered and intrusion on the landscape" so if there were to

be lare concrete structures holdin manetic tracks" this

would not be looked upon as well.

4. CONC1U'ION

The idea of a force that one cannot see reEuires a little faith

to understand. To ride on a train that is defyin ravity will

take a little bit more faith. #anetic levitation is a

technoloy that is still bein newly developed. There is no

tellin what the future holds for these types of applications.

The current applications that rane from the toys to military

eEuipment are important in the development of new and more

efficient ideas. Development into these new ideas will

provide a push into commerciali$in superconductors for

electric power eneration" transmission and storae. This

enery storae is the latest in technoloy from manetic

technoloy. This has come about from the demand and need

for a reliable power system for day&to&day operation. This

system utili$es lare superconductin coils for power in times

of outaes or power sas.

Fhether these types of technoloies will later be used as

common as the house hold liht switch" it is too early to tell.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the research

and a lot of money needs to be devoted to the cause.

/lthouh with careful education and research this clean"

plentiful" and friendly way of producin force could prove to

be a valuable asset to many developin technoloies.

"evin #. $an %y!e 8'tudent#ember%:@> 3evin wasborn in rand Rapids" #I in /uust of )*9@. -e hasattended private Christian 'chools for both elementaryand hih school. In @::: 3evin entered CalvinCollee to pursue a career in 5lectrical and Computer5nineerin. -e will raduate in #ay @::7 with a0'55. (ollowin raduatin he will be startinemployment at (eyen&ylstra in the rand Rapids areaworkin with Controls and /utomation.

R5(5R5NC5'

):


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)en.wikipedia.orJwikiJ1en$Hslaw@ www.otherpower.comJlossary.html www.thinkeek.comJcubeoodiesJtoysJ+)da7www.rtri.or.ApJrdJmalevJhtmlJenlishJmalevframe5.html,www.rochestermanet.comJdevicesJdevices.htm+ www.eclipse&manetics.co.ukJTools/nd0asesJ)@77.htm

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Vandyke-Magnetic Levitation - Report