Dynamic Characteristics and Working Modes of Permanent Magnet Electrodynamic Suspension Vehicle System Based on Six Wheels of Annular Halbach Structure

A novel type of suspension system for maglev vehicles using six permanent magnet electrodynamic wheels (EDW) and conductor plate has been designed. It has the advantages of high speed, environmental protection, and a low turning radius. Differing from existing maglev vehicles, this paper proposes a new maglev vehicle utilizing six EDWs to respectively provide driving force and levitation force. This structure can keep the levitation force at a large constant value and obtain enough driving force at low rotational speeds by adjusting the motor speed. First, the structure of the electrodynamic wheel is given. The accuracy and validity of the FEM results are verified by the experiments. Moreover, based on the finite element method (FEM), the optimal structure of the EDWs is obtained with the objective of maximum levitation force. Then, the simplified electromagnetic force model is obtained by using MATLAB Toolbox. Third, using a co-simulation of Simulink and Adams to design and build a 1:50 maglev vehicle model, this article studies the dynamic response characteristics of the maglev vehicle model from the perspective of dynamics and proposes a feedback control strategy by adjusting the rotational speed to control the maglev vehicle. This paper also proposes a method to realize the car’s pivot steering to reduce the car’s turning radius and help the drivers pass narrow road sections. This article verifies the feasibility of the maglev vehicle with six EDWs and is expected to provide a certain reference for the development of permanent magnet electrodynamic suspension vehicles.