Title: Optimisation of permanent magnet array for magnetic levitation systems

Authors: Matthew Frost; Ryan McMullen; Ashraf Elbarbary

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA; Mechanical Design Department, Helwan University, Egypt

Abstract: This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to measure the maximum static force of attraction between an iron mass and configurations of 12.7 mm cube neodymium permanent magnets. A threeand five-magnet segment of the Halbach array was studied in which the inclination angles of the adjacent magnets were varied from 0° to 90° in increments of 15° for gap distances of 5.382 mm to 30.891 mm. Results show that between a 5.585 mm and 7.465 mm gap height, the force from a five-magnet configuration with inclination angles of 15° was measured to be, on average, 2.35% larger than a configuration with 0° angles. Between 7.465 mm and 30.891 mm, the force from a configuration with inclination angles of 0° was measured to be, on average, 10.0% larger than a configuration with 15° angles.

Keywords: magnetic levitation; Halbach array; maglev; Hyperloop; magnetic field strength; static magnetic force.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMSS.2022.131186

International Journal of Sustainable Materials and Structural Systems, 2022 Vol.6 No.1, pp.16 - 31

Received: 21 Apr 2021
Accepted: 02 Dec 2021
Published online: 01 Jun 2023 *

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