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SUMMARY OF THE 2 ND GENERATION MAGLEV 2000 SYSTEMGordon Danby and James Powell

Maglev 2000

August 15, 2006

Following the publication of Powell and Danbys work on a new mode of transport basedon magnetically levitated and propelled vehicles, R&D efforts on Maglev (MagneticLevitation) transport began in a number of countries around the World. As detailed intheir publications in the 1960s and 70s, and in their original 1968 patent the first patenton superconducting Maglev the new mode of transport has many major advantages.Maglev is:

Powered by electricity, not oil Clean and non-polluting Much more energy efficient that autos and airplanes Not a contributor to global warming, by using electricity from nuclear and

renewable energy sources Not subject to delays due to weather and/or congestion Lower in travel cost than other modes of transport Much safer than highway travel Economically productive, through faster and cheaper transport, and elimination of

delays due to congestion and weather

In recognition of their contributions in Maglev, Danby and Powell were awarded theFranklin Medal for Engineering in April 2000 by the Franklin Institute. Previousrecipients of the Franklin Medal have included Tesla, Steinmetz, and Einstein. Powelland Danbys Franklin Award lecture on Maglev given at the Institute is attached.

U.S. development on Maglev stopped in the early 1970s, due to a government assessmentthat the existing U.S. transport modes autos, trucks, and airplanes would continue tobe sufficient into the far future. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan attempted to restartU.S. Maglev development in 1990. At his request, Danby and Powell co-chaired aMaglev Task Force. The resultant legislation, which authorized a 900 million dollarR&D program for Maglev passed the Senate, but died in the House of Representativesdue to lobbying by vested transport interests.

Major development efforts on Maglev in Japan and Germany have culminated incommercially ready 1 st generation systems. The Japanese Railways (JR) maglev system

is based on the original superconducting Maglev inventions of Powell and Danby. At theJR guideway system in Yamanishi, Japan, Maglev vehicles operate at speeds up to 360miles per hour and have carried a total of over 50, 5000 passengers.

The German Transrapid Maglev system has operated for many years at its test guidewayin Emsland, Germany. The Worlds first commercial Maglev route, using the Transrapidsystem began operation in Shanghai, China between the center of the city and its airport.


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Unlike the JR. Maglev system, which uses powerful superconducting magnets, theTransrapid Maglev system uses conventional electromagnets with substantial electricpower input to the magnet windings. JR Maglev operates with a large gap,approximately 4 inches (10 centimeters), between the high-speed vehicles and theguideway. Transrapid Maglev operates with a small gap, approximately 3/8 inch (1

centimeter), between the high-speed vehicles and the guideway.In contrast, Transrapid Maglev vehicles are inherently unstable. As the gap between thevehicle electromagnets and the iron rails located on the guideway above decreases fromits 1-centimeter design value, the attractive upwards levitation force grows stronger. Toprevent the vehicle from hitting the guideway, the current in the vehicles electromagnetsis servo controlled on a very fast time scale, i.e., a few thousandths of a second. As thegap narrows, magnet current is decreased; as the gap increases, magnet current isincreased.

Implementation of the Japanese and German Maglev systems has been hindered by twomajor factors:

1. Guideway construction cost is very high, on the order of 50 to 60 million dollarsper 2-way mile.

2. The systems can only carry passengers, substantially limiting revenue potential.

Following the failure in 1992 to pass Maglev R&D legislation, Senator Moynihansucceeded in the mid 90s in passing legislation authorizing studies of potential routes fordeployment of a Maglev system. 7 potential routes were selected for study. Six of theseinvolved use of the Transrapid system. The 7 th study involved study of a route in centralFlorida, using the 2 nd generation Maglev 2000 system.

The 2nd generation M-2000 system is based on the new patented Maglev inventions of Powell and Danby. Briefly, these include:

1. Quadrupole superconducting magnets2. Prefabricated low cost narrow beam guideway3. Transport of heavy trucks by Maglev4. Use of existing railroad tracks for levitated Maglev vehicles

Quadrupole superconducting magnets have several advantages over the simple dipolesuperconducting magnets used by the 1 st generation Japanese Maglev systems, includingthe ability to:

a) Travel on both narrow beam guideways and planar guideway, and to smoothlytransition between the two configurations

b) Lift much heavier loads than Japanese Maglev vehicles can, because thequadrupole magnets can be placed along the full length of the vehicles withoutsubjecting passengers to excessively high magnetic fringe fields. The JapaneseMaglev system locates their superconducting dipole loops at the ends of thevehicle, to reduce the strength of the Magnetic fringe fields experienced bypassengers. This limits their lift capability.


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c) Operate having passengers experience the same strength of magnetic field thatthey experience everyday from the Earths natural magnetic field. This isextremely important, particularly in the U.S., and is only possible usingquadrupole magnets, which have much lower fringe magnetic fields than dipolemagnets.

Prefabricated Maglev 2000 Narrow Beam Guideways will be:a) Much cheaper than the very high tolerance and massive field construction

guideways used by the 1 st generation German and Japanese systems. Instead of costing 50 to 60 million dollars per 2 way mile, the Maglev 2000 guideway willuse only 15 to 20 million dollars per 2-way mile. The M-2000 projected costshave been verified by fabrication of full-scale prototype guideway loopassemblies and the narrow beam.

b) Very easy and quick to erect. The prefabricated beams and piers would be massproduced at low cost in factories, and trucked by road or shipped by rail or alongalready completed guideway to be quickly erected by conventional cranes on pre-poured concrete footings. The beams would have all of the guideway loops,sensors, etc, pre-installed before shipping. A Maglev 2000 beam was truckedfrom its fabrication site in New Jersey to the M-2000 site in Florida without anyproblem.

c) Easy to export to other countries. A single large container ship can carry 20 milesof prefabricated M-2000 guideway beams and piers, 10 trips would provide aMaglev route between New York City and Washington, D.C.

Transport of Heavy Trucks is only possible with the 2 nd generation Maglev-2000 system.The strong quadrupole magnets enable very strong lift capability, greatly increasingrevenue potential by carrying trucks. In the U.S., the outlay for intercity trucks in 300Billion dollars per year, compared to only 60 Billion dollars per year for intercity airpassengers and 2 Billion dollars per year for intercity rail. A typical U.S. InterstateHighway carries 15,000 trucks daily; transporting just 3000 of these trucks by Maglevwould yield revenues equal to those from 150,000 passengers per day. The 20 milliondollar per mile guideway cost could be paid back in just 4 years, enabling privatefinancing of Maglev routes.

In addition to heavy trucks, the strong lift capability of the Maglev 2000 systems alsoenables carrying autos with their drivers, as well as very large amounts of fresh water.The Maglev 2000 water carrier which is also patented, caries 200 tons of water on eachMaglev vehicle, with a delivery cost of ~ 1 dollar per 1000 gallons for a delivery distanceof 300 miles (500 Kilometers).

High-speed Electronic Switching is a patented important and unique capability of theMaglev 2000 system. The 1 st generation Japanese and German systems switch Maglevvehicles from one guideway to another by moving very long sections of the guidewaymechanically from one position to another. The rate of movement is very slow, andvehicles must slow down to switch. Mechanical switching and vehicle slowdowns


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greatly restrict the number of Maglev stations that can be served and also slows downtraffic.

The Maglev 2000 system electronically switches vehicles at full speed from oneguideway to another, on the planar guideway configuration. The planar guideway loops

are located beneath the quadrupole magnets. The interaction between the loops and thebottoms of the quadrupole magnets levitate and stabilize the vehicle, both vertically andhorizontally, and magnetically propel it along the guideway. The M-2000 planar switchsection has 2 sets of guideway loops. Depending on which set is electronically activated,the vehicles can either proceed at full speed along the main guideway, or switch to asecondary guideway that leads to an off-line station for loading and unloading of passengers, trucks, autos, or freight. After unloading and loading operations arecompeted, the vehicle can accelerate back to full speed on the secondary guideway torejoin the main guideway.

The M-2000 electronic switch system enables Maglev stations to be closely spaced indensely populated urban/suburban regions without impeding Maglev traffic speed andflow capacity. Vehicles can employ skip-stop service, by-passing at high speedstations they are not scheduled to stop at. Passengers, trucks, etc can easily access astation near them to board a vehicle bound directly for their destination, without havingto stop at intermediate stations.

Finally, Magnetically levitated and propelled Maglev 2000 vehicles can travel alongexisting railroad tracks, using guideway loop panels that are attached to the existing crossties. The patented M-2000 MERRI (Maglev Emplacement on Rail Road Infrastructure),allows Maglev 2000 vehicles to travel through built-up areas without having to tear downexisting buildings, roads, etc, to build a new guideway system something that would benecessary with the 1 st generation Japanese and German systems.

The existing railroad trackage can still be used by conventional trains, with appropriatescheduling, even after the MERRI guideway panels have been installed. The cost of MERRI installation is very low, a few million dollars per mile, and is negligiblecompared to the many tens of million dollars per mile required if existing structures aretorn down or modified. The MERRI capability of the Maglev 2000 system will allow itto be rapidly implemented in urban and suburban regions at very low cost, and withminimal concern from local civic groups.

Once outside densely populated urban and suburban regions, Maglev 2000 vehicleswould readily transition to high-speed elevated guideways.

The next step: Testing the various full-size Maglev 2000 vehicles. It is proposed to dothis in 3 stages.

Stage 1 Testing of a full-scale urban type Maglev vehicle on a 2000 foot (300 meters)Maglev-2000 guideway. Both narrow beam & planar guideway configurations would betested, together with a section that had MERRI panels on conventional railroad trackage.


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Peak vehicle speed would be 70 mph (25 meters/sec). The 60 foot (20 meter) longvehicle body has already been fabricated. It would carry 60 passengers onurban/suburban service. It has the same type of magnets and cross section as the fulllength 120 feet (40 meter), 120 passengers vehicle intended for intercity service.

Stage 2 Construction of a 3-mile guideway to test full-length intercity Maglev 2000vehicles at speeds up to 300 mph (135 meters/second). Both passenger and truck carrying types of vehicles would be tested.

Stage 3 Construction of an operational guideway, 20 to 30 miles in length for extended,longer term testing of vehicles, leading to certification for passenger and freight transport.Initial operation of the 20 to 30 mile route would be for certification; after certification,the route would form part of a commercial route system and receive revenues.

2. TECHNOLOGY STATUS OF THE 2 ND GENERATION MAGLEV SYSTEM

The 2nd generation Maglev 2000 system uses the same basic Maglev scientific principlesoriginated by Powell and Danby in 1966, which have been demonstrated in thetechnically very successful 1 st generation Japanese superconducting Maglev Systems.

The new Danby-Powell inventions for the 2 nd generation Maglev 2000 system involvemore efficient and more capable ways of levitating and propellijng Maglev vehicles, atlower cost.

All of the major components for the new 2 nd generation Maglev System have beenfabricated and satisfactorily tested at full scale to validate projected performance andcost. Brief summaries of the results are given below and in the attached Appendices.

1. Quadrupole Magnets. 4 full size prototype superconducting quadrupole magnets werefabricated and tested, at their operating temperature of 4 K and their full current of 600,000 amp turns. The magnetic forces between the quadrupole magnet and a set of guideway loops that carried an applied DC current were measured as a function of vertical, horizontal, and longitudinal (i.e., along the guideway) position of the quadruplemagnet relative to the guideway loops. The measured forces agreed closely with 3-Dcomputer calculations of the forces, validating the expected performance for the magneticlevitation and propulsion of the vehicles. The validated computer models can then beused to optimize the design and operating parameters for the Maglev 2000 systems to beconstructed. Photos and details of the fabrication of the quadrupole magnets are given inAppendix A.

2. Guideway Loop Assemblies. Full size guideway loop assemblies were fabricated andtested. The assemblies have 3 independent sets of aluminum wire loops. One setmagnetically levitates the vehicle as it passes overhead, using the induced current in thesequence of loops on the assembly. In addition to levitating the vehicle, the set of loopsalso provides strong inherent and automatic vertical stability against any external force,maintaining the vehicle at its equilibrium levitation position.


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The second set of loops provides inherent and automatic horizontal stability against anyexternal force, maintaining the vehicles at its equilibrium horizontal position.

The Third set of loops is connected to an AC electric power line when the vehicle passes.

The AC electric power lie when the vehicle passes. The AC current in the third set of loops magnetically propels the vehicle at a speed controlled by the frequency of the ACpower. Vehicle speed can be increased by increasing the frequency of the AC power, anddecreased by decreasing the AC frequency. The guideway loop assemblies are fabricatedas thin (7.5 centimeters in thickness) flat panels, with a length of 2 meters and a width of 1 meter. The loops are encased in strong, rigid, weatherproof polymer concrete to formthe finished panel. The panels can be mass-produced at low cost in factories and attachedto the guideway beams before being shipped to the Maglev construction site.

When used with the narrow beam guideway, the flat panels are attached to the verticalsides of the narrow beam. When used with the planar guideway the flat panels are laid onthe horizontal surface of the guideway. The same panels are also used for the MERRIsystem where they are attached to the RR cross ties. Photos and details of the fabricationof the guideway loop panels are given in Appendix B.

3. Guideway Beam. A full size guideway narrow beam, 72 feet in length was fabricatedin New Jersey and transported by truck to the Maglev 2000 site in Florida, a distance of almost 1500 miles. The beam was a hollow reinforced concrete box beam, with posttensioning cables that allow periodic tightening if necessary. Total weight of the beamwas 78,000 lbs. First of a kind fabrication cost was 45,000 dollars, produced in largerquantities, the unit cost would be approximately 25,000 dollars. The Maglev 2000system requires 144 narrow beams per 2-way mile, corresponding to a beam cost of approximately 3 million dollars per mile. Details of the guideway beam and photos aregiven in Appendix C.

4. Maglev 2000 Vehicle. Components for a full cross section vehicle, i.e. an aluminumundercarriage and an aerodynamic fuselage were fabricated. The vehicles length is 60feet, with a capacity of 60 passengers, and is suitable for urban/suburban Maglev service.The Maglev 2000 vehicles for high speed intercity service would have the same crosssection, but twice the length, with a capacity for 120 passengers or 2 tractor trailer trucks.Details of the vehicles and photos are given in Appendix D.


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3. DANBY POWELL MAGLEV PATENTS

The original U.S. patent on Superconducting Maglev (Patent 3,470,828) was granted toPowell and Danby in 1968. The Patent described the use of superconducting magnets ona moving vehicles to induce currents in a sequence of ordinary ambient temperature

conducting loops located on a guideway beneath the vehicle, so that the magneticinteraction between the vehicles superconducting magnets and the induced currents inthe guideway loops would levitate and stabilize the vehicle, both vertically andhorizontally, as long as the vehicle was moving.

The Patent described how to alternate the magnetic polarity of the superconductingmagnets along the vehicle so as to maintain the flow of the induced currents theguideway loops, even though they had non-zero electrical resistance. This alternation of magnetic polarity and the continued maintenance of current flow enabled the movingvehicle to stay stably levitated, even when moving at low speed.

A key feature of the Danby-Powell 1968 Patent was the invention of the null-fluxgeometry for the magnetic interaction between the superconducting magnets on thevehicle and the ambient temperature conductor loops on the guideway. The null-fluxinvention configured the guideway loops so that when the vehicles superconductingmagnet was at the center of symmetry for the guideway loop circuit, the net magneticflux in the loop circuit from the superconducting magnet was zero.

When the vehicle moved in any direction away from this center of symmetry point, thenet magnetic flux through the null flux guideway loop circuit because non-zero, causingan induced current to flow in the guideway loop circuit. The direction of current flow inthe guideway circuit was such that the resultant magnetic force between the guidewayloop and the superconducting magnet on the vehicle would always oppose and counteractthe motion of the vehicle, and act to push it back towards the center of symmetrylocation.

Using this null-flux geometry, the vehicle could be made strongly magnetically stableagainst any motion away from its equilibrium point of levitation, whether vertically orhorizontally, or in the pitch, yaw, and roll directions. However, for the longitudinaldirection, i.e., along the guideway, the null flux geometry was configured so that thevehicle was not magnetically impeded and could travel along it without any resistance.

In addition to providing strong inherent stability in all directions other than along theguideway, which it could move along without resistance, the null flux geometry alsoenables the magnetic levitation process to be very energy efficient. In contrast to simpleinduction between a magnet and a conducting sheet or a set of single dipole guidewayloops, where the induced current is an appreciable fraction of the superconductingmagnet current, in the null flux configuration, the induced current can be made very smallcompared to the superconducting current by simply increasing the field strength of thesuperconducting magnets.


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As a result, the I 2R losses in the null flux guideway loops can be made extremely small,reducing the electric power required to propel the vehicle. Using the null flux suspensionthe magnetic lift to drag ratio for the maglev vehicle can be easily made very large, e.g.100/1 or higher. By comparison, passenger airplanes have aerodynamic lift to drag ratiosof only about 15/1, requiring them to expend much more energy per passenger carried.

Besides being extremely energy efficient, the null flux geometry results in a very strongand stable suspension, in which a displacement of an inch or two from the equilibriumlevitation position would require an external force wind, curve, etc. equal to theweight of the vehicle.

Figure 1 lists the patent numbers for the new 2 nd generation Danby-Powell MaglevSystem. There are five groups of Patents:

Group 1 (Patents 5511488, 5649489, and 5809897) covers the invention of the Maglev2000 Quadrupole magnet and its use for the narrow beam and planar guidewayconfigurations. Before this invention, only superconducting dipole magnets, which weredisclosed in 1968 Danby-Powell patent and which were used in the Japanese Maglevsystem, had been considered. The Quadrupole magnets enable Maglev vehicles tosmoothly transition back and forth between narrow beam and planar guidewayconfigurations. It also has much lower strength magnetic fringe fields, which enablesmultiple magnets to be located along the full length of the vehicle without causingobjectionably strong fringe magnetic fields in the passenger compartment. In the 1 st generation Japanese Maglev system, its superconducting dipole magnets are located atthe ends of the vehicles so as to limit the magnetic field strength in the passengercompartment. This constraint greatly restricts the load lifting capability of the JapaneseMaglev vehicle.

Group 2 (Patents 5503083, 5655458, 5669310 and 5865123) covers the high speedelectronic switching invention of te Maglev 2000 system. The M-2000 switching iscarried out ojn a planar guideway configuration in which two overlapping lines of guideway loops are located. Both lines of loops have electronic switches that operate ineither a closed circuit or as open circuit condition. At any given time, one line operatesin the closed circuit condition, while the other operates in the open circuit condition.

Depending on which line is closed and which line is open circuited, the high speedMaglev vehicle can either proceed along the main guideway, or switch to a secondaryguideway that leads to an off-line station. The two lines of guideway loops graduallyseparate horizontally so that at the end of the switch section these are two distinct andseparate guideways one is the main guideway along which most vehicles are travelingand the other is the secondary guideway leading to the off-line station where the vehicleis scheduled to stop. The length of the switch section is determined by the vehicle speedand the values of the horizontal acceleration which is related to passenger comfort. At amild or 1 g lateral acceleration, comparable to an auto and airplane travel, the switchsection would be approximately 300 meters in length at 300 mph. The patents cover the


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electronic method of switching, the planar guideway configurations, and the use of thequadrupole magnets for the switching operation.

Group 3. (Patent 5953996) covers the MERRI (Maglev Emplacement on Rail RoadInfrastructure) invention in which thin panels that hold Maglev 2000 guideway loops

assemblies can be attached to the cross-ties of existing railroad trackage, so thatmagnetically levitated and propelled M-2000 vehicles can travel along the tracks. Thepanels do not interfere with te operation of conventional trains, which can continue usingthe same trackage, with appropriate scheduling to prevent accidents.

Group 4. (Patent 6152045) covers the Water Train application of Maglev 2000technology. The patent describes how the Maglev 2000 vehicle and guideway can bedesigned to carry extremely heavy toads, e.g., 200 metric tons per vehicle, of fresh waterin tanks attached to the levitated vehicle, over very long distances at low cost. Forexample, the water train can deliver hundreds of millions of gallons of fresh water perday from the Columbia River to California, a distance of hundreds of miles, at a cost of approximately 1 dollar per thousand gallons.

Group 5. (Patent 69900906) covers the Maglev 2000 System for storage of largeamounts of electrical energy at high efficiency and low cost. The Maglev 2000 energystorage inventions describes how Maglev 2000 vehicles can be used to transport heavyconcrete blocks, or other solid masses, from a lower to a higher elevation, to store theelectric energy used for the transport of the masses as gravitational potential energy. Inthis operation the Maglev 2000 system functions as an electdric motor, convertingelectrical energy to stored mechanical energy, at periods when there is a surplus of electrical power generators.

At periods of high electrical power demand, when the available electrical generationfacilities are insufficient to meet demand, the Maglev 2000 system, transports the storedmass from its higher elevation to the lower elevation, converting the stored gravitationalenergy to electric power. The Maglev 2000 system then functions as an electricgenerator to meet the peak demand.

The wall plug efficiency of the Maglev electrical storage/generation system, which isthe ratio of output electric power to input power used for storage, is extremely high forthe Maglev 2000 system, i.e. greater than 90%. This is much greater than for pumpedhydro, which has a wall plug efficiency of ~60%. Moreover, the Maglev 2000 systemhas much fewer environmental restrictions than pumped hydro.

Movement of a 100-ton mass up a 2-kilometer distance stores 500-kilowatt hours of electrical power. The difference in elevation can be provided by natural terrain, i.e. hillsand mountains, or by a vertical or inclined shaft below ground. The Maglev 2000 systemcan store millions of kilowatt-hours of electrical energy over low power periods anddelivers, it rapidly at high power periods for a cost of less tan 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.


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Figure 1

U.S. PATENT LOG

TITLE PATENT NUMBER ISSUE DATE

Electromagnetic inductionground vehicle levitationguideway

551148856494895809897

April 30, 1996July 22, 1997September 22, 1998

Electromagnetic inductionsuspension and horizontalswitching system for a vehicleon a planar guideway

5503083565545856693105865123

April 2, 1996August 12, 1997September 23, 1997February 2, 1999

System and method formagnetic levitation guidewayemplacement on conventionalrailroad lines installations

5953996 September 21, 1999March 9,2000

Magnetic levitation system forlong distance delivery of water 6152045 November 28,2000

Electrical power storage anddelivery using Magneticlevitation technology

6990906 March 26, 2001


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Appendix A: Fabrication of Full Size Prototype Superconducting Quadrupole Magnets

Figure A-1 shows a cross section of the quadrupole magnet. It has 2 superconductingloops, which are arranged at the corners of a square 18 inches (0.28 meter) on a side. Thedirection of the currents in the 2 loops is in opposition, so that the DC currents in the 4

superconductors at the corners have alternating direction that is, current flows inwardsat one of the corners of the square, as well as the 2 nd corner that is diagonally opposite toit, and outwards at the other 2 corners. The superconducting loops are held by a graphiteepoxy structure, inside the high vacuum (


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Figure A-1

Figure A-2


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Figure A-3

Figure A-4


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Figure A-5

Figure A-6


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Appendix B: Fabrication of Full Size Guideway Loop Assemblies

Figure B-1 shows a schematic drawing of the guideway loop assembly. There are 3 typesof loops in the thin panel assembly:

Short independent figure of 8 loops

Short independent dipole loops Long dipole loops that are part of a sequence of connected loops along the

guideway.

The loops are wound of multiple turns of conducting wire with an electrical insulationcoating on the wire. Figure B-2 shows a wound short dipole loop made with aluminumconductor coated with nylon plastic insulation. Aluminum is favored as the guidewayloop conductor because it is much lighter and cheaper than copper.

The short figures of 8 loops are electrically independent shorted loops, with no electricalconnections to adjacent loops or any power source. When used on the narrow beam

guideway, the currents that are induced in them by the quadrupole superconductingmagnets of the passing Maglev vehicle act to levitate and stabilize the vehicle. Whenused on the planar guideway or in the MERRI panels on the railroad tracks, the Figure of 8 loops act to horizontally stabilize the vehicle.

The short dipole loops are also electrically independent electrically shorted loops, with noelectrical connections to adjacent loops or any power service. When used on the narrowbeam guideway, the short dipole loops on each side of the beam are connected togetherinto a null flux circuit. When the Maglev vehicle is centered on the narrow beam, the netmagnetic flux through the null flux circuit is zero. If the maglev is horizontally displacedto the left or right of its centered position, a net flux is developed in the null flux circuit,

causing an induced current to flow that acts to push the vehicles back to its centeredposition.

When used on the planar guideway or in the MERRI panels on railroad trackage, theshort dipole loops are electrically independent of all of the other loops in the guideway,and function to levitate and vertically stabilize the vehicle by the magnetic interactionbetween the currents induced in them and the superconducting magnets on the maglevvehicle passing overhead.

The long dipole loops are used to magnetically propel the Maglev vehicle. The loops areelectrically connected along the guideway to form a long multi-loop circuit, with a block

length of several hundred meters. When the Maglev vehicle enters the block, it iselectrically connected by electronic switching to a AC power line that runs along theguideway. AC current then flows in the block circuit, magnetically interacting with thevehicle as a linear synchronous Motor (LSM) propelling at a speed along the guidewaythat is controlled by the frequency of the AC current fed to the block. When the Maglevvehicle leaves a given block, the AC current to the block is cut-off and switched into thenext block that is being traversed by the Maglev vehicle.


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Figure B-3 shows the fabricated guideway loop assembly. The assembly is 1 meter inwidth, 2 meters in length, and 7.5 centimeters in thickness. When used on the narrowbeam guideway, the mounting is vertical, as in Figure B-3, with assemblies positioned oneach side of the narrow beam, and running along its length. When used on the planarguideway or the MERRI panels, the assemblies are horizontal, with a line of assemblies

under each side of the vehicle.The guideway loop assemblies are encapsulated in polymer concrete, as shown in FigureB-4, to form strong rigid thin panels, which can be attached to the sides of the narrowbeam guideway or laid flat on the horizontal surface of the planar guideway. The panelscan also be attached directly to the cross-ties of railroad tracks to form the MERRIMaglev system.

Polymer concrete is a very strong, high integrity material. Its tensile and compressivestrengths are approximately 5 times greater than ordinary concrete; it is not affected byfreeze-thaw cycling and is weather proof. Figure B-5 shows a half-length guideway looppanel with the layers encased in polymer concrete. The panel was stored outdoors for 2years on Long Island, NY, where it was subjected to storms, snow, high and low(freezing) temperatures without damage or degradation.

Figure B-1


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Figure B-2

Figure B-3


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Figure B-4

Figure B-5


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Appendix C: Fabrication of Narrow Beams for the Maglev 2000 Guideway

To validate the construction feasibility, cost, and transport capability of the Maglev 2000narrow beam design, a full size prototype beam was fabricated at a factor in New Jersey.The design of the hollow box beam is shown in Figure C-1. The beam was 72 feet (22

meters) in length and weighted 78,000 pounds (35 metric tons).The beam used post-tensioning construction from cables in its base, allowing it to beperiodically adjusted if there was any long term creep. The beam was designed with aslight upward camber of 0.5 centimeter at the middle of the beam when it was notcarrying a Maglev-2000 vehicle. When the M-2000 vehicle was on the beam, the beamwould be perfectly horizontal.

Figure C-2 shows a photo of the fabricated beam as it was being unloaded at the Maglev-2000 test site in Titusville, Florida, after being trucked form New Jersey. There was noproblems or delays in transporting it almost 1500 miles. When constructing an actualMaglev route, the beam factory will probably considerably closer to the Maglevconstruction site, with a maximum transport distance of only a few hundred miles.

The fabrication cost for the 1 st of a kind beam was $45,000. For larger scale production,the projected cost per beam was approximately $25,000. Per mile of 2 way guideway,the Maglev 2000 system would require approximately 144 beams for a total beam cost of only 3 million dollars per mile.


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Figure C-1

Figure C-2


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Appendix D: Fabrication of a Full Size Maglev 2000 Vehicle for Urban/SuburbanService

The aluminum undercarriage and plywood fuselage shell for a full cross section Maglev2000 vehicle have been fabricated. The 60-foot (18 meters) long vehicle is full length for

urban/suburban service, and would carry 60 passengers. The same construction methodswould be used for a full length, 120-foot (36 meters) long Maglev 2000 vehicles for high-speed intercity service, which would carry 120 passengers.

Figure D-1 shows a CAD-CAM drawing of the aluminum undercarriage. The fabricatedundercarriage is essentially the same as the CAD-CAM design. Figure D-2 shows aphoto of the fabricated fuselage shell. With further funding, the shell and undercarriagewill be joined and the quadrupole magnets and cooling system installed, making the M-2000 vehicle ready for testing on a guideway.

Figure D-1


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summary of the 2nd generation maglev 2000 system as

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