The Shanghai Maglev is a maglev train. Electromaglev trains Maximum speed of a maglev train

Magnetic levitation trains are environmentally friendly, quiet and fast transport. They cannot fly off the rails and, in the event of a malfunction, are able to stop safely. But why hasn't such transport become widespread, and why do people still use ordinary electric trains and trains?

Magnetic levitation trains: why the "transport of the future" did not take root

In the 1980s, magnetic levitation (maglev) trains were thought to be the transport of the future that would destroy domestic flights. These trains can carry passengers at a speed of 800 km/h and do little to no harm to the environment.

Maglevs are able to ride in any weather and cannot leave their only rail - the further the train deviates from the tracks, the more magnetic levitation pushes it back. All maglevs move at the same frequency, so there will be no signal problems. Imagine the effect such trains would have on the economy and transport if the distance between distant major cities could be covered in half an hour.

But why can't you still drive supersonic in the morning to work? The maglev concept has been around for over a century, with numerous patents utilizing the technology since the early 1900s. However, only three working maglev train systems have survived to this day, all of which are found only in Asia.

Japanese maglev. Photo: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters

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Prior to this, the first working maglev appeared in the UK: between 1984 and 1995, the AirLink shuttle went from Birmingham Airport. The maglev was a popular and cheap means of transport, but it was very expensive to maintain as some of the parts were one-off and hard to find.

In the late 1980s, Germany also turned to this idea: its unmanned M-Bahn train traveled between three stations in West Berlin. However, the technology of levitating trains was decided to be postponed until later, and the line was closed. Its manufacturer, TransRapid, tested maglevs until an accident occurred at the training ground in Lathen in 2006, in which 23 people died.

This incident could put an end to German maglevs if TransRapid had not previously signed an agreement to build a maglev for the Shanghai airport in 2001. Now this maglev is the fastest electric train in the world, which travels at a speed of 431 km/h. With it, the distance from the airport to the business district of Shanghai can be covered in just eight minutes. On ordinary transport, this would take an hour. In China, there is another medium-speed maglev (its speed is about 159 km / h), which operates in the capital of Hunan, Changsha. The Chinese are so fond of this technology that by 2020 they plan to launch several more maglevs in 12 cities.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was the first to drive a TransRapid maglev to Shanghai airport. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/EPA

In Asia, work is also underway on other projects for maglev trains. One of the most famous is the unmanned EcoBee shuttle, which has been operating from South Korea's Incheon Airport since 2012. On its shortest line, there are seven stations, between which the maglev rushes at a speed of 109 km / h. Plus, rides are absolutely free.

The technology is under development!

A maglev train - a flying train, magnetoplane or maglev - is a train held above the roadbed, driven and controlled by the force of an electromagnetic or magnetic field.

Description:

A magnetic cushion train - a flying train, magnetoplan or maglev (from the English magnetic levitation - “magnetic levitation") - is a train held above the roadbed, driven and controlled by the force of an electromagnetic or magnetic field.

Unlike traditional railway trains, the maglev does not touch the ground during the movement rail. Therefore, the speed of this transport can be comparable with the speed aircraft. To date, the maximum speed of such a train is 581 km/h (Japan).

In practice, two systems of magnetic levitation are implemented: on electromagnetic suspension (EMS) and on electrodynamic suspension (EDS). Other systems: on permanent magnets exist only in theory, and the RusMaglev system is in the process of development.

Train on electromagnetic suspension (EMS):

Electromagnetic suspension (EMS) allows a train to levitate using a time-varying electromagnetic field. The system is a path made of conductor and a system of electromagnets installed on the train.

Advantages of this system:

– the magnetic fields inside and outside the vehicle are smaller than with the EDS system,

– cost-effective implementable and accessible technology,

– high speeds (500 km/h),

– no need for additional suspension systems.

Disadvantages of this system:

– instability: constant monitoring and adjustment of fluctuations in the magnetic field of tracks and trains is required,

– the process of tolerance alignment by external means can lead to unwanted vibration.

Electrodynamic Suspension Train (EDS):

The Electrodynamic Suspension System (EDS) creates levitation by a changing magnetic field in the tracks and a field generated by magnets on board the train set.

Advantages of this system:

- the development of ultra-high speeds (603 km / h) and the ability to withstand heavy loads.

Disadvantages of this system:

– the inability to levitate at low speeds, the need for high speed so that there is enough repulsive force at least to keep the weight of the train (which is why such trains use wheels),

– strong magnetic radiation is harmful and unsafe for passengers with poor health and with pacemakers, for magnetic data carriers.

Magnetic train levitation systems with permanent magnets Inductrack:

At present, the Inductrack permanent magnet system, which is a variation of the EDS system, is relevant for implementation.

Advantages of this system:

– potentially the most economical system,

– low power to activate magnets,

– the magnetic field is localized below the car,

– the levitation field is already generated at a speed of 5 km/h,

– in the event of a power failure, the wagons stop safely,

– many permanent magnets can be more efficient than electromagnets.

Disadvantages of this system:

– wheels or a special track segment are required to support the train when it stops.

RusMaglev system:

Levitation RusMaglev is a Russian development. Levitation is created by permanent magnets (neodymium-iron-boron) on board the train. The tracks are made of aluminium. The system requires absolutely no electricity supply.

Advantages of this system:

– more economical than a high-speed highway,

– no electricity required

– high speeds – more than 400 km/h,

– the train levitates at zero speed,

– the transportation of goods is 2 times cheaper than the transportation of goods by the existing railway.

Note: © Photo https://www.pexels.com

Despite the fact that more than two hundred years have passed since the creation of the first steam locomotives, humanity is still not ready to completely abandon the use of diesel fuel, steam power and electricity as a driving force capable of moving heavy loads and passengers.

However, as you understand, all this time the engineers-inventors were not in complete inactivity, and the result of the work of their thought was the publication of alternative methods of transportation along the railroad tracks.

The history of the emergence of trains on an electromagnetic cushion

The very idea of ​​making a train moving on a magnetic cushion is not so new. For the first time, the inventors began to think about the creation of such rolling stock at the very beginning of the 20th century, however, for a number of reasons, the implementation of this project could not be carried out for quite a long time.

Only by 1969, on the territory of the then FRG, they began to manufacture a similar train, later called the maglev, and lay the magnetic track. The launch of the first maglev called "Transrapid-02" was made two years later.

An interesting fact is that in the manufacture of the maglev, German engineers relied on the records made by the scientist Hermann Kemper, who received a patent for the creation of a magnetic plane back in 1934. The first maglev "Tranrapid-02" cannot be called high-speed, since it developed a speed of only up to 90 km / h. Its capacity was also very low: only four people.

The next maglev model, created in 1979, "Transrapid-05" already accommodated up to 68 passengers and moved along the passenger line of the city of Hamburg, which has a length of 908 m, at a speed of 75 km / h.

Transrapid-05

At the same time, on the other side of the continent, in Japan, in the same 1979, the ML-500 model maglev was launched, capable of speeds up to 517 km / h.

What is a maglev and how does it work?

A maglev (or simply a maglev train) is a type of transport controlled and driven by the force of a magnetic field. At the same time, the maglev does not touch the railway track, but “levitates” above it, held by an artificially created magnetic field. In this case, friction is excluded, only aerodynamic resistance acts as a braking force.

On short-haul routes in the future, maglev can seriously compete with air transport due to its ability to develop a very high speed of movement. To date, the widespread introduction of maglevs is largely hindered by the fact that they cannot be used on a traditional main railway surface. Maglev can move only on a specially built magnetic line, which requires very large investments.

It is also believed that magnetic transport can negatively affect the body of drivers and residents of regions close to magnetic routes.

Advantages of maglevs

The advantages of maglevs include the vast prospect of achieving high speeds that can compete even with jet aircraft. In addition, maglev is quite economical in terms of electricity consumption by transport. In addition, there is practically no friction of the parts, which can significantly reduce the level of operating costs.

Maglev or Maglev (from the English magnetic levitation) is a train on a magnetic suspension, driven and controlled by magnetic forces. Such a train, unlike traditional trains, does not touch the rail surface during movement. Since there is a gap between the train and the running surface, friction is eliminated and the only braking force is the drag force.

The speed achievable by a maglev is comparable to the speed of an aircraft and allows it to compete with air communications at short (for aviation) distances (up to 1000 km). Although the idea of ​​such transport is not new, economic and technical constraints have not allowed it to unfold to its full extent: the technology has been embodied for public use only a few times. Currently, Maglev cannot use the existing transport infrastructure, although there are projects with the location of magnetic road elements between the rails of a conventional railway or under the roadbed.

At the moment, there are 3 main technologies for magnetic suspension of trains:

1. On superconducting magnets (electrodynamic suspension, EDS).

The “railroad of the future” created in Germany has caused protests from the residents of Shanghai before. But this time the authorities, frightened by demonstrations threatening to turn into major unrest, promised to deal with the trains. In order to stop demonstrations in time, officials even hung video cameras in places where mass protests most often take place. The Chinese crowd is very organized and mobile, it can gather in a matter of seconds and turn into a demonstration with slogans.

It is the largest public demonstration in Shanghai since the anti-Japanese marches in 2005. This is not the first protest caused by Chinese concerns about the deteriorating environment. Last summer, crowds of thousands of demonstrators forced the government to postpone the construction of a chemical complex.