Investigation of Permanent Magnet Electrodynamic Suspension: Performance Enhancement, Cost Efficiency, and Pole Pitch Optimization

The electrodynamic suspension (EDS) is one of the representatives of the maglev system, which is expected to realize high-speed transportation. In this article, an electromagnetic model of a Halbach permanent magnet array (HPMA) and null-flux-coil (NFC) is established based on a permanent magnet EDS (PMEDS) system. First, the electromagnetic analysis model of the PMEDS system is established by the Biot–Savart Law and the dynamic loop theorem. Subsequently, the comprehensive sensitivity analysis of the electromagnetic parameters of the PMEDS is carried out, and the influence factors of different variables are obtained. The optimization objectives are determined by the levitation drag ratio, levitation mass ratio, average levitation force, and levitation force ripple. Furthermore, the optimization is carried out based on NSGA-II. Then, finite element analysis is used to verify the effectiveness of the optimization results. Next, the rationality of the optimization method is verified by a static experiment. Moreover, the reliability of the optimization results is confirmed through dynamic performance analysis. Finally, the optimal pole pitch ratio of HPMA-NFC is proposed to achieve a lower electromagnetic force ripple. Results show that the optimized parameters enhance the performance of PMEDS within the controllable cost range and provide guidance for engineering applications.