Maglev transrapid magnetic levitation train. Maglev, or magnetic levitation train, is a new level of transport. Very expensive toy

More than two hundred years have passed since the moment when humanity invented the first steam locomotives. However, rail land transport, transporting passengers using electricity and diesel fuel, is still very common.

It is worth saying that all these years, engineer-inventors have been actively working to create alternative ways movement. The result of their work was magnetic levitation trains.

History of appearance

The very idea of ​​​​creating magnetic levitation trains was actively developed at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, it was not possible to implement this project at that time for a number of reasons. The production of such a train began only in 1969. It was then that a magnetic route began to be laid on the territory of Germany, along which a new train would pass. vehicle, which was later called: maglev train. It was launched in 1971. The first maglev train, called Transrapid-02, passed along the magnetic route.

An interesting fact is that German engineers manufactured an alternative vehicle based on the notes left by the scientist Hermann Kemper, who in 1934 received a patent confirming the invention of the magnetic plane.

Transrapid-02 can hardly be called very fast. He could move at a maximum speed of 90 kilometers per hour. Its capacity was also low - only four people.

In 1979, a more advanced model of maglev was created. bearing the name "Transrapid-05", could already carry sixty-eight passengers. It moved along a line located in the city of Hamburg, the length of which was 908 meters. which this train developed was equal to seventy-five kilometers per hour.

Also in 1979, another maglev model was released in Japan. It was called "ML-500". on a magnetic levitation it reached speeds of up to five hundred and seventeen kilometers per hour.

Competitiveness

The speed that magnetic levitation trains can reach can be compared to In this regard, this type of transport can become a serious competitor to those airlines that operate at a distance of up to a thousand kilometers. The widespread use of maglevs is hampered by the fact that they cannot move on traditional railway surfaces. Magnetic levitation trains require the construction of special highways. And this requires large investments of capital. It is also believed that what is being created for maglev vehicles can negatively affect the human body, which will negatively affect the health of the driver and residents of regions located near such a route.

Principle of operation

Magnetic levitation trains are a special type of transport. While moving, the maglev seems to float above the train. road surface without touching it. This happens because the vehicle is driven by the force of an artificially created magnetic field. There is no friction when the maglev moves. The braking force in this case is aerodynamic drag.

How does it work? Each of us knows about the basic properties of magnets from sixth grade physics lessons. If two magnets are brought close to each other north poles, then they will repel. A so-called magnetic cushion is created. When different poles are connected, the magnets will attract each other. This rather simple principle underlies the movement of a maglev train, which literally glides through the air at a short distance from the rails.

Currently, two technologies have already been developed with the help of which a magnetic cushion or suspension is activated. The third is experimental and exists only on paper.

Electromagnetic suspension

This technology is called EMS. It is based on the strength of the electromagnetic field, which changes over time. It causes levitation (rising in the air) of the maglev. For train movement in in this case T-shaped rails are required, which are made of conductor (usually metal). In this way, the operation of the system is similar to a conventional railway. However, the train has support and guide magnets instead of wheel pairs. They are placed parallel to the ferromagnetic stators located along the edge of the T-shaped sheet.

The main disadvantage of EMS technology is the need to control the distance between the stator and the magnets. And this despite the fact that it depends on many factors, including the fickle nature. In order to avoid a sudden stop of the train, it is installed special batteries. They are able to recharge the support magnets built into them, and thereby maintain the levitation process for a long time.

The braking of trains based on EMS technology is carried out by a low-acceleration synchronous linear motor. It is represented by support magnets, as well as a road surface over which the maglev floats. The speed and thrust of the train can be adjusted by changing the frequency and strength of the generated alternating current. To slow down, it is enough to change the direction of the magnetic waves.

Electrodynamic suspension

There is a technology in which the movement of a maglev occurs through the interaction of two fields. One of them is created on the highway, and the second on board the train. This technology is called EDS. The Japanese magnetic levitation train JR-Maglev was built on its basis.

This system has some differences from EMS, where conventional magnets are used, to which electric current is supplied from coils only when power is applied.

EDS technology implies a constant supply of electricity. This happens even if the power supply is turned off. The coils of such a system are equipped with cryogenic cooling, which allows saving significant amounts of electricity.

Advantages and disadvantages of EDS technology

The positive side of a system operating on an electrodynamic suspension is its stability. Even a slight reduction or increase in the distance between the magnets and the canvas is regulated by the forces of repulsion and attraction. This allows the system to remain in an unchanged state. With this technology, there is no need to install electronics for control. There is no need for devices to adjust the distance between the blade and the magnets.

EDS technology has some disadvantages. Thus, a force sufficient to levitate the train can only arise at high speed. That is why maglevs are equipped with wheels. They ensure their movement at speeds of up to one hundred kilometers per hour. Another disadvantage of this technology is the frictional force that occurs at the back and front of the repelling magnets at low speeds.

Due to the strong magnetic field, special protection must be installed in the passenger section. Otherwise, a person with an electronic pacemaker is prohibited from traveling. Protection is also needed for magnetic storage media (credit cards and HDDs).

Technology under development

The third system, which currently exists only on paper, is the use of permanent magnets in the EDS version, which do not require energy to be activated. Just recently it was thought that this was impossible. Researchers believed that permanent magnets did not have the strength to cause a train to levitate. However, this problem was avoided. To solve this problem, magnets were placed in a “Halbach array.” This arrangement leads to the creation of a magnetic field not under the array, but above it. This helps maintain levitation of the train even at a speed of about five kilometers per hour.

This project has not yet received practical implementation. This is explained by the high cost of arrays made of permanent magnets.

Advantages of maglevs

The most attractive aspect of magnetic levitation trains is the prospect of them achieving high speeds, which will allow maglevs to compete even with jet aircraft in the future. This type of transport is quite economical in terms of electricity consumption. The costs of its operation are also low. This becomes possible due to the absence of friction. The low noise of maglevs is also pleasing, which will have a positive effect on the environmental situation.

Flaws

The downside of maglevs is that the amount required to create them is too large. Track maintenance costs are also high. In addition, the type of transport considered requires a complex system paths and ultra-precise instruments that control the distance between the canvas and the magnets.

in Berlin

In the capital of Germany in 1980, the first maglev-type system called M-Bahn was opened. The length of the road was 1.6 km. The magnetic levitation train ran between three metro stations on weekends. Travel for passengers was free. Afterwards, the city's population almost doubled. It was necessary to create transport networks capable of ensuring high passenger traffic. That is why in 1991 the magnetic strip was dismantled, and the construction of the metro began in its place.

Birmingham

In this German city, low-speed Maglev connected from 1984 to 1995. airport and railway station. The length of the magnetic path was only 600 m.

Shanghai

The first magnetic railway in Berlin was built by the German company Transrapid. The failure of the project did not deter the developers. They continued their research and received an order from the Chinese government, which decided to build a maglev track in the country. Shanghai and Pudong Airport are connected by this high-speed (up to 450 km/h) route.
The 30 km long road was opened in 2002. Future plans include its extension to 175 km.

Japan

This country hosted the Expo-2005 exhibition in 2005. For its opening, a 9 km long magnetic track was put into operation. There are nine stations on the line. Maglev serves the area adjacent to the exhibition venue.

Maglevs are considered the transport of the future. Already in 2025, it is planned to open a new superhighway in a country like Japan. The magnetic levitation train will transport passengers from Tokyo to one of the areas in the central part of the island. Its speed will be 500 km/h. The project will require about forty-five billion dollars.

Russia

Russian Railways is also planning to create a high-speed train. By 2030, Maglev in Russia will connect Moscow and Vladivostok. Passengers will cover the 9,300 km journey in 20 hours. The speed of a magnetic levitation train will reach up to five hundred kilometers per hour.

Sukhov Vitaly Vladimirovich, Galin Alexey Leonidovich

We present to you a project whose main topic is “Electromagnetic vehicles and devices.” Having started this work, we realized that the most interesting question for us is magnetic levitation transport.

Recently, the famous English science fiction writer Arthur Clarke made another prediction. “...We may be on the verge of creating a new type of spacecraft that will be able to leave the Earth with minimal costs by overcoming the gravitational barrier, he believes. “Then today’s rockets will be what balloons were before the First World War.” What is this judgment based on? The answer must be found in modern ideas creation of magnetic levitation transport.

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Preview:

1st open student scientific and practical conference

“My project activities in college”

Direction of the scientific and practical project:

Electrical engineering

Project topic:

Electromagnetic vehicles and devices. Magnetic levitation transport

Project prepared:

Sukhov Vitaly Vladimirovich, student of group 2 ET

Galin Alexey Leonidovich, student of group 2 ET

The name of the institution:

GBOU SPO Electromechanical College No. 55

Project Manager:

Utenkova Eateryna Sergeevna

Moscow 2012

Introduction

Magnetoplane or Maglev

Halbach installation

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

We present to you a project whose main topic is “Electromagnetic vehicles and devices.” Having taken up this work, we realized that the most interesting issue for us is magnetic levitation transport.

Recently, the famous English science fiction writer Arthur Clarke made another prediction. “...We may be on the verge of creating a new type of spacecraft that will be able to leave the Earth at minimal cost by overcoming the gravitational barrier,” he believes. “Then today’s rockets will be what balloons were before the First World War.” What is this judgment based on? The answer must be sought in modern ideas of creating magnetic levitation transport.

Magnetoplane or Maglev

Magnetoplane 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 moving surface, friction is eliminated and the only braking force is the force of aerodynamic drag.

The speed achievable by Maglev is comparable to the speed of an airplane and allows it to compete with air communications over short (for aviation) distances (up to 1000 km). Although the idea of ​​such transport is not new, economic and technical limitations have prevented it from being fully developed: the technology has only been implemented for public use 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 highway.

The need for magnetic levitation trains (MAGLEV) is already being discussed long years, however, the results of attempts to actually apply them turned out to be discouraging. The most important disadvantage of MAGLEV trains lies in the peculiarities of the operation of electromagnets, which ensure the levitation of cars above the track. Electromagnets that are not cooled to a state of superconductivity consume enormous amounts of energy. When using superconductors in the fabric, the cost of cooling them will negate all economic advantages and the feasibility of the project.

An alternative was proposed by physicist Richard Post of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California. Its essence lies in the use not of electromagnets, but of permanent magnets. Previously used permanent magnets were too weak to lift the train, and Post uses a partial acceleration method developed by retired physicist Klaus Halbach of Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. Halbach proposed a method for arranging permanent magnets in such a way as to concentrate their total fields in one direction. Inductrack, as Post called the system, uses Halbach units mounted in the bottom of the car. The fabric itself is an orderly arrangement of turns of insulated copper cable.

Halbach installation

The Halbach installation concentrates the magnetic field at a certain point, reducing it at others. When mounted in the bottom of the car, it generates a magnetic field that induces sufficient currents in the windings of the fabric under the moving car to lift the car a few centimeters and stabilize it [Fig. 1]. When the train stops, the levitation effect disappears and the cars are lowered onto additional chassis.

Rice. 1 Halbach installation

The figure shows a 20-meter experimental track for testing MAGLEV Inductrack trains, which contains about 1000 rectangular inductive windings, each 15 cm wide. In the foreground is a test trolley and an electrical circuit. Aluminum rails along the canvas support the cart until stable levitation is achieved. Halbach installations provide: under the bottom - levitation, on the sides - stability.

When the train reaches a speed of 1-2 km/h, the magnets produce sufficient currents in the inductive windings to levitate the train. The force that moves the train is generated by electromagnets installed at intervals along the track. The electromagnetic fields pulsate in such a way that they repel the Halbach installations mounted on the train and move it forward. According to Post, when correct location Halbach installations, the cars will not lose balance under any circumstances, even before an earthquake. Currently, based on the success of Post's 1/20 scale demonstration work, NASA has signed a 3-year contract with his team at Livermore to further explore this concept to more efficiently launch satellites into orbit. It is envisaged that this system will be used as a reusable booster vehicle, which would accelerate the rocket to a speed of about Mach 1 before turning on its main engines.

However, despite all the difficulties, the prospects for using magnetic levitation transport remain very tempting. Thus, the Japanese government is preparing to resume work on a fundamentally new type ground transport- Magnetic levitation trains. According to engineers, Maglev cars are capable of covering the distance between the two largest populated centers of Japan - Tokyo and Osaka - in just 1 hour. Current high-speed trains require 2.5 times more time for this.

The secret of the Maglev's speed is that the cars, suspended in the air by the force of electromagnetic repulsion, move not along the track, but above it. This completely eliminates losses that are inevitable when wheels rub against rails. Long-term tests carried out in Yamanashi Prefecture on a trial section length of 18.4 km confirmed the reliability and safety of this transport system. The cars, moving automatically, without a passenger load, reached a speed of 550 km/h. So far, the record for high-speed rail travel belongs to the French, whose TGV train accelerated to 515 km/h during testing in 1990.

Issues of operating magnetic levitation vehicles

The Japanese are also concerned about economic problems, and primarily the question of the profitability of the super-high-speed Maglev line. Nowadays, about 24 million people travel between Tokyo and Osaka every year, and 70% of passengers use the high-speed rail line. According to futurologists, the revolutionary development of the computer communication network will inevitably lead to a decrease in passenger traffic between the two largest centers of the country. The congestion of transport lines may also be affected by the emerging decline in the number of the country’s active population.

The Russian project to open the movement of magnetic levitation trains from Moscow to St. Petersburg will not be implemented in the near future, the head of the Federal Agency for Railway Transport, Mikhail Akulov, said at a press conference in Moscow at the end of February 2011. There may be problems with this project, since there is no experience in operating magnetic levitation trains in winter conditions, Akulov said, saying that such a project was proposed by a group of Russian developers who adopted the experience of China. At the same time, Akulov noted that the idea of ​​​​creating a high-speed highway from Moscow to St. Petersburg is again relevant today. In particular, it was proposed to combine the creation of a high-speed highway with the parallel construction of a highway. The head of the agency added that powerful business structures from Asia are ready to participate in this project, without specifying which structures we are talking about.

Magnetic train levitation technologies

On this moment There are 3 main technologies for magnetic suspension of trains:

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

A superconducting magnet is a solenoid or electromagnet with a winding made of superconducting material. The winding in the superconducting state has zero ohmic resistance. If such a winding is short-circuited, then the electric current induced in it persists almost indefinitely.

The magnetic field of a continuous current circulating through the winding of a superconducting magnet is extremely stable and free of ripples, which is important for a number of applications in scientific research and technology. The winding of a superconducting magnet loses its superconductivity property when the temperature rises above the critical temperature Tk of the superconductor, when the critical current Ik or critical magnetic field Hk is reached in the winding. Taking this into account, for windings of superconducting magnets. materials with high values ​​of Tk, Ik and Hk are used.

2. On electromagnets (electromagnetic suspension, EMS).

3. On permanent magnets; this is a new and potentially most cost-effective system.

The composition levitates due to the repulsion of identical poles of magnets and, conversely, the attraction of different poles. The movement is carried out by a linear motor.

A linear motor is an electric motor in which one of the elements of the magnetic system is open and has a deployed winding that creates a traveling magnetic field, and the other is made in the form of a guide that ensures linear movement of the moving part of the motor.

Nowadays, many linear motor designs have been developed, but all of them can be divided into two categories - low acceleration motors and high acceleration motors.

Low acceleration engines are used in public transport (maglev, monorail, subway). High acceleration thrusters are quite small in length, and are typically used to accelerate an object to high speed and then release it. They are often used for hypervelocity impact research, as weapons or spacecraft launchers. Linear motors are also widely used in feed drives of metal-cutting machines and in robotics. located either on the train, or on the track, or both. A major design challenge is the heavy weight of sufficiently powerful magnets, since a strong magnetic field is required to maintain the massive composition in the air.

According to Earnshaw's theorem (S. Earnshaw, sometimes spelled Earnshaw), static fields created by electromagnets and permanent magnets alone are unstable, unlike the fields of diamagnetic materials.

Diamagnets are substances that are magnetized towards the direction of the external magnetic field acting on them. In the absence of an external magnetic field, diamagnetic materials have no magnetic moment. and superconducting magnets. There are stabilization systems: sensors constantly measure the distance from the train to the track and the voltage on the electromagnets changes accordingly.

You can consider the principle of movement of magnetic levitation vehicles in the following diagram.

This shows the principle of forward movement of vehicles under the influence of changing magnetic fields. The arrangement of the magnets allows the carriage to seem to be pulled forward towards the opposite pole, thereby moving the entire structure.

The Sami magnetic installation is presented in more detail in the diagramdesigns of magnetic suspension and electric drive of the crew based on linear asynchronous machines

Rice. 1. Design of magnetic suspension and electric drive of the carriage based on linear asynchronous machines:
1 - magnetic suspension inductor; 2 - secondary element; 3 - cover; 4.5 - teeth and winding of the suspension inductor; 6,7 - conductive cage and magnetic circuit of the secondary element; 8 - base; 9-platform; 10 - crew body; 11, 12 - springs; 13 - damper; 14 - rod; 15 - cylindrical hinge; 16 - sliding support; 17 - bracket; 18 - stop; 19 - rod. Von - magnetic field speed: Fn - lifting force of the suspension: Wb - induction of the working gap of the suspension

Fig.2. Design of traction linear asynchronous motor:
1 - traction drive inductor; 2 - secondary element; 3 - magnetic circuit of the drive inductor; 4 - pressure plates drive inductor; 5 - drive inductor teeth; 6 - drive inductor winding coils; 7 - base.

Advantages and disadvantages of magnetic levitation transport

Advantages

• Theoretically, the highest speed that can be achieved on a production (non-sports) ground vehicle.
• Low noise.

Flaws

• High cost of creating and maintaining tracks.
• Weight of magnets, electricity consumption.
• The electromagnetic field generated by maglev may be harmful to train crews and/or nearby residents. Even traction transformers used on electrified alternating current railways are harmful to drivers, but in this case the field strength is an order of magnitude greater. It is also possible that Maglev lines will not be available to people using pacemakers.
• It will be necessary to control the gap between the road and the train (several centimeters) at high speeds (hundreds of km/h). This requires ultra-fast control systems.
• Requires complex track infrastructure.

For example, an arrow for a Maglev represents two sections of road that alternate depending on the direction of the turn. Therefore, it is unlikely that maglev lines will form more or less branched networks with forks and intersections.

Development of new modes of transport

Work on creating high-speed wheelless magnetic levitation trains has been going on for quite a long time, in particular in the Soviet Union since 1974. However, the problem of the most promising transport of the future still remains open and is wide field activities for.

Rice. 2 Magnetic levitation train model

Figure 2 shows a model of a magnetic levitation train, where the developers decided to turn the entire mechanical system upside down. A railway route is a collection of lines spaced at certain equal distances. reinforced concrete supports with special openings (windows) for trains. There are no rails. Why? The fact is that the model is upside down, and the train itself serves as a rail, and wheels with electric motors are installed in the support windows, the rotation speed of which is remotely controlled by the train driver. Thus, the train seems to be flying through the air. The distances between the supports are selected in such a way that at each moment of its movement the train is located in at least two or three of them, and one car has a length greater than one span. This allows not only to keep the train suspended, but at the same time, if one of the wheels fails in any support, the movement will continue.

There are enough advantages of using this particular model. Firstly, it saves on materials, secondly, the weight of the train is significantly reduced (no engines or wheels are needed), thirdly, such a model is extremely environmentally friendly, and fourthly, it is possible to lay such a route in a densely populated city or area with uneven terrain is much easier than in standard types transport.

But we can’t help but mention the shortcomings. For example, if one of the supports deviates significantly along the route, this will lead to disaster. Although, disasters are also possible within conventional railways. Another issue that leads to a strong increase in the cost of technology is physical exercise on supports. For example, the tail of a train that has just left a particular opening, if we say in simple words, as it were, “hangs” and puts a large load on the next support, while the center of gravity of the train itself shifts, which affects all the supports as a whole. Approximately the same situation arises when the head of the train leaves the opening and “hangs” in the same way until it reaches the next support. It turns out to be a kind of swing. How the designers intend to solve this problem (with the help of a load-bearing wing, enormous speed, reducing the distance between the supports...) is still unclear. But there are solutions. And the third problem is turns. Since the developers decided that the length of the car is more than one span, there is a question of turns

Rice. 3 High-Speed ​​String Transport Unitsky

As an alternative to this, there is a purely Russian development called the Yunitsky High-Speed ​​String Transport (UST). Within its framework, it is proposed to use pre-stressed string rails raised on supports to a height of 5-25 meters, along which four-wheeled transport modules move. The cost of UST turns out to be much lower - $600-800 thousand per kilometer, and with infrastructure and rolling stock - $900-1200 thousand per km.

Rice. 4 Example of monorail transport

But the near future is still seen as a regular monorail show. Moreover, within the framework of monorail systems they are now rolling back Newest technologies on transport automation. For example, the American corporation Taxi 2000 is creating a monorail system of SkyWeb Express automatic taxis, which can travel both within the city and outside it. A driver is not needed in such taxis (just like in science fiction books and films). You indicate your destination, and the taxi takes you there itself, independently lining up optimal route. Everything works out here - both safety and accuracy. Taxi 2000 is currently the most realistic and feasible project

Conclusion

Magnetic levitation trains are considered one of the most promising types of transport of the future. Magnetic levitation trains differ from ordinary trains and monorails in the complete absence of wheels - when moving, the cars seem to float above one wide rail due to the action of magnetic forces. As a result, the speed of such a train can reach 400 km/h, and in some cases such transport can replace an airplane. Currently, only one magnetic road project, also called Transrapid, is being implemented in practice in the world.

Many developments and projects are already 20-30 years old. AND main task for their creators is to attract investors. The problem of transport itself is quite significant, because often we buy some products so expensive because a lot is spent on their transportation. The second problem is the environment, the third is the heavy congestion of transport routes, which increases from year to year, and for some types of transport by tens of percent.

Let's hope that in the near future we ourselves will be able to ride in a vehicle with a magnetic levitation. Time moves...

Bibliography

1. Drozdova T.E. Theoretical basis progressive technologies. - Moscow: MGOU, 2001. - 212 p.
2. Materials Science and Technology construction materials/ Tyalina L.N., Fedorova N.V. Tutorial. - Tambov: TSTU, 2006. - 457 p.
3. Methods for protecting inland waters from pollution and depletion / ed. Gavich I.K. - M.: UNITY-DANA, 2002. - 287 p.
4. Methods for treating industrial wastewater / Zhukov A.I. Mongait I.L., Rodziller I.D. - M.: Infra-M, 2005. - 338 p.
5. Fundamentals of technologies for the most important industries / ed. Sidorova I.A. Textbook for universities. - M.: graduate School, 2003. - 396 p.
6. System of technologies of the most important branches of the national economy / Dvortsin M.D., Dmitrienko V.V., Krutikova L.V., Mashikhina L.G. Tutorial. - Khabarovsk: KhPI, 2003. - 523 p.

Undoubtedly Shanghai Maglev- one of the attractions of Shanghai, and all of China. This is the world's first commercial magnetic Railway was put into operation in January 2004.

Now this 30-kilometer line connects with the Long Yang Lu metro station in the Shanghai area. This distance is covered by a magnetic levitation train in less than 8 minutes. For comparison, if you go by, it will take 40 minutes.

You need to ride such a train at least twice - once watching the speed indicator when it reaches the maximum, and another time admiring the view from the window :)

The Shanghai Maglev is built using German technology. Active developments in this area are carried out mainly in Japan and Germany.

Magnetic pad. How it works?

The word Maglev is short for magnetic levitation(magnetig levitation, English), that is, the train seems to levitate above the road surface under the influence of a powerful electromagnetic field.

At the bottom of each car, electronically controlled electromagnets (1) are attached to a steel girth (4). Also, magnets are located at the bottom of the special rail (2). When the magnets interact, the train hovers one centimeter above the rail. There are also magnets responsible for lateral alignment (3). The winding, laid along the track, creates a magnetic field that sets the train in motion.

The train travels without a driver. Management is carried out from the control center using computers. Electricity is supplied from the control center only to the section along which the train is currently moving. To decelerate, the magnetic field changes its vector.

Advantages and disadvantages

"If any of you decides to build a tower, won't he first sit down and count all the costs to see if he has enough money to finish it?" (Luke 14 chapter 28 verse)

These words contain one of the reasons why such trains were not built everywhere.

The construction and maintenance of a special gauge is expensive. For example, the construction of the Shanghai Maglev was further complicated by wetlands. Each track support is laid on a special concrete pad resting on the rocky base. In some places this pillow reaches 85 meters in thickness! As a result, these 30 km of magnetic road cost 10 billion yuan.

In addition, it is no longer possible to allow other vehicles on this road. This distinguishes it from tracks built for high-speed trains - regular ones can still travel on them.

Now about the pleasant things. The main advantage of Maglev is, of course, speed. Behind a short time After the start, the train accelerates to 430 km per hour.

Relatively low electricity consumption - several times less than that of a car or airplane. Accordingly, there is less harm to the environment.

Since the friction of parts is greatly reduced, the operating costs of such a train are lower.

Tests have shown that the magnetic field in the train is even weaker than in conventional trains. This means that powerful magnets are not dangerous for passengers, including those with an electronic heart pacemaker.

In case of power loss, the train is equipped with batteries that activate special brakes. They create a magnetic field with a reverse vector, and the speed of the train is reduced to 10 km per hour, and eventually the train stops and falls onto the tracks.

The Future of Shanghai Maglev

Now the length of the maglev path is 30 km. It is known about plans to extend the line to another Shanghai airport - to Hongqiao, located to the west of. And then extend the road to the southwest to Hangzhou. As a result, the length of the route would be 175 km. But for now the project is frozen until 2014. Since 2010, Shanghai and Hangzhou have been connected by high-speed rail. Time will tell whether plans to extend Maglev will be implemented.

The first magnetic levitation train carried a group of passengers as part of the 1979 IVA International Transport Exhibition in Germany. But few people know that in the same year another maglev, the Soviet model TP-01, drove its first meters along the test track. It is especially surprising that Soviet maglevs have survived to this day - they have been collecting dust on the outskirts of history for more than 30 years.

Experiments with transport operating on the principle of magnetic levitation began even before the war. IN different years and in different countries appeared working prototypes levitating trains. In 1979, the Germans introduced a system that transported more than 50,000 passengers in three months of operation, and in 1984 international airport The city of Birmingham (UK) has the first ever permanent line for magnetic levitation trains. The initial length of the route was 600 m, and the levitation height did not exceed 15 mm. The system operated quite successfully for 11 years, but then technical failures became more frequent due to aging equipment. And since the system was unique, almost any spare part had to be manufactured according to individual order, and it was decided to close the line, which was bringing continuous losses.

1986, TP-05 at the training ground in Ramenskoye. The 800-meter section did not allow us to accelerate to cruising speeds, but the initial “races” did not require this. The car, built in an extremely short time, managed almost without any “childhood diseases”, and this was a good result.

In addition to the British, serial magnetic trains were quite successfully launched in Germany - the company Transrapid operated a similar system 31.5 km long in the Emsland region between the cities of Derpen and Laten. The story of the Emsland Maglev, however, ended tragically: in 2006, due to the fault of technicians, a serious accident occurred in which 23 people died, and the line was mothballed.

There are two magnetic levitation systems in use in Japan today. The first (for urban transport) uses an electromagnetic suspension system for speeds up to 100 km/h. The second, better known, SCMaglev, is designed for speeds over 400 km/h and is based on superconducting magnets. As part of this program, several lines were built and a world speed record for a railway vehicle was set, 581 km/h. Just two years ago, a new generation of Japanese maglev trains was introduced - the L0 Series Shinkansen. In addition, a system similar to the German “Transrapid” operates in China, in Shanghai; it also uses superconducting magnets.

The TP-05 salon had two rows of seats and a central aisle. The car is wide and at the same time surprisingly low - the 184 cm tall editor practically touched the ceiling with his head. It was impossible to stand in the driver's cab.

And in 1975, the development of the first Soviet maglev began. Today it has been practically forgotten, but it is a very important page in the technical history of our country.

Train of the future

He stands in front of us - large, futuristic in design, looking more like spaceship from a sci-fi movie rather than a vehicle. Streamlined aluminum body sliding door, stylized inscription “TP-05” on the side. An experimental maglev car has been standing at a testing ground near Ramenskoye for 25 years, the cellophane is covered with a thick layer of dust, underneath is an amazing machine that miraculously was not cut into metal according to the good Russian tradition. But no, it was preserved, and TP-04, its predecessor, intended for testing individual components, was preserved.

The experimental car in the workshop is already in a new livery. It was repainted several times, and for the filming of a fantastic short film, a large Fire-ball inscription was made on the side.

The development of maglev goes back to 1975, when the Soyuztransprogress production association appeared under the USSR Ministry of Oil and Gas Construction. A few years later, the state program “High-speed environmentally friendly transport” was launched, within the framework of which work began on a magnetic levitation train. The financing was very good; a special workshop and training ground of the VNIIPItransprogress Institute with a 120-meter section of road in Ramenskoye near Moscow was built for the project. And in 1979, the first magnetic levitation car TP-01 successfully passed the test distance under its own power - however, still on a temporary 36-meter section of the Gazstroymashina plant, elements of which were later “moved” to Ramenskoye. Please note - at the same time as the Germans and before many other developers! In principle, the USSR had a chance to become one of the first countries to develop magnetic transport - the work was carried out by real enthusiasts of their craft, led by Academician Yuri Sokolov.

Magnetic modules (gray) on a rail (orange). The rectangular bars in the center of the photo are gap sensors that monitor surface unevenness. The electronics were removed from TP-05, but the magnetic equipment remained, and, in principle, the car can be started again.

The Popular Mechanics expedition was led by none other than Andrey Aleksandrovich Galenko, General Director of the OJSC Engineering and Scientific Center TEMP. “TEMP” is the same organization, ex-VNIIPItransprogress, a branch of the Soyuztransprogress that has sunk into oblivion, and Andrei Aleksandrovich worked on the system from the very beginning, and hardly anyone could talk about it better than him. TP-05 stands under cellophane, and the first thing the photographer says is: no, no, we can’t photograph this, nothing is visible right away. But then we pull off the cellophane - and for the first time in many years, the Soviet maglev appears before us, not engineers or test site employees, in all its glory.

Why do you need Maglev?

Development transport systems, operating on the principle of magnetic levitation, can be divided into three directions. The first is cars with a design speed of up to 100 km/h; in this case, the most optimal scheme is with levitation electromagnets. The second is suburban transport with speeds of 100-400 km/h; here it is most advisable to use a full-fledged electromagnetic suspension with lateral stabilization systems. And finally, the most “fashionable” trend, so to speak, is long-distance trains capable of accelerating to 500 km/h and above. In this case, the suspension should be electrodynamic, using superconducting magnets.

TP-01 belonged to the first direction and was tested at the test site until mid-1980. Its weight was 12 tons, length - 9 m, and it could accommodate 20 people; The suspension gap was minimal - only 10 mm. TP-01 was followed by new gradations of testing machines - TP-02 and TP-03, the track was extended to 850 m, then the laboratory car TP-04 appeared, designed to study the operation of a linear traction electric drive. The future of Soviet maglevs seemed cloudless, especially since in the world, besides Ramensky, there were only two such training grounds - in Germany and Japan.

Previously, the TP-05 was symmetrical and could move both forward and backward; control panels and windshields were on both sides. Today, the control panel is preserved only on the workshop side - the second one was dismantled as unnecessary.

The operating principle of a levitating train is relatively simple. The composition does not touch the rail, being in a state of hovering - the mutual attraction or repulsion of magnets works. Simply put, the cars hang above the track plane thanks to the vertically directed forces of magnetic levitation, and are kept from lateral rolls by similar forces directed horizontally. In the absence of friction on the rail, the only “obstacle” to movement is aerodynamic resistance - theoretically, even a child can move a multi-ton carriage. The train is driven by a linear asynchronous motor, similar to the one that works, for example, on the Moscow monorail (by the way, this motor was developed by JSC Scientific Center "TEMP"). Such an engine has two parts: the primary (inductor) is installed under the car, the secondary (reactive tire) is installed on the tracks. The electromagnetic field created by the inductor interacts with the tire, moving the train forward.

The advantages of maglev primarily include the absence of resistance other than aerodynamic. In addition, equipment wear is minimal due to the small number of moving elements of the system compared to classic trains. The disadvantages are the complexity and high cost of the routes. For example, one of the problems is safety: the maglev needs to be “lifted” onto an overpass, and if there is an overpass, then it is necessary to consider the possibility of evacuating passengers in case of an emergency. However, the TP-05 car was planned for operation at speeds of up to 100 km/h and had a relatively inexpensive and technologically advanced track structure.

1980s An engineer from VNIIPI-transprogress works on a computer. The equipment of the workshop at that time was the most modern - the financing of the “High-Speed ​​Environmentally Friendly Transport” program was carried out without serious failures even during perestroika times.

Everything from scratch

When developing the TP series, the engineers essentially did everything from scratch. We selected the parameters for the interaction between the magnets of the car and the track, then took up the electromagnetic suspension - we worked on optimizing magnetic fluxes, motion dynamics, etc. The main achievement of the developers can be called the so-called magnetic skis they created, capable of compensating for track unevenness and ensuring comfortable dynamics of the car with passengers. Adaptation to unevenness was realized using small-sized electromagnets connected by hinges into something similar to chains. The circuit was complex, but much more reliable and efficient than with rigidly fixed magnets. The system was monitored thanks to gap sensors, which monitored track irregularities and gave commands to the power converter, which reduced or increased the current in a particular electromagnet, and therefore the lifting force.

TP-01, the first Soviet maglev, 1979. Here the car is not yet standing in Ramenskoye, but on a short, 36-meter section of track, built at the training ground of the Gazstroymashina plant. In the same year, the Germans demonstrated the first such carriage - Soviet engineers kept pace with the times.

It was this scheme that was tested on TP-05, the only “second direction” car built within the program, with an electromagnetic suspension. Work on the car was carried out very quickly - its aluminum body, for example, was completed in literally three months. The first tests of TP-05 took place in 1986. It weighed 18 tons, accommodated 18 people, the rest of the carriage was occupied testing equipment. It was assumed that the first road using such cars in practice would be built in Armenia (from Yerevan to Abovyan, 16 km). The speed was to be increased to 180 km/h, the capacity to 64 people per carriage. But the second half of the 1980s made its own adjustments to the rosy future of the Soviet maglev. By that time, the first permanent magnetic levitation system had already been launched in Britain; we could have caught up with the British if not for the political vicissitudes. Another reason for the project's curtailment was the earthquake in Armenia, which led to a sharp reduction in funding.

Project B250 - high-speed maglev "Moscow - Sheremetyevo". Aerodynamics were developed at the Yakovlev Design Bureau, and full-size mock-ups of the segment with seats and cockpit were made. The design speed - 250 km/h - was reflected in the project index. Unfortunately, in 1993, the ambitious idea crashed due to lack of funding.

Ancestor of Aeroexpress

All work on the TP series was discontinued in the late 1980s, and since 1990, the TP-05, which by that time had managed to star in the science fiction short film “Robots are No Mess,” was put in permanent storage under cellophane in the same workshop where it was built. We became the first journalists in a quarter of a century to see this car “live.” Almost everything inside has been preserved - from the control panel to the upholstery of the seats. Restoration of TP-05 is not as difficult as it could be - it stood under a roof, in good conditions and deserves a place in the transport museum.

In the early 1990s, the TEMP Research Center continued the topic of maglev, now commissioned by the Moscow government. This was the idea of ​​Aeroexpress, a high-speed magnetic levitation train to deliver residents of the capital directly to Sheremetyevo Airport. The project was named B250. An experimental segment of the train was shown at an exhibition in Milan, after which foreign investors and engineers appeared in the project; Soviet specialists traveled to Germany to study foreign developments. But in 1993, due to the financial crisis, the project was curtailed. 64-seater carriages for Sheremetyevo remained only on paper. However, some elements of the system were created in full-scale samples - suspension units and chassis, devices of the on-board power supply system, even testing of individual units began.

The most interesting thing is that there are developments for maglevs in Russia. JSC Scientific Center "TEMP" is working and implementing various projects for the civilian and defense industries, there is a test site, there is experience working with similar systems. Several years ago, thanks to the initiative of JSC Russian Railways, conversations about maglev again moved to the design development stage - however, the continuation of work has already been entrusted to other organizations. Time will tell what this will lead to.

The editors would like to thank you for their assistance in preparing the material. to CEO ITC "Electromagnetic Passenger Transport" A.A. Galenko.