Electromagnetic optimal design of a linear induction motor in linear metro

An improved T-model equivalent circuit of a single-sided linear induction machine (SLIM) is proposed. The analysis utilizes a set of one-dimensional air gap flux linkage equations. The model takes longitudinal end and transversal edge effects into consideration. These have to account for primary terminal half-filled slots, secondary back-iron saturation and skin effect in the secondary conducting sheet. In the circuit, several coefficients are obtained by use of the dummy electric potential method in conjunction with consideration of the complex power equivalence between the primary and secondary sides. The coefficients derived include the longitudinal end effect coefficients K r and Kx, transversal edge effect coefficients C r and Cx, and skin effect coefficient Kf. The accuracy of the T-model is validated using comparison to a set of measured data under constant current - constant frequency conditions. These were taken from the Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS) in Canada. An optimal design scheme for the SLIM is addressed. The application used for the optimization is a prototype propulsion system in a high temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev drive. The efficiency and primary weight are chosen as optimal objective functions while the thrust, power factor and other performance indexes are calculated. © 2010 IEEE