7.

Superconducting Levitation and its Applications

7.1 Introduction

• The suspension of objects or people with no visible means of support is known

as levitation. The discovery of superconductor with Tc above liquid nitrogen
temperature 77 K has demonstrated the superconducting levitation to large
public. It has also fascinated the possibility of high speed vehicles to carry people
at 500 km/h.
• Passive, simple and defying intuition are some of the qualities of
superconducting levitation. One can imagine a speed of around 100 to 200 m/s
with no contact, no wear between moving bodies.
7.2 Magnetic Levitation System
• Levitation is defined as the stable equilibrium of a body without contact with the
solid earth. Excluding orbital motion, flying or floating, levitation forces can be
created both by electric or magnetic fields.
• There are several types of total or partial magnetic levitation systems.
– Permanent magnet – only partial stability
– Diamagnetic materials in a magnetic field (eg. Bismuth)
– Electromagnets with feedback control
 – Electromagnets with dynamic currents
– Eddy currents – ac devices
– Superconductors and permanent magnets
– Superconductors and superconducting magnets
– Hybrids – mixture of the above
• Magnetic levitation requires two necessary subsystems.
• (i) A primary system for generating the magnetic field
• (ii) A system for shaping or trapping the magnetic field
• In the case of electromagnetic levitation, electric currents in a wire wound coils
produce primary magnetic field, while the ferromagnetic coil holder (pole pieces)
and the ferromagnetic base creates a means for shaping the magnetic circuit.

Fig.2
Fig.1
• In the case of eddy current levitation with a moving magnet over a conductor, the source
of the field can be a permanent magnet or a normal or superconductor wound coil. The
relative motion of the magnet and conductor provides the field shaping system due to the
induced eddy current in the conductor.
• Finally in the case of passive superconducting levitation, a permanent magnet serves as
the primary field source while the bulk or thin film superconductor provides the field
shaping due to the induced supercurrent.

Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5

7. 3 Active magnetic bearing versus passive magnetic bearing:
• Active controlled electromagnetic levitation systems have become a natural technology and
offer the following advantages with a few significant disadvantages.
Advantages:
• High stiffness
• Built in adaptive control to environment changes
• Low field leakage
• Industrial application proven
Disadvantages:
• High cost
• Complexity – related to reliability issues
• Small working gap
• Total system weight penality (eg. Power supply, controller, electronics)
• The advantages of superconducting levitation systems in machines are as follows.
Advantages:
• Passive, no electronics or power supply needed
• Potential high reliability
• Potential lower system weight
• Large or small working gap
• Lower cost
Disadvantages:
• Requires cryogen or cryogenic temperatures (cryocooler)
• Relatively low stiffness
• Magnetic field leakage
• Not a proven technology in service
7. 4 Stability and Levitation
• According to Earnshaw’s theorem, a group of particles governed by inverse square law
forces cannot be in stable equilibrium. The theorem naturally applies to charges
particles and magnetic poles and dipoles.
• The theorem is restated as “A charged particle in the filed of fixed set of charges cannot
rest in stable equilibrium”. This theorem can be extended to a set of magnets and fixed
circuits with constant current sources.
• Earnshaw’s theorem is based on the mathematics of inverse square laws. Particles
which experience such forces must obey the partial differential equation known as
Laplace’s equation. The solution of this equation does not permit local minima or
maxima but only saddle type equilibria.
• However, there are circumstances under which electric or magnetic systems can avoid
the consequences of Earnshaw’s theorem.
They are,
 Time varying fields (eg. Eddy currents and alternating currents)
 Active feedback
 Diamagnetic systems
 Ferrofluids
 superconductors
• This theorem is easily proved, if the electric and magnetic field sources are fixed in space and
time (without changing its position and time) and one tries to establish the stability of single
free moving magnet or charged particle.
• However, in the presence of polarizable, magnetizable or superconducting materials, the
motion of the test body will induce changes in the electric and magnetic sources in the nearby
bodies. In general magnetic flux attracts ferromagnetic materials still obey Earnshaw theorem,
whereas flux repellants such as diamagnetic or type-I superconductors stability can sometimes
be obtained.
• Superconductors, however have several modes of stable levitation,
- type-I or Meissner repulsive levitation based on complete flux exclusion
- Type-II repulsive levitation based on both partial flux exclusion and flux pinning
- Type-II suspension levitation based on flux pinning force

Fig.6: Type-I Meissner superconducting levitation Fig.7: Type-II superconducting levitation (YBa2Cu3O7
(Pb bowl at 4.2 K) at 77 K)
 Fig.8: Type-II superconducting levitation
Fig.9: Type-II superconducting Suspension levitation

• In the case of Meissner repulsive levitation shown in Fig.6, superconducting (Type-I)

currents in the bowl shaped object moves in response to change in the levitated magnet.
The concave shape is required to achieve the energy potential well.
• In the case of type – II superconductors levitation, both repulsive (Figs. 7, 8) and
suspension (attractive, Fig. 9) stable levitation forces are possible without shaping the
superconductor. Magnetic flux exclusion produces equivalent magnetic pressures which
result in repulsive levitation.
• As we have studied earlier, the flux penetration in a superconductor is due to flux vortices in
the type-II superconductors. When the external sources of flux lines move, the vortices resist
the motion or the flux lines are pinned in the superconducting material.
• Thus the flux pinning is responsible for stable suspension levitation.