SUPERCONDUCTING MOTORS FOR MECHANIZED TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT,
Abstract
Efforts concerned a study of the engineering advantages available to design of individual-wheel drive motors by using the powerful magnetic fields which can be generated by superconducting magnets. A preliminary design of a superconducting motor was made and the resulting machine performance compared with that of conventional electric motor of the same shaft speed and power output (1800RPM, 30 KW). It had been hoped that the superconducting motor could be much smaller and lighter than the conventional motor. With reasonable extrapolation for improvements that occur preferentially in under-developed devices, it appears that a superconducting motor will be a heavier and less efficient system than a conventional motor. The output-shaft drive can probably be built about two-thirds the size of a comparable conventional motor, but the superconducting motor must be backed up by its own volume of compressor, driven by a conventional motor for field-service reasons. Thus the system performance of the superconducting motor is not advantageous in the near-future state of-the-art under consideration. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0420812
Entities
People
- M. G. Foster
Organizations
- University of Virginia