China’s ‘electromagnetic sled’ is almost supersonic

High-speed rail system zooms at 1,030 kilometers per hour, zipping past the top speeds of China and Japan’s current maglev trains

By SCOTT FOSTER

China has scored another first in high-speed railway technology. After operating the world’s fastest commercial maglev train since 2003, China is now testing a much faster system that reportedly zooms at over 80% of the speed of sound.

Referred to as an “electromagnetic sled,” the train has a top speed of 1,030 kilometers (640 miles) per hour. That’s 2.4 times faster than the Shanghai Transrapid maglev train, which tops out at 431 kilometers per hour on a 30-kilometer elevated track to and from Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

The electromagnetic sled is being designed and built by the Institute of Electrical Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in cooperation with Shangdong province’s Jinan City and provincial governments. The work is being done at a ground testing facility for high-mass, ultra-high-speed electromagnetic propulsion technology in Jinan City.

A China Global Television Network (CGTV) video shows a single car streaking down a straight track built on flat ground. Top speed can be attained with a total weight of a metric ton (1,000 kilograms) or more, according to reports.

In addition to high-speed ground transportation, tests of the system will likely contribute to China’s wider research into aerodynamics, materials science, aerospace and perhaps even railguns.

The electromagnetic sled can travel about 1.7 times faster than the maglev train developed by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tokai), although the Japanese version is a proper train. In 2014, then-prime minister Shinzo Abe took then-US ambassador Caroline Kennedy for a ride on an experimental model in Yamanashi Prefecture west of Tokyo.

Maglev journey in time

A maglev train – or, in the terminology popularized by Japanese National Railways (JNR) engineer Yoshihiro Kyotani, a linear motor car – uses magnetic repulsion to lift the vehicle above the track and propel it forward. Superconducting electromagnets are located on the undercarriage of the cars and along the rails, or guideway.

Rubber wheels support the train when it is stopped or moving slowly. As it accelerates, the magnets interact and raise it 10 centimeters above the track, eliminating friction and enabling high speeds…….More Here

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