Cylindrical Linear Induction Motor for Vertical Transfer: Fundamental Consideration on Vertical Vibration during Transportation

• Published in: IFAC-PapersOnLine Vol. 55; no. 27; pp. 393 - 398
• Main Authors: IKEDA, Keigo, UCHINO, Daigo, OGAWA, Kazuki, ENDO, Ayato, KATO, Taro, NARITA, Takayoshi, KATO, Hideaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Actuator; Cylindrical linear induction motor; Electromagnetic field analysis; Elevation; Vertical vibration; Elevation; Electromagnetic field analysis; Vertical vibration; Cylindrical linear induction motor; Actuator
• ISSN: 2405-8963; 2405-8963
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.10.545

In a conventional elevator, the vibration and twisting of the cable become a serious problem when the cable is very long. Therefore, an elevator using a method that omits the counterweight and is moved by an actuator on a single cable with both ends fixed was considered. However, contact between the actuator and the cable decreases the efficiency and damages the cable owing to the inclusion of foreign matter. Therefore, this paper proposes a vertical transportation system which moves above a long and uniform conductor cable without contact by using a cylindrical linear induction motor (LIM) as the actuator. A cylindrical LIM above the reaction plate, which is a cylindrical shell-shaped conductor, has an advantage that the magnetic force acts on the reaction plate uniformly. This is expected to suppress the vibration in the gap direction. However, a conventional LIM drives the mover in the horizontal direction, and system design guidelines for a device that can directly exert thrust in the vertical direction have yet to be established. Therefore, we constructed a model for analyzing the cylindrical LIM and performed electromagnetic field analyses by the finite element method. The thickness of the reaction plate was varied in the analyses and the effect on the generated thrust was investigated. From the analysis results, the optimum thickness of the cable was determined by obtaining the range of the magnetic flux density acting on the cable.