Design Optimization of Vacuum Tube Maglev Transport Conditions: A Theoretical and Orthogonal Experimental Study

The influence of the vacuum tube maglev(magnetic levitation) transport conditions,including the blocking-ratio,pressure and train-speed,on the aerodynamic resistance was empirically approximated,mathematically formulated with standard κ-ε turbulent model,theoretically analyzed in fluid mechanics,orthogonal theory and range-and-variance analysis,numerically simulated in computational fluid dynamics with software Fluent,and experimentally evaluated with multi-factor orthogonal test for the design optimization.The results show that the major impact factors can be listed in a descending order:the blocking ratio> train-speed> pressure.The optimized conditions included:a blocking ratio of 0.1,a train-speed of 600 km/h and a tube pressure of 700 Pa.We suggest that the herein reported results be of some basic and technological interest in development of vacuum tube maglev transport.