this is already part of the "inductrack" design (that is being proposed for hyperloop). It's been around for decades but was stalled in real development until recently, I'm guessing because of patents. As for how "fast" you need to make it - the answer, surprisingly, is "not very". IIRC, 10 kph is sufficient to levitate a vehicle.
It is a bit of a pain to make all those loops. A flat sheet of metal would be much simpler, manufacturing-wise
The loops don't have to be pretty, just able to carry the current and the physical forces. You could punch the material out of sheet and use rollers to crudely form. I have no idea if that's worth any efficiency gain, or if just using sheet material is better, however.
Comments
this is already part of the "inductrack" design (that is being proposed for hyperloop). It's been around for decades but was stalled in real development until recently, I'm guessing because of patents. As for how "fast" you need to make it - the answer, surprisingly, is "not very". IIRC, 10 kph is sufficient to levitate a vehicle.
It is a bit of a pain to make all those loops. A flat sheet of metal would be much simpler, manufacturing-wise
The loops don't have to be pretty, just able to carry the current and the physical forces. You could punch the material out of sheet and use rollers to crudely form. I have no idea if that's worth any efficiency gain, or if just using sheet material is better, however.
yeah that's a good point!