'Flying on the Ground' with Neoprene
Track, stator pack and motor winding cable jacketed with Neoprene form the heart of the maglev Transrapid system. |
It hovers yet has no wings, it moves at over 400 km/hr (250 mph) yet has no engine. What is it? This apparent miracle is the Transrapid high speed train - the most fundamental innovation in railroad technology since Stephenson's Rocket.
The world's first commercial Transrapid line is operating now, connecting Shanghai Pudong Airport to the Long Yang Road underground station in the city, a distance of 30 km. Although currently under test, the revolutionary new line will be commissioned for full service on January 1, 2004.
In the Transrapid 'maglev' system, the wheels, rails and engines of a conventional railroad are replaced by non-contact electromagnetic support, guidance and propulsion systems. It functions by electromagnetic levitation using the attractive forces between electronically controlled electromagnets in the vehicle, and ferromagnetic reaction rails installed on the underside of the track or 'guideway'.
The primary propulsion - an electromagnetic traveling field - is in the guideway not the vehicle. Alternating current supplied to a three-phase motor winding generates the field which pulls the vehicle along at a continuously regulated speed from standstill to some 430 km/h. To stop, the traveling field is simply reversed, slowing the vehicle without contact or friction. The result is claimed to be safer, quieter and more cost and energy efficient than any other railroad system. And one that is virtually impossible to derail.
Transrapid is a joint project of Siemens, ThyssenKrupp and Transrapid International. Nexans Deutschland Industries GmbH & Co. KG, a worldwide leader in cables and cabling systems, is subcontractor to ThyssenKrupp for 1000 km of motor winding cable installed over the entire length of the Shanghai track, providing the propulsion energy that is absolutely key to the magnetic levitation technology. To meet the very demanding specification, Nexans chose jacketing of DuPont Performance Elastomers Neoprene polychloroprene to protect the cable.
The project required a specially developed 20kV cable capable of meeting an 80 year lifetime guarantee. In addition, the tough specification stipulated that all materials must be non-flammable, heat proof, burn-through-proof and poor conductors of heat over the extended lifetime. Neoprene, with its time-proven performance history, was the answer. Not only does it meet all the flame- retardant and heat resistant parameters, but also provides lifetime oil and weather resistance and high mechanical strength.
Carlo Nolli (left), account manager - DuPont Performance Elastomers, and Peter E. Zamzow, director research and development head at Nexans Deutschland Industries GmbH & Co. KG, display a section of Transrapid guideway showing motor winding cable jacketed with Neoprene that provides essential propulsion for the transport system's revolutionary electromagnetic levitation technology. |
The future looks bright for Transrapid International, and for Nexans. Two further maglev Transrapid system projects are planned; Shanghai-Hanghou (213 km) in China, and a 79 km Metrorapid system in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany.
It seems evident that Transrapid's electromagnetic levitation technology is not just hovering, it is taking off, and taking Nexans and DuPont Performance Elastomers Neoprene with it!
