Brazil is poised to hold its first magnetic levitation train. This process, called MagLev-Cobra, due to its design disarticulated, will be able to take curves with a radius of 30 meters, and withstand gradients of 15%.



The MagLev-Cobra is being developed at the Laboratory of Application of superconductors of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Lasup / UFRJ), the Ecole Polytechnique and the Institute Alberto Luiz Coimbra Master and Research Engineering (Coppe). The development is supported by FAPERJ (Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro). The proposed installation of MagLev-Cobra is going to move through a magnetic field powered by electricity, also the location of the train on the campus of the Ilha do Fundo by 2011.

In Rio de Janeiro, the MagLev will be a new use: it will be an alternative to urban transport. The coordinator of the study, Richard Stephan, explains: "Our proposal does not yet exist in the world because it is geared towards urban transport, which requires a reduced speed over short distances. In Germany and Japan For example, magnetic levitation trains are dedicated to high-speed transport and over long distances. "

Technology levitation train is based on the formation of a magnetic field of repulsion between channels and modules of levitation, which are pellets superconductrices replacing the wheels and which are composed of yttrium, barium and copper. To generate this magnetic field, scientists cool the superconductors to the critical temperature of -196 ° C using liquid nitrogen.

To test the train without wheels, several steps have succeeded. "During the first phase, we built a small-scale model for the experiments. The next step is to make a real size prototype, which will operate on a test line of 114 meters, in the Technology Center (TC) of UFRJ, "says Stephan. Following these tests, should serve to MagLev transportation on the entire campus.

The train should be substituted in part to the fleet of buses serving the campus, with a transport capacity of 254 passengers per trip. But the project is even more ambitious. The levitation train could also benefit the public transport system in the city of Rio de Janeiro, connecting strategic points such as the international airport, on the Island of the Governor, and the Santos Dumont airport, in the center. The inclusion of the train tracks is generally easy, given the lightness of the train and the elevated tracks.

Easy installation of the train would also reduce the costs associated with setting the train in the city, less than the metro according to initial estimates from prototype to actual size. The MagLev will move at a speed of 70 km / h, similar to the subway, but with the added benefit of being quiet and clean. According to Stephan, compared with an electric train, "it will consume half the energy that an electric train used to move because it is lighter and shows less resistance to abrasion.
http://everydayscience.org/2009/04/the-first-magnetic-levitation-train-in-brazil/