SUMMARYA magnetic levitation device with two-dimensional movement, the so-called "levitating X-Y transporter," has been developed. In order to develop a working levitating X-Y transporter, it is necessary to clarify the levitation characteristics, such as the lift force, levitation height, and stability against mechanical disturbances. In this paper, we examine the lift and the restoring force experimentally and propose a new simulation program based on the three-dimensional hybrid finite and boundary element method to analyze the dynamic behavior of electromagnetic characteristics of YBCO bulk. Using the numerical simulation and experiments, we investigated a suitable arrangement of permanent magnets to enhance the levitation characteristics. We also designed a levitating transporter which can carry a load of 200 kg with a gap of 16 mm.

We have been developing a magnetic levitating device with two-dimensional movement, namely a 'levitating X-Y transporter'. For a real design of the levitating X-Y transporter, it is necessary to clarify the levitation characteristics, such as lift, levitation height and stability against mechanical disturbances. In this paper, we examine the lift and the restoring force experimentally and newly developed a simulation code based on the three-dimensional hybrid finite and boundary element method to analyze the dynamic electromagnetic behaviors of YBCO bulk. We investigated the suitable permanent-magnet arrangement to enhance the levitation characteristics through experiments and numerical simulation. And we also performed the design of a levitating transporter which can levitate a load of 200 kg with a gap of 16 mm.