Abstract
This paper presents the analysis and experimental evaluation of the effective normal force and power consumption in maglev vehicle. Maglev vehicle employs the electromagnets as a suspension and linear motors for propulsion. These components give the higher ride comfort but suffered from energy efficiency. Therefore, vector control based algorithm and various air gap are employed to increase the propulsion efficiency and lower the system energy consumption. The effective levitation load according to levitation gap and normal force of a linear induction motor (LIM) is calculated by power consumption in levitation system and compared with finite element analysis results. The experiment is carried out with the full scaled train in test line and the efficiency of propulsion system is also presented.