Interaction between ring permanent magnets and bulk Dy-Ba-Cu-O superconductors

A combination of bulk Dy-Ba-Cu-O superconductors and permanent magnets can be used for various rotational applications such as flywheel energy storage and magnetic bearings. For practical applications, there are two important parameters: the levitation force and the stiffness. Since the superconductor and magnets are installed in a closed space, the attractive force is another important parameter that we should take care. In this study, we measured the levitation force and the stiffness by changing the thickness of a ring permanent magnet. We used ring Fe-Nd-B magnets 120 mm in outer diameter and 70 mm in inner diameter with the thicknesses of 5-40 mm. For superconductors, we used single-domain bulk Dy-Ba-Cu-O 47 mm in diameter and 10 mm in thickness. Six pellets of Dy-Ba-Cu-O were placed concentrically such that the inner diameter becomes 70 mm. The levitation forces increased with increasing the thickness of the permanent magnet but tended to saturate.