Design of Non-contact Power Supply System Coils for Railway Vehicles Focusing on Magnetic Coupling Characteristics and Loss in Rail

Abstract

In a non-contact power supply system for railway vehicles, eddy current and hysteresis losses caused by leakage flux pose a problem for power transmission efficiency because the transmission coil is installed near a rail. To solve this problem, we proposed a figure-of-eight coil shape capable of decreasing the leakage flux. However, the coupling factor of the figure-of-eight coil is smaller than that of a rectangular coil when the coil width is the same and the influence of the rail is neglected. In this study, the magnetic coupling characteristics and loss the in rail with the respect to the width of the figure-of-eight and rectangular coils were evaluated by analysis and experiment. The results contribute to design methods for the coil shape and width of non-contact power supply systems for railway vehicles.