Abstract
Ropeless linear motor elevators with several cars in each hoistway have been proposed as a way to increase the handling capacity. By allowing both vertical and horizontal movements, cars could circulate or bypass each other, and thus flexible transportation is achieved. If horizontal movement is not needed, the multi-car system becomes more simple and feasible. However, in such a system there are many constraints on the car movements, so the performance gain is not evident. In order to investigate effectiveness of and control strategies for such multi-car elevators, we have developed a simulator system to analyze multi-car linear motor elevators. This paper reports the results of the simulation study, which show that such systems would have clear advantages.
