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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Safety of High Speed Magnetic Levitation Transportation Systems: Final Report on Magnetic Field Testing of TR-07 Maglev Vehicle, Volume I - Analysis

Document Series:
Technical Reports
Author:
  • Fred Dietrich, William E. Feero
Report Number
DOT/FRA/ORD-92/09.I
Office
RRD
Subject:
Maglev
Keywords:
Guideway, Wayside, Passenger Compartment, AC and DC, ELF, Waveforms, Fourier Analysis

The safety of various magnetically levitated (maglev) and high speed rail (HSR) trains proposed for application in the United States is of direct concern to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). The characterization of electric and magnetic fields (EMF) emissions, both steady (dc) and produced by alternating currents (ac) at power frequency (50 Hz in Europe and 60 Hz in the U.S.) and other frequencies in the Extreme Low Frequency (ELF) range (3-3000 Hz), and associated public and worker exposures to EMF, are a growing health and safety concern worldwide. As part of a comprehensive safety assessment of the German TransRapid (TR-07) maglev system undertaken by the FRA, with technical support from the DOT/RSPA Volpe National Transportation System Center (VNTSC), magnetic field measurements were performed by Electric Research and Management, Inc. (ERM) at the Transrapid Test Facility (TVE) in Emsland, Germany in August, 1990. The MultiWave™ magnetic field monitoring system was used to sample, record and store 3 axis dc and ac magnetic fields waveforms simultaneously, at multiple locations: in the TR-07 vehicle (both passenger compartment and operator cab), near the guideway, in the passenger station, and in the vicinity of power supply equipment (inverter building, transformers yard, feeder cables). Volume I-Analysis summarizes the experimental findings and compares results to common home, work, and power lines emissions for selected spectral bands. Volume 11-Appendices catalogs and documents detailed magnetic field data files and their specifics (static fields, spectral waveforms, temporal and spatial information) by location.


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Last updated: Wednesday, April 1, 1992