Discretization optimization strategy on magnetization directions of permanent magnetic guideway for high temperature superconducting magnetic levitation: modeling and experiments

Abstract High-temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev offers non-contact and passively stable levitation, yet its large-scale deployment is hindered by the high cost and material utilization efficiency of permanent magnet guideways (PMGs). This paper proposes a discretization-based inverse design framework where the PMG cross-section is meshed into elemental units, treating the magnetization direction of each unit as a design variable to maximize levitation force. Case studies on two engineering PMGs demonstrate that the algorithm robustly converges to consistent optimal physical configurations regardless of initialization, with the primary variation observed only in computational convergence rates. To ensure engineering manufacturability, the framework incorporates fabrication constraints, including discrete angles, block-merging algorithms, and symmetry rules. Furthermore, the strategy is extended to a V-shaped PMG to verify its universality for complex geometries. Finally, the optimization is validated via levitation force experiments on 3D-printed scaled-down prototypes. The results demonstrate an 10% improvement in maximum levitation force over a initial scaled-down V-shaped Halbach baseline with an identical cross-sectional area. These findings confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed strategy, providing both theoretical insights and practical guidelines for next-generation HTS maglev systems.