Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2020 - 8

FEATURE ARTICLE

Goudsmit Develops Steel Sheet Separator with Fail-Safe Magnet & Assists Hyperloop
Project in Netherlands
the tube is a vacuum. With no air resistance or friction, transport
pods are expected to reach speed of 1000 km per hour, perhaps
even faster at 1200 km per hour.
Unlike a magnetic levitation train, the tube contains a capsule or
pod that is suspended from magnets, making it float. Electronics
regulate the magnetic field so that the capsule can move through
the tube and slow down. The project envisions that by 2030 there
could be a 10,000-kilometer tube network alongside the current highways or railways, connecting the main cities of Europe
stretching from Sweden to Istanbul and from Moscow to Malaga.
The Hardt effort derives from entrepreneur Elon Musk's 2012
competition to find the most realistic design for hyperloop
transportation. Students from Delft University of Technology won
this competition of 300 entries and then founded Hardt. They approached Goudsmit for the magnets and magnetic design.
Goudsmit Magnetics, a producer of magnetic systems based in
The Netherlands, has recently developed an innovative fail-safe
neodymium magnetic sheet separator and, in another project, is
providing magnetics expertise to developers of a visionary hyperloop transportation project for Europe.
Equipped with powerful neodymium magnets that can be
switched on and off pneumatically using a new patented system,
the separator provides automatic separation of steel sheets up
to a thickness of approximately 4 mm. This switching is done
quickly by rotation of the magnets.
Its unique spring-actuated off position feature makes the
equipment extremely safe, says the company. it automatically
switches to the off position even if the compressed air supply is
interrupted and even at full load at maximum stacking height.
The magnet cannot accidentally remain switched on during
maintenance either, preventing a situation that can often lead to
industrial accidents.
In contrast to fixed sheet separators, switchable sheet separators
also allow interim changeover of products during a set process.
The new unit can separate steel sheets of almost any shape,
length or width, even round and asymmetrical shapes. The
permanent magnetic force does not degrade and is guaranteed
for decades.
Magnetic sheet separators are used in sheet processing industries and in robotized cells for producing welded assemblies.
Robots use magnetic grippers to pick up large sheet metal parts
and position them on a welding table. Because the steel sheets
are oiled, they stick together, and the robot occasionally picks
up two sheets at the same time. Consequently, the second steel
sheet may release halfway across the welding table and fall. This
can cause tremendous damage in high-tech environments where
the welding table is often equipped with sensors, transducers
and actuators. Moreover, the double insertion of two steel sheets
that are stuck together can cause extensive damage to a die.
The Hardt hyperloop is being designed as a pneumatic tube
dispatch system that transports people and goods at high speed,
relying intensively on magnetic technology to function. Inside

Magnetics Business & Technology * July/August 2020

Founders of the Hardt Hyperloop in The Netherlands

Magnets ensure that the capsule floats freely in the tube, they
push it forward and they provide stability so passengers and
freight won't be shaken back and forth even at enormous speeds
or during track changes. The magnets need to be particularly
strong, notes Goudsmit, because the passengers and luggage
together weigh quite a bit. Magnets also make it easy to change
tubes, so that you can turn right or left at full speed without any
stops. Hardt and Goudsmit have developed a fast changeover
technology which sets the Hardt project apart from other hyperloop development programs (see www.MagneticsMag.com and
query "hyperloop").

Electromagnetic suspension for Hardt Hyperloop
www.MagneticsMag.com

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Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2020

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