This document presents research on the effects of heat treatment on magnetically levitated ferroalloys. The aim was to analyze the time and energy response and develop a mathematical model. Mild steel balls were quenched in different media after heating and their displacement, settling time, and energy response were measured. The results showed that quenching mild steel in brine provides the most appropriate heat treatment for energy conservation in magnetic levitation systems. Future work could involve implementing maglev train designs and further material research.

1. TIME AND ENERGY RESPONSE ANALYSIS OF
THE EFFECTS OF HEAT TREATMENT ON
MAGNETICALLY LEVITATED FERROALLOYS
PRESENTED BY
DOE EMMANUEL - 100407016
OKONKWO VICTOR - 100407040
ADEGBESAN DOLAPO - 090407001
APE MATTHEW - 090407007
SUPERVISED BY DR. T.A FASHANU

2. WHAT IS MAGNETIC LEVITATION
 Magnetic levitation, maglev, or magnetic
suspension is a method by which an object is
suspended with no support other than
magnetic fields.
 Magnetic force is used to counteract the
effects of the gravitational and other
accelerations.

3. PRINCIPLE BEHIND MAGNETIC
LEVITATION
 First, the maglev system
is described according
to the dominant
physical phenomena i.e.
the forces acting on the
system.
 Electromagnetism.
 This analysis is used to
construct a non-linear
force actuator and plant
model.

4. AIM OF PROJECT
 The main aim of this project is to carry
out time response analysis on magnetic
levitated ferroalloys
 To develop a mathematical model suitable
for energy response analysis of magnetic
levitation system
 To design appropriate experimental
methods for characterizing the effect of
heat treatment on magnetic levitation
system.

5. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
The maglev process can be
modeled as follow:
Mg = force due to the gravity
Fm = magnetic force generated
by the coil.

6. MATHEMATICAL MODEL CONT’D
 The total energy of a maglev system is the sum of the
kinetic and potential energy.
T.E = K.E + P.E
But the kinetic energy is zero because the ball is not
in motion. Therefore,
T.E = P.E = ∫ 𝐹𝑚 𝑑𝑥
Where Fm = electromagnetic force.

7. APPLICATION OF MAGNETIC LEVITATION
 ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS
 Transport Engineering(Magnetically levitated
trains)
 Environmental engineering(Wind turbines)
 Aerospace engineering(rockets and
spacecrafts)
 Nuclear engineering(centrifuge)

8. ALLOYS THAT CAN BE USED FOR LEVITATION
 Ferroalloys are used for levitation because of
their magnetic susceptibility.
 Examples are alloys of iron, nickel and cobalt.
 The ferroalloy used in this projects is mild
steel (an alloy of iron and carbon).

9. HEAT TREATMENT
 Heat treatment is the controlled heating and cooling of metals to alter their
physical and mechanical properties without changing the product shape.
TYPES OF HEAT TREATMENT
 Annealing – increases the ductility of the material.
 Case hardening – hardens the surface of the material while the metal
underneath remains soft.
 Tempering - is a method of achieving balance between the hardness and
toughness of a finished product.
 Quenching - is the rapid cooling of a work piece to obtain material
properties like hardening.
Steel is heat treated either to harden, soften or modify its material
properties.
 The heat treatment carried out in this project is Quenching. This was done
to harden the steel balls thereby increasing their strength and wear
properties.

10. SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
 The possibility of conserving energy by
appropriate heat treatment of steel with the
sole purpose of hardening as a result of
quenching in different media(air, water, oil,
brine).
Say by heat treating a gram of a steel, we save
about 0.05 joules. If we consider a ton of train,
we can save a lot of energy.

11. LABORATORY CHARACTERIZATION OF
THE TIME RESPONSE OF A 2ND ORDER
NONLINEAR SYSTEM
Characteristics of 2nd order system
 UNDERDAMPED
 OVERDAMPED
 CRITICALLYDAMPED
characteristics
 Rise time
 Peak time
 Percentage overshoot
 Settling time
TIME RESPONSE

12. TIME RESPONSE FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL
MODEL

13. PROCESS AND EFFECTS OF QUENCHING OF MILD STEEL
 The steel balls used are heated to a temperature of 880°c for two
hours, and held for one hour(for homogeneity).
 They are then quenched in different media; water, oil, brine and air to
harden them.
 The quenched steel becomes martensitic due to the rapid cooling,
thereby assuming a needle like crystalline structure.

14. OVERALL EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
MEDIUM MAX.
TEMP
VOLTAGE (I) MAGLEV
HEIGHT
WEIGHT SETTLING
TIME(Ts)
PEAK
TIME(Tp)
PERCENT
AGE
OVERSHO
OT(P.O)
OIL 880 6.5253 14.37 44.297 0.271 0.0807 38.07
WATER 880 6.5253 14.24 44.265 0.271 0.0805 38.05
BRINE 880 6.5253 14.23 44.218 0.268 0.08 38.01
AIR 880 6.5253 14.67 44.709 0.279 0.081 38.112
QUENCHING TEST

15. RESULTS CONTINUED
Displacement(mm) analysis on 45g mass.
14
14.1
14.2
14.3
14.4
14.5
14.6
14.7
OIL WATER BRINE AIR
Displacement
Distance

16. RESULTS CONTINUED
Displacement(mm) analysis on 25g mass.
13
13.5
14
14.5
15
15.5
16
BRINE OIL AIR WATER
Series 1
Series 1

17. RESULTS CONTINUED
ENERGY RESPONSE(Joules) of 45g mass.
138
140
142
144
146
148
150
BRINE WATER AIR OIL VIRGIN BALL
ENERGY RESPONSE
ENERGY RESPONSE

18. CONCLUSION
 From the results obtained, energy can be
conserved by appropriate heat treatment
of the material used for levitation.
 From our analyses, it can be seen that
mild steel quenched in brine as a medium
compared to the other media analyzed, is
the most appropriate for energy
conservation.

19. ASSUMPTIONS
 The steel balls used for the experiments
are virgin balls.
 The position reference used for levitation
is constant.
 The mass of the balls are constant.

20. FUTURE WORK
 A conceptual design of the maglev train
should be implemented in the country.
 A research team should be setup for
further research on heat treatment of
engineering materials.

21. THANKS