Modeling of hysteretic behavior of the levitation force between superconductor and permanent magnet

The hysteretic behavior of the levitation force between a permanent magnet and a melt-textured-growth YBCO bulk has been investigated under both zero-field cooling (ZFC) and field cooling (FC) processes. It is found that both in ZFC and FC measurements, the hysteresis loop for the first descent/ascent cycle of magnet is relatively larger than that for the second or third cycle, and the hysteresis loops for Cycle 2–4 have the same area. These results can be qualitatively understood in terms of the critical state model. To describe these experimental results, we develop an updated frozen-image model, which is obtained by modifying the change rules of the vertical movement image in the advanced frozen-image model proposed by Yang et al. Comparing with the advanced frozen-image model proposed by Yang et al., our model cannot only give the hysteretic characteristic in the first descent–ascent cycle of magnet, but also show the hysteresis loops with the same area for the second and subsequent cycles.

► Experimental results on hysteretic behavior of the levitaion force are presented.
► Hysteresis loop for the first descent/ascent cycle of magnet is largest.
► Hysteresis loop for the second and subsequent cycles almost overlap each other.
► Yang’s frozen-image model cannot describe this characteristic of levitation force.
► An updated frozen-image model is developed to describe these experimental results.