TransPod Ultra-High-Speed Tube Transportation: Dynamics of Vehicles and Infrastructure

A next-generation mass transportation system, consisting of TransPod aerospace vehicles designed to carry passengers at speeds exceeding 1000 km/h, is presented with respect to dynamics considerations. This system is based on electromagnetic propulsion of vehicles within a protected tube guideway, whose air pressure is reduced and controlled for improved performance at high speed. The tube environment is designed for levitation systems, stability systems, and safety support systems, to permit multiple TransPod vehicles to run simultaneously with high-frequency departures. The design of this vehicle and tube structure is aided by analysis of structural dynamics and aerodynamics, presented in this paper with selected novel topics in physical-fourier-amplitude-domain analysis, and machine-learning-based vibration sensing and control.