Leuven, Belgium – August 6, 2008 – LMS, the engineering innovation company, is proud to announce their successful collaboration with KIMM (Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials) regarding the development of the first simulated maglev train in the world. The team at KIMM used LMS Virtual.Lab to create a highly realistic simulation that could handle mission critical factors like guideway specification costs as well as simulating the contact-less interaction between the vehicle and the flexible guideway.

Korea’s €285 million urban maglev program kicked off in 2006. KIMM, the government-run science and technology research institute, is responsible for maglev development and system integration. The project has already reached its launch stage in just two short years thanks to a team totaling more than 300 researchers and engineers from 26 industrial, academic and research institutes. If all goes according to plan, the Korean maglev train will go into commercial service in 2013.

In the early project stages, Dr. Hyungsuk Han, Senior Researcher, and his team at KIMM conducted a significant amount of research to evaluate and improve existing maglev performance. To do this, Dr. Han and his team turned to LMS Virtual.Lab to help develop a simulated maglev model – the first simulated maglev in the world.

“The fact that maglev simulation requires contact-less interaction between the vehicle and the flexible guideway was the primary challenge. We considered other solutions, but concluded that only LMS Virtual.Lab Motion permitted us to successfully simulate the crucial interaction between the vehicle’s electromagnets and the guideway – an extremely complicated procedure,” stated Dr. Han.

To validate the world’s first maglev simulation, KIMM counted on LMS Test.Lab to confirm the accuracy of the calculations against the actual maglev prototype model, the UTM2. KIMM engineers measured the dynamic responses like the Frequency Response Function (FRF) of the secondary suspension and mission-critical electromagnet control system of the actual maglev prototype and used this information to crosscheck the simulation model’s accuracy.

Thanks to the success of the simulated urban maglev using the LMS Virtual.Lab platform and the validation of the simulated results with LMS Test.Lab, KIMM gave the green light to launch the first official Korean maglev in April 2008.

“LMS Virtual.Lab was the only simulation solution that allowed us to create the most realistic simulation possible,” concluded Dr. Han. “The fact that the model could handle a mission critical factor like guideway specification costs really made a difference. Since the guideway structure is expected to take between 60% and 80% of the current $450 million budget, it is essential that the simulation study covered the economic side of the project as well. This contributed to the successful launch of the Korean maglev.”

About LMS:
LMS is an engineering innovation partner for companies in the automotive, aerospace and other advanced manufacturing industries. With approximately 30 years of experience, LMS helps customers get better products to market faster and turn superior process efficiency into key competitive advantages. With a unique combination of 1D and 3D simulation software, testing systems and engineering services, LMS tunes into mission critical engineering attributes, ranging from system dynamics, structural integrity and sound quality to durability, safety and power consumption. With multi-domain solutions for thermal, fluid dynamics, electrical and mechanical system behavior, LMS can address the complex engineering challenges associated with intelligent system design. Thanks to our technology and dedicated people, LMS has become the partner of choice of more than 5,000 manufacturing companies worldwide. LMS is certified to ISO9001:2000 quality standards and operates through a network of subsidiaries and representatives in key locations around the world.



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