Axis Engineering designs, manufactures and validates Linear Induction Motors and Magnetic Braking Solutions — contactless thrust and braking for transit, launch and industrial systems. No gears. No friction drive. No contact wear.
The linear induction motor is a rotary motor "unrolled" — the stator becomes a straight primary, the rotor becomes a flat reaction plate, and rotation becomes travel. It sounds simple. Getting the electromagnetics, the end-effects and the thermal limits right is anything but.
Axis Engineering lives in that detail. Every design is sized with equivalent-circuit models, cross-checked against FEA, then run over the full route in simulation — so by the time we cut metal, the thrust, efficiency and temperature numbers are already proven.
Three-phase current in the primary winding sets up a magnetic field that travels along the motor instead of rotating. That moving field drags the conductive reaction plate along with it — directly producing linear thrust.
Balanced three-phase current in the primary winding produces a magnetic field that sweeps along the motor's length at the synchronous speed.
vs = 2 · τ · fThe moving field cuts the aluminium or copper reaction plate and induces eddy currents in it — exactly as a transformer's secondary is energised, but spread along a line.
Those induced currents react against the field to produce a direct linear force. The plate is pushed forward without ever touching the primary.
F ∝ slip · Bgap² up to its peakThe plate always runs slower than the field — that gap is the slip, and it's what generates the force. Command slip and frequency on the inverter and you set thrust directly; the speed simply follows, from a standstill launch to cruise.
Every application has a different answer to the trade between thrust density, normal force, efficiency and rail cost. We design and optimise both.
In a single-sided linear induction motor (SSLIM), one primary acts against an aluminium or copper plate over a steel return path. The simplest, most economical track — the workhorse of transit.
In a double-sided linear induction motor (DSLIM), two primaries drive a bare aluminium or copper fin from both sides. Track width is usually what limits how much motor you can fit — and working the fin from both sides gives roughly twice the thrust of a single-sided motor in the same track width. The attraction on each side cancels in the frame, so the vehicle never carries the normal force.
The same motor can be deployed two ways — and the choice flips the cost between the motor and the track.
One primary set rides on each vehicle; the reaction rail runs the length of the guideway. The fewest motors to build — you pay instead for continuous rail.
The primary winding is built into the track; the vehicle carries only a short reaction plate. The vehicle stays light and passive — but you wind the whole active length.
It's the LIM's principle turned passive. Replace the powered winding with a fixed permanent-magnet field and let the relative motion between vehicle and track do the work — the magnets induce eddy currents in a conductive plate, and those currents oppose the motion. The result is a smooth, contactless retarding force with no power, no hydraulics, no contact and no friction pads to wear or fade — and the faster the vehicle travels, the harder it brakes, right up to its design speed.
A magnet array sits on the track; the vehicle's conductive fin sweeps through its field. The classic stop-section and coaster fin brake.
The magnet array rides on the vehicle and a conductive reaction rail runs the route — so braking is available anywhere along the track.
Two magnet arrays grip a conductive fin between them — the strongest, most balanced braking, with the magnet pulls reacted in the caliper frame.
Wherever motion has to be precise, repeatable and unbothered by weather or grip, a linear motor earns its place.
Driverless metros and airport shuttles that climb steep grades and brake in the wet — because thrust never depends on wheel grip.
0-to-launch in seconds. Linear motors fling coaster trains and test sleds with smooth, programmable acceleration that hits the same launch speed every cycle.
When the vehicle leaves the rail entirely, the linear motor is the only thing left to push it — quiet, contactless propulsion at speed.
Baggage, pallets and parcels moved by the track itself — independent carriers, no chains or belts to wear, sorted at electronic speed.
Tell us the speed, payload, gap and supply — we'll tell you which topology fits and whether a linear motor is the right call for it.
We take a linear motor from a line on a requirements sheet to a validated, manufactured machine — with the analysis to back every number. We work from early feasibility studies through to delivered single motors and small batches.
Air-gap flux density, winding factors, equivalent-circuit impedances and thrust–speed curves — the core sizing of the machine, done rigorously.
Independent equivalent-circuit models cross-checked against finite-element analysis (FEA) — so a result is never trusted on one method alone.
We time-step a vehicle along your real profile — grades, curves, station stops — to predict thrust, energy draw and acceleration at every point of the journey.
Reaction-plate and winding temperature over a full duty cycle, including fin-enhanced cooling — so the design survives the worst-case run, not just the brochure point.
Longitudinal entry/exit end-effects and transverse edge effects are where simple models fail. We correct for both — and, just as important, we know exactly where each correction stops being valid.
Family-of-curves studies across pole count, slot fill, frequency and gap — finding the design that meets thrust and temperature with margin to spare.
Early trade studies that tell you whether a linear motor fits your duty, envelope and budget — and which topology to back — before detailed design begins.
Inverter or direct-on-line rating, line current, kVA and energy-per-cycle sizing tied directly to the duty cycle — the electrical system specified alongside the motor, not after it.
We build what we design — motors manufactured to the approved drawings and supplied ready to install, so the electromagnetic intent survives into the hardware.
Take the gearbox, the friction drive and the adhesion limit out of the system, and a lot of hard problems simply disappear.
Nothing in the drive touches. No gears, brushes or friction wheels to grind down and replace.
Force is set electromagnetically, so steep grades, rain and ice can't make the drive slip.
Thrust responds as fast as the inverter — smooth, repeatable launches, with no feedback loop to tune for most duties. Where an application needs tighter speed control, the loop can be closed.
No mechanical powertrain means far less noise and vibration — and nothing to lubricate or shed.
We pin down the duty: speed profile, payload, gap, supply and the environment it has to survive.
The machine is sized with our equivalent-circuit models and FEA, then swept for the best topology, pole count and geometry.
Full route and thermal simulation confirms it holds up over the worst-case journey, with margin checked.
We manufacture the motor to the signed-off design and supply it with its drive requirements and a clear analysis report.
Axis pairs first-principles electrical design with hands-on manufacturing experience — the people who design your motor are the people who build it.
Leads Axis with the conviction that linear machines deserve the same rigour as any precision drive. Designs the motors, builds the in-house tools and validates every result.
A time-served production manager with over a decade running manufacturing companies. A welding coordinator with a hands-on approach, Harry makes sure every design is built right and delivered on time.
Thomas has worked across an unusually broad range of industries — from power generation to clean energy — delivering a wide scope of demanding mechanical projects in each. He brings that hard-won, cross-sector depth to the mechanical design and integration of every Axis system.
Whether you're scoping a new guideway, launching a ride, fitting a contactless brake, or replacing a worn-out mechanical drive — tell us the duty and we'll tell you what's possible.
