Driven Without
Contact.
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 drive-contact wear.
A specialist house for linear motor design & manufacture.
A linear induction motor is a rotary motor "unrolled": a straight primary drives a flat reaction plate instead of spinning a rotor. Simple in principle — but the electromagnetics, end-effects and thermal limits are anything but.
Axis lives in that detail. Every design is sized with equivalent-circuit models, cross-checked against FEA and simulated over the full route — thrust, efficiency and plate temperature all proven before we cut metal.
Axis supplies the motor and permanent-magnet brakes — sized, simulated and supplied to your duty. The vehicle, track, controls, scheduling and service stay with you or your integrator.
- Whole-duty thinkingFrom the electromagnetic design through to the duty-cycle plate temperature over a complete route — every number traceable to a validated method.
Typical LIM design envelope
How a linear induction motor works
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 with it, directly producing linear thrust.
Thrust rises with slip and air-gap flux, reaching a peak.
A field that travels
Three-phase current in the primary winding sets up a magnetic field that sweeps along the motor at synchronous speed.
Currents are induced
The moving field cuts the aluminium or copper reaction plate and induces eddy currents — a transformer secondary spread along a line.
Thrust appears — no contact
Those currents react against the field to produce direct linear force, pushing the plate forward without touching the primary.
Slip sets the force
In normal motoring the plate runs a little below the travelling-field speed — that difference is the slip, the key variable behind the force. The inverter sets field speed by frequency and thrust by current and slip, within thermal, gap and saturation limits.
Single & double-sided linear motors
One primary over a plate, or two primaries acting on a bare fin to approach roughly twice the active-face thrust in the same track width, within current, air-gap and thermal limits — designed, built and validated for your duty.
Permanent-magnet brakes
The same principle turned passive — fixed magnets induce eddy currents in a conductive plate for smooth, contactless dynamic braking with no external power and no friction pads to wear or fade.
From the platform edge to the launch track
Where motion must be precise, repeatable and largely unbothered by weather or grip, a linear motor earns its place.
Automated transit & people movers
Driverless metros and shuttles whose thrust doesn't rely on wheel grip — even on steep, wet grades.
People movers →Coaster & ride propulsion
Contactless, programmable acceleration that launches coaster trains and ride vehicles the same way each cycle.
Launch systems →Maglev & high-speed propulsion
Lifted clear of the rail, the vehicle is driven by the linear motor — quiet, contactless propulsion.
Maglev propulsion →Material handling & conveyance
Baggage, pallets and parcels moved by the powered track itself — no chains or belts to wear.
Material handling →Have a duty cycle in mind?
Tell us the speed, payload, gap and supply — we'll tell you which topology fits, or whether a linear motor is even the right call.
Engineering capability, end to end
We take a linear motor from a line on a requirements sheet to a validated, manufactured machine, with the analysis to back every number — from early feasibility through to delivered single motors and small batches.
Electromagnetic design
Air-gap flux density, winding factors, equivalent-circuit impedances and thrust–speed curves — the core sizing of the machine.
Multi-model validation
Independent equivalent-circuit models cross-checked against finite-element analysis (FEA) — no result trusted on a single method.
Full route simulation
We time-step a vehicle along your real profile — grades, curves, station stops — predicting thrust, energy draw and acceleration at every point.
Thermal modelling
Reaction-plate and winding temperature across a full duty cycle, with fin-enhanced cooling — sized for the worst-case run, not the brochure point.
Accurate to the ends
Simplified models break down near the start, finish and side edges of a real primary. We account for that tricky behaviour so the thrust figures hold up on the finished hardware, not just on paper.
Parameter sweeps & optimisation
Family-of-curves studies across geometry, frequency and air gap — finding the design that meets thrust and temperature with margin.
Feasibility & concept studies
Early trade studies on whether a linear motor fits your duty and envelope — and which topology to back — before detailed design.
Drive & supply sizing
Inverter or direct-on-line rating, line current, kVA and energy-per-cycle, tied to the duty cycle — the electrical system specified alongside the motor, not after.
Manufacture & supply
We build what we design — motors made to the approved drawings and supplied ready to install, so the electromagnetic intent survives into the hardware.
What you gain by losing the contact
Remove the gearbox, friction drive and adhesion limit, and a lot of hard problems go with them.
No drive wear, low maintenance
Nothing in the drive touches — no gears, brushes or friction wheels to wear out.
Grip-independent thrust
Thrust doesn't depend on wheel–rail adhesion, so rain, ice and steep gradients can't cause drive-slip.
Fast, simple control
Thrust responds as fast as the inverter — smooth, repeatable launches, with a closed speed loop only where tighter control is needed.
Quiet & clean
No mechanical powertrain — far less noise and vibration, nothing to lubricate or shed.
From requirement to validated design
Define
Pin down the duty — speed profile, payload, gap, supply and environment.
Model
Size the machine with equivalent-circuit models and FEA, then sweep topology, pole count and geometry.
Validate
Full route and thermal simulation confirms it holds up, with margin, on the worst-case run.
Build & deliver
Manufacture to the signed-off design, supplied with drive requirements and an analysis report.
What we need, and what you get back
A useful feasibility answer starts with a clear duty. Here's what helps, and what comes back.
What we need from you
- Vehicle or load mass
- Target speed profile
- Available motor / brake length
- Duty cycle or cycles per hour
- Gap and packaging limits
- Reaction rail / fin material, if fixed
- Environment and temperature
- Power supply constraints
- Safety or braking role
What you get back
- A clear feasibility answer
- Thrust–speed curve
- Current, kVA and power-factor estimate
- Thermal estimate over the duty
- Reaction rail recommendation
- Concept geometry
- Key risks and next test steps
Have a linear motor or braking problem worth solving?
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.