Simulation and digital twins for Magway’s new goods delivery system
Magway is developing an all electric, zero emissions, high capacity delivery system in underground and overground pipelines. Xi Engineering Consultants acts as a long term R and D partner, using Multiphysics simulation and digital twin development to de risk prototypes, understand system dynamics and accelerate commercial deployment.
The Challenge
Magway’s concept replaces conventional last mile delivery trucks with electrically driven pods in small bore pipelines. The system integrates linear motors, switching, control systems, structures and thermal management in a completely new configuration. As a highly technical organisation moving towards its first commercial installations, Magway needed independent specialist support to understand system dynamics, validate structural and fatigue performance and explore operating scenarios before building at scale. They also wanted to embed robust modelling expertise into their own team so they could continue to iterate design, manage risk and use real world data to refine operation as the technology matured.
Our Approach
Xi acts as an R and D partner to Magway, combining system dynamics, structural mechanics and electromagnetics modelling with practical engineering guidance. Early work focused on understanding how vehicles, track and drive systems interacted, using simulation to validate prototype designs and check that fatigue and vibration would not pose unacceptable risks. As concepts matured, Xi used COMSOL Multiphysics to explore how Magway’s system would behave in different operating scenarios and environments, allowing performance, efficiency and component loading to be assessed in a virtual space. Alongside this technical work, Xi has helped build Magway’s own modelling capability so the in house team can iterate designs rapidly and with confidence.
The Results
Why it matters
Transformative transport technologies must prove not only that they work, but that they are safe, efficient and resilient under a wide range of operating conditions. Building and testing every variant physically would be prohibitively expensive. By integrating advanced Multiphysics simulation, digital twin thinking and skills transfer, Xi helps innovators such as Magway compress development cycles, control risk and make better technical and commercial decisions on the path to deployment.