A 3-D Hybrid Analytical Model of a Permanent Magnet Electrodynamic Suspension

This paper proposes a hybrid analytical model for addressing 3-D quasi-static eddy current problems involving a magnetic field source moving with respect to a bulk conductive material. The proposed model is particularly useful in applications that include ferromagnetic components, such as a permanent magnet electrodynamic suspension. The model integrates mesh-based magnetic equivalent circuits using a loop formulation with Fourier-based modeling, thereby enabling it to accurately account for non-linear magnetic materials and eddy currents. In comparison to finite element analyses, the model demonstrates a high accuracy, with an error below 2.5% for a fine mesh. Its computational time can be one to two orders of magnitude less than finite element methods for accuracies above 90%, depending on the mesh refinement. Furthermore, the model scales better with the dimensions by alleviating the numerical issues associated with finite element methods for eddy current calculations in bulk conductive materials.