Improved braking torque generation capacity of an eddy current brake with time varying magnetic fields: A numerical study

Eddy current brakes (ECB) are electrically controlled and non-contact actuators used as assistive brakes in vehicles. ECBs exhibit insufficient generated braking torque at low speeds. In order to overcome this, the use of AC magnetic fields with fixed and variable frequencies in different waveforms is investigated at both low and high speeds. Finite element analysis validated by an existing analytical model is performed for DC and AC magnetic fields. In addition, the frequency of the applied field is optimized using genetic algorithms on a generic ECB configuration.