Use of finite element method for the numerical analysis of eddy current brake

Eddy current brake is developed to take the superior advantages of fast anti-lock braking to the conventional hydraulic brake systems. Magnetic and electric field generated by these eddy currents suppress the disturbing field. The electric and magnetic field distribution are obtained from Neumann´s and Maxwell´s equations respectively. The presented model for simulating electric and magnetic field are a three dimensional field problem. Braking torque analysis is investigated by using an approximate theoretical model. A good agreement is found between the numerical and experimental. Since the eddy-current problem usually depends on the geometry of the moving conductive sheet and the pole shape, there is no general method for solving it analytically. This paper presents a method for analysis of the eddy current in the special case of a rotating disc in a time-variant field by using a time-domain Finite Element Method from t = 0 to the brake time. Finite Element Methods is adopted for this work using COMSOL Multiphysics model.