On the Design of Ultra-Fast Electromechanical Actuators: A Comprehensive Multi-Physical Simulation Model

In this paper, a simulation of an ultra-fast electromechanical drive was performed by using a two-dimensional axi-symmetric multi-physical finite element model. The aim of this paper is to primarily show that the following model can be used to simulate and design those actuators with good accuracy, secondly, to study the behavior and sensitivity of the system and thirdly, to demonstrate the potential of the model for industrial applications. The simulation model is coupled to a circuit and solves for the electro-magnetic, thermal, and mechanical dynamics utilizing a moving mesh. The actuator under study is composed of a spiral-shaped coil and a disk-shaped 3mm thick copper armature on top. Two numerical studies of such an actuator powered by 2640 J capacitor banks were performed. It is shown that forces up to 38 kN can be achieved in the range of 200 μs. To add credibility, a benchmark prototype was built to validate this experimentally with the use of a high speed camera and image motion analysis.