FORCE CHARACTERIZATION OF A TUBULAR LINEAR ELECTROMAGNETIC ACTUATOR USING FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS METHOD (FEM)

Abstract

This paper presents an extensive characterising study of two novel electromagnetic actuators, each with different constructions and characteristics aiming to analyse the behaviour and output characteristics of the two designs. The two actuators are Tubular Linear Reluctance Actuator (TLRA) and Tubular Linear Permanent magnet (TLPM) with Halbach array actuator. The study covered the variation of three parameters, which are the actuator air gap, number of turns and actuator size. A comparative section was also presented for the purpose of comparison. The study concentrated extensively on the two characteristics of both actuators known as output thrust force and working range as they are considered as two main concerns of any actuator design. The simulation was used to show the differences between the two designs in many design aspects such as force, displacement and effects of parameters variations. The applied simulation was performed using 3D Finite-element Ansys software, which is capable of showing the magnetic field distribution in the whole actuator and predicting the strength and length of the output stroke.