Generation of Method AC Ampere Force Using Eddy Current Inside a Nonmagnetic Thin Plate and Its Effect on Electrodynamic Suspension

In this paper, we propose a novel method for magnetic levitation force generation. In our method, we utilized three AC electromagnets that generate the inductive and AC Ampere forces. One electromagnet is installed above the surface and the other two in both sides of thin plate. Phase conditions providing the maximum levitation force are derived from 2-dimensional finite element analysis. In order to confirm the performance of the proposed method, we performed some experiments. The experimental results show that in difference from conventional AC methods, the magnetic levitation force is increased around 5.9 times for the same eddy current inside the aluminum plate. In addition, the relations between excitation frequency, plate thickness and total levitation force are explained in details. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 170(3): 48-56, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/eef.20905