Design and analysis of a novel eddy current damper based on three-dimensional transient analysis

With advantages of no mechanical contact, vacuum compatibility, oil-free, and high reliability, an eddy current damper has a great potential use in space. In this paper, a passive magnetic damper system is developed by using the eddy current damping effect. The proposed eddy current damper utilizes a stationary permanent magnet and two conductive plates, and has significant performance than the model with only one plate. An accurate analytical model based on the electromagnetic theory for this novel eddy current damper is proposed, and the three-dimensional transient analysis based on finite element method is carried out to predict the magnetic field and current density. To optimize the design, simulations are conducted and the design parameters are evaluated from the thickness of magnet and two plates. Simulations for the optimized eddy current damper finite element model are conducted and the damping coefficient as high as 124.079 Ns/m is achieved. The results demonstrate that this novel eddy current damper has high damping performance but simple structure, which is applicable in some vibration isolation systems of spacecraft.