Modeling of a finite, rectangular, conducting plate in an eddy current damper

This paper presents and employs the method of images in two dimensions on an eddy current damper with a finite conducting plate. The eddy current damper consists of a finite rectangular conducting plate which is moving between cuboidal magnets. The first modeling step is based on an infinite conducting plate. The method of images in two dimensions is used to include the finite boundaries of the conducting plate and to complete the model. By applying the method of images the modeling accuracy of the damping coefficient significantly improves. This paper shows that the assumption of an infinite conducting plate gives less than 15 % error if the conducting plate has at least twice the dimensions of the permanent magnet. With the application of the method of images, the modeling error for a conducting plate with twice the permanent magnet dimensions decreases to less than 3 % with respect to finite element modeling.