Performance analysis of a cylindrical eddy current brake

Skin effect and armature reaction are the two major factors that effectively influence the performance of eddy current brake. Although many analytical solutions consider the armature reaction, skin effect has a significant impact on the torque-speed characteristics of the brake as the most important performance factor. This study presents an analytical equation for the torque-speed characteristics of an eddy current brake with cylindrical rotor taking into account both skin effect and armature reaction. This equation is valid over a wide range of speeds, therefore critical speed and maximum torque of the brake can be computed precisely. The presented model is sufficiently fast, accurate and flexible for design of a cylindrical eddy current brake. The predicted results are validated by the experimental results.