LAUSR

A novel cage-secondary permanent magnet (PM) linear eddy current brake (ECB) with wide speed range and its analytical model are presented in this article. Differ from the existed PM ECB, the proposed ECB owns the variable parameters cage-secondary structure. This unique secondary structure can keep braking force at a large constant value from high speed to low speed by changing the secondary parameters in different speed ranges. First, both the structure and working principle of the proposed ECB are given. Then, a new analytical model combined with multilayer theory is proposed, where the saturation of secondary iron teeth and the end effect are considered. Based on the magnetic field distribution result, the characteristics of proposed ECB are analyzed. Third, the accuracy and validity of the analysis results are verified by the finite-element method and prototype experiments. Moreover, based on the genetic algorithm, the optimal secondary parameters are obtained with the objective of maximum braking force at each speed.