Calculating the Forces Created by an Electrodynamic Wheel Using a 2-D Steady-State Finite-Element Method

We present a two-dimensional complex steady-state finite-element method for calculating the lift and thrust or breaking forces created when a magnetic rotor is translationally moved and rotated over a conducting sheet. The method replaces the magnetic rotor with an equivalent current sheet by equating the current sheet's and magnet rotor's magnetic vector potentials. We validate the steady-state method by comparing the forces with transient finite-element models. The utility of this steady-state model is that it enables a study of the effects of parameter changes for such a machine to be undertaken rapidly.