Investigation for the design of electromagnet for the levitation of thin iron plate.

Abstract

The thin iron plate is needed to be transported without the degradation of the quality of surface, and magnetic levitation technology is one of the solutions to satisfy these requirements. Magnetic saturation in the objective, however, is a severe problem for the levitation of the thin iron plate. Design and evaluation method of the electromagnet is studied to avoid the saturation. In this paper, the shape of the electromagnet is studied to design the electromagnet shape for the levitation of the thin iron plate. The magnetic saturation occurs in the iron plate especially when plate is very thin. Therefore, the preferable shape of electromagnet should be investigated to secure the large cross sectional area of flux path in the plate. The authors suggest the evaluation factor. The evaluation factor of magnet shape for thin iron plate is studied experimentally. In conclusion, the evaluation factor of magnet shape, however, is not sufficient to decided the optimum shape of electromagnet for thin plate levitation. Thus the another evaluation factor is the electric power consumption. The design of the electromagnet shape for levitation of the thin iron plate is possible by evaluation factor of magnet shape and the power consumption.