PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to offer a fast and reliable discretisation scheme for computing the electromagnetic fields inside a ferromagnetic cylinder, accounting for motional eddy currents under high velocities and accounting for the severe ferromagnetic saturation of the rotor surface.Design/methodology/approachA nonlinear spectral‐element (SE) formulation is developed and compared to existing analytical and finite‐element approaches.FindingsThe proposed SE method results in a higher accuracy, allows for smaller models, avoids upwinding and needs less computation time. Disadvantages are the dense system matrix and the bad condition number.Research limitations/implicationsThe SE approach is only developed and tested for 2D models with a single cylindrical domain.Practical implicationsThe results of the paper may improve the design and optimisation of solid‐rotor induction machines and magnetic bearings.Originality/valueThe paper offers an appropriate solution for a computational problem, which already has been encountered by a large community of researchers and engineers dealing with high‐speed rotating devices.
Read full abstract