
3,7 Forces and Torques in Systems with Permanent Magnets 143
In systems with permanent magnets, these derivations must be carefully revisited.
In some cases, such systems have no windings at all, their magnetic fields are due
solely to the presence of permanent-magnet material, and it is not possible to base a
derivation purely upon winding fluxes and currents. In other cases, magnetic fields
may be produced by a combination of permanent magnets and windings.
A modification of the techniques presented in the previous sections can be used
in systems which contain permanent magnets. Although the derivation presented
here applies specifically to systems in which the magnet appears as an element of a
magnetic circuit with a uniform internal field, it can be generalized to more complex
situations; in the most general case, the field theory expressions for energy (Eq. 3.20)
and coenergy (Eq. 3.50) can be used.
The essence of this technique is to consider the system as having an additional
fictitious winding
acting upon the same portion of the magnetic circuit as does the
permanent magnet. Under normal operating conditions, the fictitious winding carries
zero current. Its function is simply that of a mathematical "crutch" which can be used
to accomplish the required analysis. The current in this winding can be adjusted to
zero-out the magnetic fields produced by the permanent magnet in order to achieve
the "zero-force" starting point for the analyses such as that leading from Eq. 3.17 to
Eq. 3.18.
For the purpose of calculating the energy and coenergy of the system, this winding
is treated as any other winding, with its own set of current and flux linkages. As a result,
energy and coenergy expressions can be obtained as a function of all the winding flux
linkages or currents, including those of the fictitious winding. Since under normal
operating conditions the current in this winding will be set equal to zero, it is useful
to derive the expression for the force from the system coenergy since the winding
currents are explicitly expressed in this representation.
Figure 3.17a shows a magnetic circuit with a permanent magnet and a movable
plunger. To find the force on the plunger as a function of the plunger position, we
assume that there is a fictitious winding of Nf turns carrying a current if wound so as
to produce flux through the permanent magnet, as shown in Fig. 3.17b.
/
Permanent
magnet
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c Plunger
Fictitious winding,
Nf tums
(b)
Figure
3.17 (a) Magnetic circuit with permanent magnet and movable
plunger; (b) fictitious winding added.