INTERACTION FORCE IN THE MAGNETIC ACTUATOR DESIGN

FOR SEMI-ACTIVE SQUEEZE FILM DAMPER

Truong Quoc Thanh, Ahn Kyoung Kwan, Nguyen Bao Kha, Jong Yoon IL

School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, University of Ulsan

San 29, Muger 2 dong, Nam-gu, Ulsan 680-749, Korea
thanhctm75@yahoo.com, kkahn@ulsan.ac.kr

ABSTRACT

A new model of Magnetic Actuator for applying to the conical Squeeze Film Damper (SFD) in
semi-active control is presented with use of the moving outer damper. Its predominant advantages are
beneficial and reliable. The experiments have been conducted in laboratory to test the validation of the
model. The generator force of the actuator is created by changing the supplied current of U-shape
magnetic coil interacting with the permanent magnets. A spring dynamometer is used to measure the
magnetic force of electro-magnetic actuator. The modeled results are obtained experimentally based
on the concept of electromagnetic effect. It is found to have the dependence of the magnetic force
upon the position of the outer damper and DC current. The magnetic force varies symmetrically with
the position of the outer damper within the working region while the two-term exponential function or
the fourth-order polynomial describes accurately the relationship between the magnetic force and DC
current.

1. INTRODUCTION proportional to 1/r2 as the reactive force

In the recent years, several researches on
the magnetic actuators based on the
electromagnetic effect such as linear magnetic
actuator, tubular permanent-magnet
generator/machine, linear oscillo-actuator and
generator are developed. Its application in
linear solenoid actuator, the high-speed
packing, manufacturing sensor, machine tool
sliding tables, pen recorder, etc. has become an
important field in the industrial actuator [1-4].
The magnetic force is caused by the electrical
magnetic effect. Another study has focused
mainly on improving the ability of permanent
magnet by fixation and convert wave energy
into electrical field through direct drive [5].
Generally, the magnetic force is one of the
complex researched fields. Beside the ideal
theory, the experiment is required necessarily
as we impact the magnetic effect. The
experiment uses the permanent magnet and an
air track to illustrate dipole-dipole interactions
and mechanical stability reported in [6,7]. The
repulsion between two bar magnets are
discussed in [8,9]. The interaction force is
between two charges (monopoles). Similarly,
the ratios 1/r3 and 1/r4 are respected to
monopole-dipole and dipole-dipole
respectively.
Our research develops a new type of the
Magnetic Actuator used to move the outer
damper of the conical SFD. The apparatus uses
spring dynamometer to measure the magnetic
force of electro-magnetic actuator. The
experiment illustrates basically the concept of
electromagnetic effect as well as the
interaction force between electromagnet and
permanent magnet.
2. APPARATUS
The apparatus is shown schematically in
figure 1. The mover (outer damper) can move
in longitudinal direction. It is supported by the
linear bearing. A spring dynamometer is used
to measure the balanced force. The
displacement meter determines the position of
the mover.
 It is important to avoid magnetic material in
adapter. Hence, the outer damper is made by
non-ferromagnetic material (SUS 304). Two
permanent magnets with opposite poles are
mounted on it. The air gap between the end of
U-Shape coil and permanent magnet is the
working area.
If DC current supplies to the coil, the
magnetic flux will be created between the two
ends of U-shape. Therefore, the magnetism
effect between electromagnet and permanent
magnet generates the force to move the outer
damper. The spring dynamometer which can
be adjusted by screw and nut sets is used to
measure the magnetic force at each position.
3. MAGNETIC FORCE FORMULAE
3.1 The general magnetic force
It has been known, if two magnets with the
same poles close together, the magnetic force
will push the magnet apart and vice versa. As
DC current supplies to the coil, the ends of the
U-shape electromagnetic will be become two
poles of the magnet as shown in figure 2. The
direction of electrical current determines the
magnetic poles of U-shape. Therefore, the
moving direction of the mover will be right or
left as given figures 2.a and 2.b.

Coil Electric Mag .

(Fixed)
(U- shape)
Permagnent
Magnetic

0
Nut l l
(Fixed) Sliding
Wheel N S S N
bearing Middle

l+x x (l-x)
Screw Outer damper
Spring B* B*
Inner damper N S Right
dynamometer (Fixed longitudinal direction ) Bp Bp

Fig.1 Experimental setup

Figure 2 presents the dependence of the S

B* B*
N Left
electro-magnetic poles and the moving Bp Bp
direction of the mover on the direction of DC
0
current. The magnetic force of the actuator (c)
depends partly on the position of the mover Fig.2 Illustration of the magnetic poles of
and partly on DC current. As we rotate the U-shape
wheel to adjust the outer damper movement,
the balanced force between the spring Calculating the magnetic flux density of
dynamometer and the magnetic force is the solenoid, we have
occurred. As a result of the movement of the
outer damper forward or backward, the (1)
B = µ0 .( M + H ), T
clearance between the outer damper and the
inner one (fixed in longitudinal direction) is
reduced or extended respectively. The dynamic where
behavior of SFD will be changed due to the µ0 is the permeability of the space (in the air),
change of the clearance. which equals 4π.10-7, T.m/A
In this paper, an experiment has been M is magnetization, A/m
achieved in measuring the magnetic force. H is magnetic field, A/m
Subsequently, it is applied to controlling the
SFD.
  NI
 H = 2π R
 h  1 1 2 
F =k + − 
 M = ( µr − 1) H  ( r + h ) 2 ( r + 2d ) 2 ( r + d ) 2 
   (5)
 Rh = 2S 
 C 1 1 2 
(2) F =k + − 
 ( x + 2b )2 ( x + 2a − 2b )2 ( x + a )2 
  (6)
where
Rh is hydraulic radius of U-shape section, m The electromagnetic coil (U-shape) is
µr is relative permeability of solenoid material, constituted by the copper wire with 600 turns
T.m/A and 1 mm in diameter (figure 3). The frame of
N is number of turn of solenoid U-shape is made of soft-ferromagnetic
I is solenoid current, A material.
S is area of rectangular U shape, m2
C is perimeter of rectangular U shape, m
Substituting Eq.(2) into Eq.(1) leads to

N IC
B = µ0 µ r (3)
4S

Theoretically, the force between two

identical cylindrical bar magnets placed end-
to-end is given by Fig. 3 The electromagnetic coil (U-shape)

F=
(
 B0 2 A2 L2 + R 2 )   1 +
1
−
2 
 , (4) 3.2 An improved magnetic force formula.
πµ0 L2 ( x + 2L ) ( x + L ) 
2 2 2
  
x

The magnetic force effects on both sides of

the outer damper as mentioned above. At the
where middle position, the gap between the end of U-
B0 is the magnetic flux density very close to shape and the near end of permanent magnet is
each pole, T denoted by l(mm). The outer damper is always
A is the area of each pole, m2 kept inside the working region; that means
L is the length of each magnet, m |x|<l.
R is the radius of each magnet,m Let us simplify the formulae in Eqs.(5&6)
x is the separation between the two magnets, m and improve the force’s function for the model
µ0
B0 = M as below:
, relates the flux density at the pole to
2

the magnetization of the magnet.  1 1

F = k (I )  +
 ( x + b )( x + b ) x + a + a − b + b 2
 1 2 ( ( 1 2 ) ( 1 2 ))
In the experiment, the magnetic force is 
2
caused from both sides of U-shape. Hence, the − 
repulsive and attractive forces (figure 2c) ( x + a1 )( x + a2 ) 
result the total force. A combination of the (7)
permanent magnet and the electro-magnet where
causes the magnetism effect. Whereas the k(I,x) is the coefficient relative to DC current
magnetic flux density of the permanent magnet and the position of the outer damper,
is constant while another is variant. N.mm2.
Consequently, at the defined position, the x is the separation of the magnet ends, mm
magnetic force will be changed by DC current. a1 is the length of permanent magnet, mm
Several formulae of the magnetic force a2 is the alleged length of the electromagnet,
described by Defrancesco [7] and Romer [8] mm
are rewritten in Eqs.(5) and (6) (*) as below:
*:
The coefficients and parameters are defined and
used in the reference’s paper. Not use for this paper.
b1 is the distance from the pole to the end of
the permanent magnet, mm
b2 is the distance from the pole to the end of
the electromagnet, mm
The force model in figure 2c can express the
force effects in each side of the actuator. The
repulsive force and attractive forces are given
as follows:
 1
F(1I , x ) = k ( I ) 
 ( l + x + b1 )( l + x + b2 ) ( l + x + ( a1 + a2 ) − ( b1 + b2 ) )
responses between the magnetic force and the
position of the outer damper. The magnetic
force varies symmetrically with the position of
the outer damper. At the middle position, the
magnetic force achieves the minimum value.
The experimental data can be described
approximately by using curve fitting methods.
The first is formed as Eq.(10.a) and
coefficients in table 1 are used. The
interpolated results are plotted in the figure by
1 the continuous lines. The second is two-term
+
exponential fitting curve as Eq.(10.b). The
2

dotted lines are considered as its results. Table

2 
−  2 shows the coefficients interpolated from the
( l + x + a1 )( l + x + a2 )  above methods.
(8.a)

x , I ) = k ( I ) f ( x) + ε
F 2
= k ( I ) 
1
+
1 F(cur .1
(10.a)
(I ,x)
 ( l − x + b )( l − x + b ) ( l − x + ( 1 2 ) − ( b1 + b2 ) )
a + a
2

x , I ) = ae + ce
F(cur
1 2 .2 bx dx
(10.b)
2 
−  where ε is the error between Eq.(9) and
( l − x + a1 )( l − x + a 2)
Eq.10(a).
(8.b)
50

where
40
|x| ≤δ , δ is the working region (δ<l). I=2.0A
I=1.0A
Magnetic force,(N)

I=0.5A

30
The total force acting on the outer damper is
summed by them both.
20

x , I ) = F( I , x ) + F( I , x ) = k ( I ) f ( x )
F(total 1 2
(9)
10

Table 1 The coefficients of the model 0

l a1 a2 b1 b2 -4 -2 0 2 4
Position of the outer damper, (mm)
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
7 5 8 0.5 1 Fig.4 The magnetic force vs. the position of
the outer damper

4. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Table 2. The coefficients of interpolated curves
The relations between the magnetic force I(A) a b c d k(I) ε
and the position of the outer damper with -
0.5 2.486 -0.518 2.806 0.4985 396
different DC currents are presented in figure 4. 1.031
The magnetic force is balanced by the -
1 5.508 -0.458 4.111 0.5416 679.1
1.189
tensional force (restrained force) of the spring -
dynamometer as rotating the wheel to draw the 2 5.017 -0.538 5.932 0.5005 860.7
2.769
mover back. Consequently, the magnetic force
is, at each location, obtained. The experimental
data are denoted by markers. They are in turn Figure 5 illustrates the coefficient k
0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 ampere. It is generally appears corresponding to DC current. The coefficients
that the magnetic force increases with an k (marked points) are calculated from Eq.(9) at
increase of DC current at the defined position. the middle position (x=0) by changing the
The different DC currents give the similar solenoid current. As shown in this figure, the
saturation phenomenon of magnetism causes a current and the position of the mover expresses
considerable decrease of the curve slope as the the dynamic characteristic of actuator and its
applied current over 2 ampere. It is found to application effectively and usefully.
have a good agreement between the
experimental data and the predicted values
which are interpolated by the 4-order 5. APPLICATION
polynomial and two-term exponential function.
The results described respectively by
Eqs.(11.a&11.b) are superimposed in this
figure.

800
Coefficient k, (N/mm2)

600

400
Polynominal
200 Exponential Fig.7 The retaining spring is applied
Experimental

0 Another respect of this study is the

0 1 2 3 4
DC current I(A) assembly mechanic of the actuator. In figure 7,
Fig.5 The experiment coefficient k vs. the it is necessary to install the retaining spring to
applied current backup the outer damper after deenergizing the
coil. Two compressed springs are re-stressed to
keep the mover at the initially middle position.
The variance of the magnetic force value is
k1 ( I ) = p1 I 4 + p2 I 3 + p3 I 2 + p4 I + p5 (11.a)
very sensitive to the position of the outer
k2 ( I ) = ae + ce bI dI
(11.b) damper. The lowest and highest values are
The parameters of the equations are (p1= - obtained at the middle and at the side
10.69 ; p2= 123.6 ; p3= -520.3 ; p4= 991 ; p5= respectively. Thus, the remaining purpose of
-10.2) and (a=692; b=0.0353 ; c=-706.8 ; the retaining spring is applied to reduce the
d=-1543 ). nonlinear force as well as decreasing the
magnetic force at the side position of the
working region.
80
Repulsive and attractive force, N

60 Orginal
(without spring)
40
K=1
K=2.9
20
K=5

0
K=10
(Excessive spring)
-20
-5 0 5
Position of the permanet magnets, mm
Fig.6 The magnetic force in 3D plot
Fig.8 Magnetic force vs. position with stiffness
Finally, substituting Eq.(11.a) into Eq.(9) of the retaining spring
by neglecting the error component (ε) yields
the three-dimensional graph as in figure 6. The The spring force is taken into account of
magnetic force dealt with the applied DC the total force acting on the outer damper.
Figure 8 shows the relation between the
magnetic force and the stiffness of the
retaining spring with the applied current as 1
(A). If the stiffness of the retaining spring is
too big, it will restrain the movement of the
outer damper and also make the total force
decrease much. Otherwise, it can not reduce
the force at the side if the stiffness is small. In
fact, selecting the stiffness variable is,
therefore, also very important in the
applications of the actuator.
6. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, an apparatus measuring the
magnetic force of electro-magnetic actuator
with spring dynamometer is introduced. The
experiment illustrates the concept of
electromagnetic effect as well as the
interaction magnetic force between electro-
magnet and permanent magnet. A new type of
the Magnetic Actuator is improved. This
integrated device has beneficial and reliable
for applying to semi-active conical SFD.
of an Improved Axially Magnetized
Tubular Permanent-Magnetic Machine,
IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol.
19, No.2, pp.289-295, 2004
5. O. Danielsson, K. Thorburn, et all,
Permanent magnet fixation concepts for
linear generator, Fifth European wave
energy conference 17-19 sept, 2003
6. H. G. Lukefahr, Magnetic dipole
interactions on an air track, Am. J. Phys.
60(12), pp.1134-1136, 1992
7. R. Castaner, Jose M. Medina, Maria J.
Cuesta-Bolao, The magnetic dipole
interaction as measured by spring
dynamometers, Am. J. Phys. 74(6),
pp.510- 513, June 2006
8. S. Defrancesco and V. Zaneth, Experiments
on magnetic repulsion, Am. J. Phys. 51
(11), pp.1023-1025, November 1983
9. A. Romer, Magnetic Repulsion: An
Introductory Experiment, Am. J. Phys.
41(12), pp.1332-1336, December, 1973

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish thanks to Brain Korea 21

(BK21) Project and the Korean Ministry of
Education-Human Resources Development for
their support to promote our researched
achievement.

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