A linear eddy current brake in a German ICE 3 high speed train in

action.

Mechanism and principle[edit]

A metal sheet moving to the right under a magnet, illustrating how

a linear eddy current brake works. In this drawing the magnet is
drawn spaced apart from the sheet to reveal the vectors; in an eddy
current brake the magnet is normally located as close to the sheet
as possible.

A circular or disk eddy current brake

An eddy current brake consists of a conductive piece of metal,
either a straight bar or a disk, which moves through the magnetic
field of a magnet, either a permanent magnet or an electromagnet.
When it moves past the stationary magnet, the magnet exerts
a drag force on the metal which opposes its motion, due to
circular electric currents called eddy currents induced in the metal
by the magnetic field. Note that the conductive sheet is not made
of ferromagnetic metal such as iron or steel; usually copper or
aluminum are used, which are not attracted to a magnet. The brake
does not work by the simple attraction of a ferromagnetic metal to
the magnet.
See the diagram at right. It shows a metal sheet (C) moving to the
right under a magnet. The magnetic field (B, green arrows) of the
magnet's north pole N passes down through the sheet. Since the
metal is moving, the magnetic flux through sheet is changing. At
the part of the sheet under the leading edge of the magnet (left
side) the magnetic field through the sheet is increasing as it gets
nearer the magnet. From Faraday's law of induction, this field
induces a counterclockwise flow of electric current (I, red), in the
sheet. This is the eddy current. In contrast, at the trailing edge of
the magnet (right side) the magnetic field through the sheet is
decreasing, inducing a clockwise eddy current in the sheet.
Another way to understand the action is to see that the free charge
carriers (electrons) in the metal sheet are moving to the right, so the
magnetic field exerts a sideways force on them due to the Lorentz
force. Since the velocity v of the charges is to the right and the
magnetic field B is directed down, from the right hand rule the
Lorentz force on positive charges qvB is toward the rear in the
diagram (to the left when facing in the direction of motion of the
sheet) This causes a current I toward the rear under the magnet,
which circles around through parts of the sheet outside the
magnetic field in two currents, clockwise to the right and
counterclockwise to the left, to the front of the magnet again. The
mobile charge carriers in the metal, the electrons, actually have a
negative charge, so their motion is opposite in direction to
the conventional current shown.
Due to Ampere's circuital law, each of these circular currents
creates a counter magnetic field (blue arrows), which due to Lenz's
law opposes the change in magnetic field, causing a drag force on
the sheet which is the braking force exerted by the brake. At the
leading edge of the magnet (left side) by the right hand rule the
counterclockwise current creates a magnetic field pointed up,
opposing the magnet's field, causing a repulsive force between the
sheet and the leading edge of the magnet. In contrast, at the trailing
edge (right side), the clockwise current causes a magnetic field
pointed down, in the same direction as the magnet's field, creating
an attractive force between the sheet and the trailing edge of the
magnet. Both of these forces oppose the motion of the sheet.
The kinetic energy which is consumed overcoming this drag force is
dissipated as heat by the currents flowing through the resistance of
the metal, so the metal gets warm under the magnet.
The braking force of an eddy current brake is exactly proportional
to the velocity V, so it acts similar to viscous friction in a liquid. The
braking force decreases as the velocity decreases. When the
conductive sheet is stationary, the magnetic field through each part
of it is constant, not changing with time, so no eddy currents are
induced, and there is no force between the magnet and the
conductor. Thus an eddy current brake has no holding force.
Eddy current brakes come in two geometries:

In a linear eddy current brake, the conductive piece is a straight

rail or track that the magnet moves along.
In a circular, disk or rotary eddy current brake, the conductor is
a flat disk rotor that turns between the poles of the magnet.
The physical working principle is the same for both.
(left) Disk eddy current brake on 700 Series Shinkansen, a
Japanese bullet train.
(right) Permanent magnet eddy current brake used in a
1970s electricity meter
Disk electromagnetic brakes are used on vehicles such as trains,
and power tools such as circular saws, to stop the blade quickly
when the power is turned off. A disk eddy current brake consists of
a conductive non-ferromagnetic metal disc (rotor) attached to the
axle of the vehicle's wheel, with an electromagnet located with its
poles on each side of the disk, so the magnetic field passes through
the disk. The electromagnet allows the braking force to be varied.
When no current is passed through the electromagnet's winding,
there is no braking force. When the driver steps on the brake pedal,
current is passed through the electromagnet windings, creating a
magnetic field, The larger the current in the winding, the larger the
eddy currents and the stronger the braking force. Power tool brakes
use permanent magnets, which are moved adjacent to the disk by a
linkage when the power is turned off. The kinetic energy of the
vehicle's motion is dissipated in Joule heating by the eddy currents
passing through the disk's resistance, so like conventional friction
disk brakes, the disk becomes hot. Unlike in the linear brake below,
the metal of the disk passes repeatedly through the magnetic field,
so disk eddy current brakes get hotter than linear eddy current
brakes.
Japanese Shinkansen trains had employed circular eddy current
brake system on trailer cars since 100 Series Shinkansen.
However, N700 Series Shinkansen abandoned eddy current brakes
in favour of regenerative brakes, since 14 of the 16 cars in the
trainset used electric motors. In regenerative brakes, the motor that
drives the wheel is used as a generator to produce electric current,
which can be used to charge a battery, so the energy can be used
again.

Eddy current brakes on the roller coaster Goliath made by Intamin,

at Walibi Holland (Netherlands)
Linear eddy current brakes are used on some vehicles that ride on
rails, such as trains. They are used on roller coasters, to stop the
cars smoothly at the end of the ride.
The linear eddy current brake consists of a magnetic yoke with
electrical coils positioned along the rail, which are being magnetized
alternating as south and north magnetic poles. This magnet does
not touch the rail, but is held at a constant small distance from the
rail of approximately 7 mm (the eddy current brake should not be
confused with another device, the magnetic brake, in wide use in
railways, which exerts its braking force by friction of a brake shoe
with the rail). It works the same as a disk eddy current brake, by
inducing closed loops of eddy current in the conductive rail, which
generate counter magnetic fields which oppose the motion of the
train.
The kinetic energy of the moving vehicle is converted to heat by the
eddy current flowing through the electrical resistance of the rail,
which leads to a warming of the rail. An advantage of the linear
brake is that since each section of rail passes only once through the
magnetic field of the brake, in contrast to the disk brake in which
each section of the disk passes repeatedly through the brake, the
rail doesn't get as hot as a disk, so the linear brake can dissipate
more energy and have a higher power rating than disk brakes.
The eddy current brake does not have any mechanical contact with
the rail, and thus no wear, and creates no noise or odor. The eddy
current brake is unusable at low speeds, but can be used at high
speeds both for emergency braking and for regular braking.[1]
The TSI (Technical Specifications for Interoperability) of the EU for
trans-European high-speed rail recommends that all newly built
high-speed lines should make the eddy current brake possible.
The first train in commercial circulation to use such a braking
system has been the ICE 3.
Modern roller coasters also use this type of braking, but in order to
avoid the risk posed by potential power outages, they
utilize permanent magnets instead of electromagnets, thus not
requiring any power supply, however, without the possibility to
adjust the braking strength as easily as with electromagnets.