Article from Application of Physics

Principles in Engineering Technology

0.1 Calculating the suction force of an electromagnet

Electromagnets are widely used in industrial production. Electromagnets
are used in large ones such as electromagnet cranes and small ones such as
relays in electrical control boxes. The size of the electromagnet suction force
is a problem that must be considered in the application of electromagnets.
The suction force of the DC electromagnet and the AC electromagnet to the
armature is calculated separately below.

0.1.1 The suction force of the DC electromagnet

As shown in figure, when the flat armature C of area A moves distance dx
by the attractive force F of the electromagnet, the work done by the force
F is,
dW = F dx
At the same time, the volume at the air gap decreases by dV ,

dV = A dx

Let the magnetic induction intensity in the air gap be B0 , then, the magnetic
field energy density in the air gap wm is,

1 B02
wm =
2 µ0
For the DC electromagnet, in the process of the armature being attracted, B0
remains unchanged, that is, the magnetic flux density of the air gap between
the iron core and the armature remains unchanged. Since the armature C
does work dW when the armature C moves a distance dx,

1
Thus, the volume of the air gap is reduced by dV , so the magnetic field
energy at the air gap is reduced by dEm , that is,
1 B02 1 B02
dEm = wm dV = dV = A dx
2 µ0 2 µ0
According to the conservation of energy, the reduced magnetic field energy
is transformed into the mechanical energy of the armature, namely
1 B02
F dx = A dx
2 µ0
Then the attractive force of the electromagnet is,
1 B02
F = A
2 µ0
When calculating the attractive force of the electromagnet by above formula,
it should be noted that this formula is obtained under the assumption that
the magnetic flux density near the magnetic pole face is uniformly distributed
(that is, B 0 = constant) Therefore, it is only applicable to the case where
the air gap length δ is small (such as the armature is in or close to the
pull-in position). In addition, it should be pointed out that if a shoe-shaped
electromagnet is used, and the value of B0 at the air gap is the same, the
attractive force generated by the electromagnet should be twice the value
obtained by equation.

0.1.2 Suction force of the AC Electromagnet

If an alternating current is applied to the electromagnet coil, the magnetic
field excited by it is an alternating magnetic field. At this time, in the
alternating current electromagnet, the magnetic induction intensity changes
with time. It can be seen from previous formula that the suction force to the
armature also changes with time. Let the magnetic induction in the air gap
be,
B0 = Bm sin ωt

2
In the formula, Bm is the maximum value of the magnetic induction at the
air gap. From prev. formula, the attractive force of the AC electromagnet
can be obtained as,
2
1 Bm
F = A sin2 ωt
2 µ0
2
Let Fm = Bm A/ (2µ0 ) , Fm be the maximum attraction value of F , then,

F = Fm sin2 ωt

Then, in a period T , the average value of the attractive force of the AC

electromagnet is,

1 T 1 T
Z Z
F̄ = F dt = Fm sin2 ωt dt
T 0 T 0
2
1 1 Bm
= Fm = A
2 4 µ0
Comparing previous equation and equation formed above, we can see that
they are exactly the same in form. The attractive force of the DC electromag-
net and the attractive force of the AC electromagnet are both related to the
magnetic flux density at the air gap. It’s just that the former is proportional
to B02 , and the latter is proportional to Bm2
.
It should be pointed out that above formula is generally only applicable to
the case where the air gap length δ is short. In addition, according to the
boundary conditions of the magnetic field, the component of the magnetic
induction in the normal direction is continuous, so the B in the iron core is
equal to the B at the air gap. Therefore, the magnitude of the electromag-
net’s attractive force is closely related to the B in the iron core. When the
coil is filled with a uniform magnetic medium, its total magnetic induction
B is stronger than the B 0 generated by the original current when there is
no magnetic medium µr times, that is,

B = µr B 0

In the formula, µr is the relative permeability of the magnetic medium. For

example, when filling air, µr = 1.000038; filling silicon guillotine, then µr is
about 7000; filling permalloy, then µr is about 105 . It can be seen that when
the coil is evenly filled with ferromagnetic substances, the magnetic induction
intensity will increase several thousand times. According to equations of DC
and AC, it can be seen that the attractive force of the electromagnet will
increase several million times.