Direct Calculation Method of Fringing Field Reluctance in MEC Analysis for An Axisymmetric Solenoid Actuator

In this paper, a method is introduced to directly calculate the reluctances of fringing fields in analyzing a magnetic equivalent circuit model for an axisymmetric solenoid actuator including radial air gaps as well as axial air gaps. The introduced method was motivated by the possibility to calculate the cross section area depending on the radial position of an infinitesimal element when the infinitesimal element is defined to be integrated in the flux flow direction in a circular-arc straight-line model of an axisymmetric model. In this method, the reluctance of fringing field near an air gap can be calculated directly. For an objective model, the MEC analysis was performed using the introduced method and an iterative method. In the iterative method, the nonlinearity of the ferromagnetic material parts is resolved. In order to validate the introduced method, MEC analysis and FEA results are compared. And for validating the method in a view of computation also, an optimized design satisfying pre-defined constraints was searched using MEC analysis, and then the results of the MEC analysis using the introduced method and FEA results are compared for the searched design and the initial design.