Tailoring force-displacement characteristics in medium-stroke linear variable reluctance actuators

The paper is concerned with the design of medium-stroke variable reluctance actuators that exploit the tangential component of force. A method of compensating for the roll-off in force as the stator and armature come into full alignment is presented, and the scope which this offers to tailor the force-displacement characteristic to meet the demands of a particular application is illustrated by means of a case study. The case study includes finite element analysis and experimental measurements on an actuator having a stroke of 8 mm and a rated force capability of 60 N.