Optimization of magnetic suspension devices by a surface current method

The paper describes the application of a code based on the surface current method to optimize a magnetic suspension device. The code can handle nonlinear magnetic materials by an iterative adjustment of the values of the magnetic permeability, with a performance estimation which fairly agrees with nonlinear FEM analyses. Thanks to the code flexibility in the input/output management, its application may be more straightforward than in the case of commercial FEM codes, with comparable accuracy and calculation time.