Analysis of design parameters’ influence on the behavior of MSM-controlled PM-based reluctance actuators

Most concepts for MSM-based actuators directly use the MSM-stick stroke or mechanical stress for movement or force generation, respectively. The system presented here utilizes the change in permeability, so far mostly used for sensor applications, to control the magnetic flux and thus the reluctance force in circuits excited by permanent magnets. The detailed adaptation of this principle into a prototype is described here. For a broader understanding of the potential of the concept, it is examined in four basic variants. The subsequent FEA-simulations focus on identifying the dependence of central system properties from geometric design parameters of the flux guidance and a comparison of the basic setup variants concerning their best values for the system properties. The system properties regarded are magnetic excitement of the MSM-sticks, maximum attainable reluctance force and force adjustment range.