Study of Axial-Flux-Type Superconducting Eddy-Current Couplings

A theoretical physical model of axial-flux-type superconducting eddy-current coupling is systematically investigated. A mathematical description of a high-field superconducting bulk magnet used as the magnetic field source is modeled based on the physical superconducting mechanism. Thereafter, a practical two-dimensional (2-D) magnetic equivalent circuit model for the analytical calculation of magnetic field distribution in this coupling design using Schwarz-Christoffel mapping is proposed to predict the air gap magnetic density and the transferred torque, taking nonlinear effects of the magnetic materials into consideration. Finally, a 1/6 section 3-D model of the proposed superconducting eddy-current coupling is designed and analyzed via finite element method. The calculation results by the proposed analytical model are verified with those issued from the finite element method. Also, the efficiency of superconducting eddy current couple is analyzed theoretically.