Semi-Analytical Modeling of a PM-based 6-DOF Actuator

In this paper, the equivalent charge and virtual work modeling techniques are used to create a model of a permanent magnet-based 6-DOF actuator. The actuation is performed by the interaction of rotating segmented stator magnet arrays with another array of magnets fixed in the mover. The forces and torques are obtained by taking the gradient of the energy which in turn is obtained using a numerical integration of the analytically computed magnetic scalar potential. The computed magnetic scalar potential is verified using FEM and demonstrates an excellent accuracy as being within 0.04%, while the forces and torques are within 0.1%. The proposed model furthermore computes the result in 0.1 seconds compared to 10 minutes in FEM and delivers a solid basis for topology optimization applications.