A FEM method for eddy current analysis in laminated media

Purpose - This paper aims at developing a computational technique to take account of the laminated nature of iron cores when computing their eddy current losses. Design/methodology/approach - A method is presented to compute three-dimensional eddy current distributions in laminated media by means of the finite element method. In a first step, the laminated medium is assumed to have an anisotropic conductivity with zero (or very low) value in the direction normal to the laminations. In a second step, the eddy currents within the laminates are computed by solving the quasistatic electromagnetic field individually in each sheet. In these essentially two-dimensional analyses, the boundary conditions are taken from the three-dimensional field distribution determined in the first step. Findings - Comparisons with results obtained from a finite element model taking account of each laminate prove the validity of the method. Research limitations/implications - The method is presented for linear media only. Taking account of nonlinearity is an important future topic. Originality/value - Taking account of the laminations by treating the magnetic field distribution obtained from a homogenised model is a novelty of potential benefit to researchers developing methods of loss computation in laminated media.