Transient performance of a short-stroke linear solenoid actuator

Abstract

A computational and experimental investigation of the transient performance of a solenoid actuator, with a stroke of 0.3 mm and a closure time of approximately 1.4 ms, is described. A coupled electric-circuit/transient finite element model of the actuation system is also described, with particular reference to the magnetic material characterisation, the mesh discretisation and the choice of time-step. The predicted transient performance is compared with measurements and predictions from a magneto-static finite element based simulation to highlight the influence of induced eddy-currents and magnetic hysteresis.