Conceptual design of magnetic force control system using wedge mechanism

This paper presents a conceptual design and proof-of-concept to control magnetic force using a wedge mechanism. The concept starts with the general knowledge that magnetic force is inversely proportional to distance. A magnetic model is generated consisting of a permanent magnet (PM), two magnetic flux paths, two wheels, and a steel plate. This model is subjected to formulate a mathematical relationship between the movement of the PM and a magnetic force exerted onto the steel plate. A 3D simulation has been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the developed mathematical model. The comparison between the mathematical and simulation models is likely to be fair. The next is to design a wedge mechanism which is composed of two wedges, a trenching plate, and a stepping motor. Finally, the proof-of-concept is placed on a magnetic force measurement and subjected to experiments. The result shows that the changes in the magnetic force according to the PM movements are 84.5% with simulation and 80.1% with the experiments, respectively. It can be concluded that the proposed concept is effective in reasonably controlling the magnetic force.