Industrial

Educational

Scientific

Engineering questions

Sample problems

Examples gallery

Step-by-step tutorials

Verification examples

Programming examples

Distributive examples

Success stories

Customers

Main >> Applications >> Sample problems

Electromagnetic plunger - QuickField simulation example

Displacement of the movable core in an AC electromagnetic plunger at a specified coil current, including the opposing force of the external spring.

Engineering question

How to calculate the plunger displacement at the given current?

Answer
Calculate magnetic force in the AC-magnetic model, transfer it to the coupled stress model with the spring boundary condition, and solve for the plunger displacement.

More questions →

Typical applications
electromagnetic solenoid plungers, spring-loaded solenoids, linear electromechanical actuators

Electromagnetic plunger

Download

Simulation problem

Problem Type
Axisymmetric multiphysics problem of AC magnetics coupled to Stress analysis.

Geometry
Electromagnetic plunger Displacement of the movable core in an AC electromagnetic plunger at a specified coil current, including the opposing force of the external spring. Winding Plunger Spring Ø 20 mm

Given
Coil has 500 turns with current 1 A.
AC frequency 50 Hz.
Plunger is made of steel with relative permeability μ = 1000
Steel's Young modulus 200 GPa.
Spring has the rigidity coefficient 50 N/m.

Task
Estimate the plunger displacement at the given current.

Solution
Two QuickField problems are created which share the same geometry. Stress analysis simulation is coupled to the AC magnetic analysis to import the magnetic forces acting on the plunger. Spring is taken into account by use of the special boundary condition in the Stress analysis problem assigned to the vertex of the model where the spring touches the core body.
Stress analysis should be performed on the plunger alone, other parts of AC magnetic model do not need to be included.

Result
Plunger displacement is -0.7 mm.
Magnetic field distribution and plot of the displacement of the moveable plunger
Electromagnetic plunger

Video

Related examples