Electromagnetic interaction of a conducting cylinder with a magnetic dipole caused by steady rotation

The motion of a conductor in a magnetic field induces eddy currents whose interaction with the field produces Lorentz forces opposing the motion. One can determine the velocity of the conductor from the force on the magnet system since the latter is equal but opposite to the Lorentz force on the conductor. This contactless method is known as Lorentz force velocimetry (LFV). We study an idealized configuration of LFV, i.e. a rotating solid cylinder interacting with a point dipole. The understanding of parameter influences in this setup can be helpful for more realistic configurations. We use a purely kinematic approach appropriate for low magnetic Reynolds numbers. Numerical results for small and large distances between dipole and cylinder have been obtained with the commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)