Designing a Magnetic Brake with Eddy Currents: A Mechanical Engineering Project

[Logan B]

Hello there guys.I am currently doing an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and in order to graduate I have to do a major project by my choosing.So i I chose а magnetic brake, using eddy currents principle.We all saw that cool videos in youtube with magnets and copper tube.So i came up with an idea.
As you can see in the attached file, there is a body on which i attached four magnets.Then i put that body between two copper plates.I think its a great idea, the only problem is i`m not so good in that area(lenz`s law, faraday`s law .. etc, etc ). So basically i`m asking for aid. How i can determine with formulas the thin of the plates, the distance needed for maximum slowing effect between the magnets and the copper plates, and what would be the formula for the length of the plates.
I`m not giving you any details and body`s mass, speed and etc, because you know, after all i need only guideline and i need to use my brain too, from time to time.
Thanks in advance!

 

[scottdave]

There are a lot of variables, which are difficult to quantify. For example, measuring the magnetic flux density. You should be able to determine that after fixing variables, such as magnet choice, gap distance, materials, the induced force is directly proportional to the velocity (but in the opposite direction). Then you can do some experiments to find a proportionality constant.

This is just a rough starting idea.

Wolfram has this neat interactive demonstration. You might want to check it out. There is an app to download, though if you want full interactive capability. http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/MagneticBraking/
Even they state that there are many variables, specific to the materials chosen and geometry. I did not read the journal reference, at the bottom. But I'm sure that it may provide you with some help.