Magnetic Levitation Forces—Circular Coils
Keyword(s):
Magnetic vector potential is used to derive lift and drag forces for arbitrary coils moving parallel to infinite conducting slabs. It is shown that at high speed the ratio of magnetic lift-to-drag forces for a circular coil whose diameter is small in comparison with its height above the conducting slab becomes 0.6763(hλ)1/2, where λ = μσv. It is concluded that, in practice, the rounded corners needed on rectangular levitation coils will not alter the magnetic lift-to-drag ratio significantly.