Asymptotic Models for Ferromagnetic Materials in Eddy Current Problem
Résumé
The eddy current problem has crucial applications in the industrial field such as
inductive heating or braking of heavy vehicles. In this context, we intend to
analyze the eddy current problem for the electromagnetic field in magnetically
soft materials. These materials are used for the cores of transformers in order to
reduce the energy losses resulting from the alternating currents.
The problem under consideration lies in two highly heterogeneous materials
with a common interface: we are interested to study the electromagnetic field in
a soft magnetic conducting body with a constant permeability μ = μ− ⪼ 1,
embedded in a magnetic dielectric medium with a constant permeability μ=μ+,
in a three-dimensional setting. Therefore, we propose to investigate the behavior
of the electromagnetic field when the magnetic permeability is “dominant” that
is the ferromagnetic case. However, in the ferromagnetic materials, we may have
a small skin depth and the amplitude of the magnetic field decays rapidly with depth
inside the magnetic conducting domain. As a result, the numerical simulation of such a
problem seems challenging although prohibitive. In order to overcome this
difficulty, we introduce for instance a small parameter ℰ = = √μ+/μ− ⪻ 1,
then we develop an asymptotic approach based on a multiscale expansion.
This asymptotic method was also applied previously for highly conductive non-
magnetic materials in eddy current problem. Therefore, we derive asymptotic
models that reflect the skin effect and can be solved numerically by using a
coarse mesh. The aim of our present work is twofold. First, we derive an asymptotic
expansion of the electromagnetic field as the parameter ℰ tends to zero when
the surface of the conducting body is smooth. Then, as an application, we
measure the magnetic skin effect by presenting the asymptotic behavior of the
characteristic depth. Finally, we compare the latter result with the previous work
corresponding to the skin effect in a bi-dimensional eddy current problem, when
the contrast of permeability is predominant.