Preliminary design of eddy current brake to improve sustainable mobility

In recent years, the need to reduce CO2 emissions has developed a change in the transport sector. E-mobility is emerging as a zero-emissions way of travel, but not only the combustion engine produces emission. In fact, a significant part of the vehicle's total pollution is produced by tires and conventional brakes. The eddy current brake is a possible alternative to the well-known mechanical brake to obtain zero-emissions braking with low maintenance. This type of brake converts the vehicle's kinetic energy into thermal energy through the magnetic generation of the eddy currents, which generate Lorentz braking forces. This paper proposes a preliminary design of a zero-emission eddy current brake with a first geometry variation to increase the brake performance, that has been evaluated with an analytical approach and EMS by EMWorks, a 3D finite element method magnetic software able to calculate brake torque and electromagnetic effects.