Abstract
Linear actuators are used often in electromagnetic devices. It is necessary for the optimum design to analyze the dynamic characteristics of linear actuators. It is difficult to obtain the dynamic characteristics of linear actuators which have long stroke by the conventional method, because the conventional method are limited to actuators which have short stroke. A new method using the finite element method to obtain the transient dynamic characteristics taking into account the motion of the armature, which have long stroke, has been developed. The new method combines the meshes of the armature region and the stator region automatically. The method makes it possible to analyze the dynamic characteristics of linear actuators exactly. The new method is applied to obtain the static and dynamic characteristics of a linear solenoid valve. The validity of the new method is confirmed by the experiment.
